Energy Analysis for Transient-Leak Interaction and Implication to Leak Detection in Water Pipeline Systems

Any transient event in a pipeline system is an energy process, implying that the dynamic response can be interpreted and analyzed through energy transfer between different forms, including potential (internal), kinetic, and losses. This water hammer energy approach to investigating the impacts of leaks uncovers notable insights about transient-leak interaction in fluid-filled pipelines. In this paper, the energy exchanges in leaky conveyance pipeline systems, including elastic and viscoelastic pipes with various leak sizes and locations, are analyzed and compared with intact pipe cases, thus revealing the extent to which a leak can vary the transient internal and kinetic energy intensity. The results are supported by an extensive numerical analysis that describes transient energy in different cases and illustrates transient stability conditions from a new perspective. Finally, practical implications for developing transient-based leak detection methods are drawn specifically when data from multiple stations are available, and the limitations of this study are summarized in the end of the paper.