Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 22 (2009) 990–994

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Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jlp

Detection of leak acoustic signal in buried gas pipe based

on the time–frequency analysis
Min-Soo Kim, Sang-Kwon Lee*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, 253 Yonghyun Dong, Nam Gu, Inchon 402-751, Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A time–frequency technique for locating leaks in buried gas distribution pipes involves the use of the
Received 10 August 2007 cross-correlation on two measured acoustic signals on either side of a leak. This technique can be
Received in revised form problematic for locating leaks in steel pipes, as the acoustic signals in these pipes are generally
7 August 2008
narrow-band and low frequency. The effectiveness of the time–frequency technique for detecting leaks
Accepted 7 August 2008
in steel pipes was investigated experimentally in an earlier study. The object of this paper is to identify
the characteristics of this dispersive acoustic wave through analysis of the cut-off frequency by using
Keywords:
the time–frequency method experimentally and BEM (boundary element method) theoretically for the
Leakage
Gas duct development of an experimental tool to analyze the leak signals in steel pipe. The tool is based on
Detection experimental work and theoretical formulation of wave propagation in a fluid-filled pipe. This tool uses
Time–frequency method the time–frequency method to explain some of the features of wave propagation measurements made
Acoustic wave in gas pipes. Leak noise signals are generally passed through a time–frequency filter for detection of
impulse signal related leakage.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction identify the characteristics of this dispersive acoustic wave through

Gas leakage in a gas pipeline system is a serious problem not only
from a safety and environmental standpoint, but also from the
energy loss that impacts a country’s economy. Thus, it is important to
detect the leakage point and to identify the cause of the leakage. In
general, the cause of leakage in a pipeline is due to impact forces of
construction equipment. The leakage due to impact force induces an
acoustic wave inside a duct in the pipeline that propagates along the
guideline of a duct. Therefore, the correct analysis of this acoustic
wave becomes one of solutions to get useful information about the
impact location on leakage position. In many researches (Agarwal,
1994), the correlation method has been used to identify the leakage
position. This correlation method involves using the acoustic wave
measured at two sensors, which are located at different positions
along the pipeline. To get useful information using the correlation
method, these acoustic wave signals should be filtered since these
signals have dispersive characteristics. However, the selection for
the bandwidth of a filter is often difficult because these acoustic
waves are dispersive (Gao, Muggleton, Brennan, Joseph, & Hunaidi,
2005). Therefore, it is necessary to identify the characteristics of
these acoustic waves in a vibro-acoustic coupled duct for the
selection of the bandwidth of a filter. The object of this paper is to
analysis of the cut-off frequency by using the time–frequency
method experimentally and BEM (boundary element method)
theoretically for the development of an experimental tool to analyze
the leak signals in steel pipe. In the future, these results will provide
useful information for the selection of the filter bandwidth in the
correlation method for the detection of leakage location.
2. Wave equation in cylindrical duct
The acoustic velocity potential equation is given by (Lawrence,
Austin, Alan & James, 1999; Lawrence, 1995).
1 v2
V2 4ðt; rÞ  4ðt; rÞ ¼ 0 (1)
c2 vt 2
where 4(t,r) is velocity potential, r ¼ (r,j,z) is a space vector and c is
the speed of sound. The solution of Eq. (1) is expressed as follows
(Fuller & Fahy, 1981; Junger, 1952; Munjal, 1987):
4ðt;rÞ ¼ 4ðt;rÞeðj2pftÞ
h i
¼ ½Ar Jm ðkr rÞþBm Yr ðkr rÞ$ Aj cosðmjÞþBj sinðmjÞ
h i
 Az eðjkz zÞ þBz eðþjkz zÞ ej2pft (2)

where kz is the wave number in z-direction and is given by,

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ82 32 860 7305; fax: þ82 32 868 1716.
kz ¼ k2  k2r (3)
E-mail address: sangkwon@inha.ac.kr (S.-K. Lee).

0950-4230/$ – see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jlp.2008.08.009
 M.-S. Kim, S.-K. Lee / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 22 (2009) 990–994 991

Table 1
kr k Theoretical cut-off frequencies of a steel pipe
a r
n Cut-off frequencies: fm,n (Hz)
kz z
m

0 1 2 3 4
0 0 1747.6 2896.9 3989.2 5053.0
Fig. 1. Boundary condition of a cylindrical duct.
1 3637.8 5062.5 6373.3 7617.6 8814.3
2 667.7 8111.5 9469.7 10,780.5 12,043.8
3 9659.7 11,122.4 12,509.2 13,857.9 15,159.2
4 12,651.6 14,114.4 15,529.6 16,897.4 18,236.6
For cylindrical coordinates with boundary condition as shown in
Fig. 1, the solution Eq. (2) is rewritten by,
 
4m;n ðt; rÞ ¼ 4f ;m;n ðrÞexp þ j2pfm;n t ; m; n ¼ 0; 1; 2; . (4)

  
4f ;m;n ðr; j; zÞ ¼ Jm kr;m;n r Am;n cosðmjÞ þ Bm;n sinðmjÞ
 eðjkz zÞ ; m; n ¼ 0; 1; 2. ð5Þ

where 4f(r) is the only space vector. The 4f(r) is the acoustic velocity
potential and depends on only the space vector. The m and n are
integers. In Eq. (5), from the boundary condition in the radial
direction, the particle velocity becomes as follows:
Fig. 3. Drawing of the test duct.
uf ða; j; zÞ ¼ V4f ða; j; zÞ ¼ 0 (6)
In case of the cut-off frequency f ¼ fm,n and kz,m,n ¼ 0, the wave is
Using this boundary condition Eq. (6), the Bessel function in Eq. not propagated to the z-direction. Therefore, the wave number in
(5) is rewritten by, the z-direction kz,m,n depends on the acoustic wave frequency and
0
  there are two considered cases.
Jm kr;m;n a ¼ 0; m; n ¼ 0; 1; 2; . (7)

and the wave number Eq. (3) is also rewritten by,

rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2
kz ¼ kz;m;n ¼ k 1  fm;n =f ; f  fm;n (8)

where fm,n is the cut-off frequency of acoustic cavity mode (m, n) as

shown Fig. 2 (Eriksson, 1980).
c 0
fm;n ¼ J (9)
2pa m;n

Fig. 2. Acoustic cavity mode of a duct. Fig. 4. Experimental set-up of the test duct.
992 M.-S. Kim, S.-K. Lee / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 22 (2009) 990–994

Table 2
Sensor details used for a test

Ch. 1 Ch. 2
Type Pressure Pressure
Model B&K 4935 B&K 4935
Label Array Mic.4935 Array Mic.4935
Sensitivity 5.281e-03 V/Pa 6.756e-03 V/Pa

rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2
8
< k 1 fm;n =f ; f  fm;n ; Propagation mode
kz;m;n ¼ rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2 (10)
:
jk 1 fm;n =f ; f  fm;n ; Evancescent mode

Using the relationship between speed of sound c and wave

number k, Eq. (10) is expressed as follows:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2
Cgz;m;n ¼ c 1  fm;n =f f  fm;n (11)

rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Fig. 6. PSD analysis for the experimental data.

 2
Cpz;m;n ¼ c= 1  fm;n =f f  fm;n (12)
The group velocity for each acoustic mode is also calculated by
using Eq. (11). This group velocity is dispersive and gives useful
where Cgz;m;n is the group velocity and Cpz;m;n is the phase velocity of
information for calculation of the leakage location using two
the (m, n) acoustic mode. Based on the theoretical results, the cut-
sensors.
off frequency fm,n for a duct with radius of 55 mm is calculated and
listed in Table 1.
3. Laboratory experimental results

In practice, a pipeline is too long to study about the acoustic

wave propagation. Therefore, at first, in the laboratory test, the
basic principle about the acoustic wave propagation is investigated
using 114 mm steel pipe. The steel pipe used for a test is installed
inside an anechoic chamber as shown in Fig. 3. The steel pipe hangs
by rubber to minimize the propagation of the structure borne wave.
The impact sound is supplied by using the air slap. This impact
sound is propagated along the guide of the duct. Two microphones

Fig. 5. Time vs frequency plot by STFT (short time Fourier transform) method (a)
sensor 1, (b) sensor 2. Fig. 7. Model of BEM analysis (a) mesh model (b) acoustic field point.
 M.-S. Kim, S.-K. Lee / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 22 (2009) 990–994 993

are inserted into the duct to detect the acoustic wave. The detailed
experimental set-up for the duct is shown in Fig. 4 and the sensors
used for the test are listed in Table 2. Fig. 5 shows the image map for
the STFT (short time Fourier transform) of two signals measured at
sensor 1 and sensor 2. According to these results, we can see the
cut-off frequencies around 1938 Hz, 3162 Hz and 3988 Hz. These
frequencies correspond to the cut-off frequencies for acoustic
modes (1,0), (2,0) and (0,1), respectively, listed in Table 1. There is
a little difference between the experimental results and theoretical
results since the physical parameters are not exactly the same. The
spectrum component at low frequencies is due to the reflection of
the plane wave inside a duct. Fig. 6 shows the power spectral
density (PSD) for both signals measured at sensor 1 and sensor 2.
From these results, it is difficult to see the dispersive phenomenon
and to find cut-off frequencies. Therefore, the time–frequency

Fig. 9. PSD analysis for the measurement data.

method is a better analysis method than the PSD in order to identify

the cut-off frequencies of acoustic modes and to analyze the
dispersive wave. In general, the signal measured at a real pipeline
has a great deal of background noise. The correlation between the
signal of sensor 1 and the signal of sensor 2 gives information of the
arriving times and its results are used for estimating the leakage
position. The correlation can reduce the background noise.
However, it is difficult to determine dispersive effect. Therefore,
filtering is required to get more useful information. Using the time–
frequency results, we can easily select the bandwidth of the filter to
get information related to leakage position. For example, in the
laboratory case, the filtering around a cut-off frequency at 1938 Hz
yields more useful information for the leakage position.

4. Theoretical simulation

The propagation from an acoustic wave in a duct used for a test

is simulated by using the boundary element method (BEM). The
SYSNOISE is used to analyze the acoustic wave in a duct. The mesh
model and field point for BEM is plotted as shown in Fig. 7. The
boundary condition at the wall of a duct is given by the zero
impedance, and at the both ends is given by the same value as that

Fig. 8. Three low acoustic modes of duct (a) (1,0) mode (b) (2,0) mode (c) (0,1) mode. Fig. 10. Group and phase speed difference between three methods.
994 M.-S. Kim, S.-K. Lee / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 22 (2009) 990–994
Table 3
Comparison between cut-off frequencies obtained by three methods
Cut-off frequencies: fm,n (Hz)
Mode (1,0) (2,0)
Theoretical 1747.68 2896.97
SYSNOISE 1786 2925
Experiment 1938 3162
of gas. Fig. 8 (a)–(c) show the acoustic modes corresponding to the
cut-off frequencies of acoustic cavity modes (1,0), (2,0), and (0,1),
respectively. The signal calculated at field points corresponding to
the measured points by sensor 1 and sensor 2 are analyzed by using
time–frequency. The results are plotted in Fig. 9. From these results,
we can find the major acoustic models and their cut-off frequencies
around 1756 Hz, 2925 Hz and 3740 Hz. The acoustic modes at high
frequencies can also be seen as shown in Fig. 8, because the back-
ground noise is nothing in theoretical results. Fig. 9 shows the PSD
for the calculated signal by BEM. PSD for these signals shows more
clear results from the cut-off frequencies than experimental results
as shown in Fig. 6. By comparing the results from PSD as shown in
Fig. 9 in experimental work, we can find that there are background
effects and loss of acoustic energy at high frequencies. In a practical
problem about gas leakage in a gas pipeline system, the time–
frequency method provides more useful tool since the dispersive
characteristics of the acoustic wave are more clearly identified.
5. Discussion and conclusions
In this paper, the cut-off frequencies of acoustic modes and
dispersive phenomenon for acoustic wave propagation are
researched based on wave equation analysis, experimental work
and a simulation by commercial package (SYSNOISE). Fig. 10 shows
the comparison of results obtained by these three methods. The
vertical axis is the group velocity and the phase velocity and the
horizontal axis is the frequency, as shown in Fig. 10. The group
(0,1) velocity and the phase velocity depend on the frequency and the
3637.84 acoustic cavity mode. There are some differences between
3705 the simulated results and the experimental results because of the
3988
difference of input parameters about the physical properties of
propagation medium. The trends for dispersive phenomenon are
all the same in case of three methods. The results obtained by
three methods are also listed and compared in Table 3. From these
results, we can conclude that the time–frequency method is
a useful tool for analysis of acoustic wave propagation and iden-
tifying cut-off frequencies for acoustic modes in a circular duct.
Moreover, this method gives useful information for identifying the
leakage position in a practical pipeline system in a future.
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