DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FLUID LEAKAGE DETECTION IN PRESSURIZED PIPES

The present invention relates to a device and a method for identifying leaks in pressurized pipelines. The device for fluid leak detection in pressurized pipelines consists of a pressure sensor, a valve, a flow meter, a control valve and a control device. The pressure sensor and the valve are arranged in order in the pipeline between the coupling through which the device is connected to the pipeline and through which fluid enters and the coupling through which fluid exits, and the other components are arranged along the pipeline. The method of the invention consists of the following steps: (A) identifying the pattern wave under leak-less conditions for various flow rates in the functional range, (B) identifying the overpressure wave during operation, (C) comparing the pattern wave identified in step (A) with the overpressure wave collected in step (B), both waves are obtained using similar flow rates in order to determine the presence or absence of leaks in the pipeline. The comparison is performed by means of a combination of the following techniques: area difference, root mean square difference, positive area difference, negative area difference, and difference between the maximum and minimum pressure peaks. In the process of determining the presence of leaks, the aforementioned comparison methods require that the user establish a threshold value that allows for leak identification when one or a combination of the values determined by said methods exceeds the established threshold percentage.