FOLD project : experimental assessment of the efficiency of an optical fibre to detect a gaseous leak on a buried pipe

Olivier Gentilhomme (1) , G. Audouin (2) , D. Houssin (3) , B. Raguin (4) , J.P. Leininger

1 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
2 Total M&S [Paris La Defense]
3 Air Liquide [Siège Social]
4 GRTgaz

In 2015, TOTAL, AIR LIQUIDE, GRTgaz, ENGIE E&P International and INERIS were involved in a collaborative project called FOLD. Its objective was to experimentally assess the capability of an optical fibre based system to detect gaseous leaks occurring on a buried pipe. During this project, several parameters were tested in relation to the release properties (nature of gas, orifice diameter, pressure, direction), to the installation of the optical cable (offset location from the pipe, protection around the cable) and to the scanning means (interrogation distance, interrogator technology). This paper presents the experimental bench that was used during the testing campaign and some of the results obtained with the DTS (Distributed Temperature Sensing) equipment when these latter were interrogating the optical cable on short distance (less than 500 m). By analysing these results, it is already possible to give recommendations regarding the best positioning of the optical cable along the buried pipe to optimise the efficiency of the optical fibre based detection system.

Keywords: FIBRE OPTIC; LEAK; DETECTION; GAS TRANSPORTATION PIPELINE

Domains: Environmental Engineering

Olivier Gentilhomme, G. Audouin, D. Houssin, B. Raguin, J.P. Leininger. FOLD project : experimental assessment of the efficiency of an optical fibre to detect a gaseous leak on a buried pipe. International Journal of Safety and Security Engineering, 2016, 6 (2), pp.219-228. ⟨10.2495/SAFE-V6-N2-219-228⟩. ⟨ineris-01863015⟩