Validation of Remote Sensing and Leak Detection Technologies Under Realistic and Differing Conditions

Overview

Main Objective

The project will develop and implement a sensor validation framework focused on actual pipeline leaks verified through ground-truthing measurement and simulated integrity threats. The framework will incorporate field settings at industry partner locations with different infrastructure, terrain, and land cover challenges, from rural to suburban to urban. To obtain depth of knowledge on the effectiveness of the validation framework, GTI will work with our project collaborator, SeekOps, Inc.

Public Abstract

The primary goal of this project is to advance unmanned aerial system (UAS or drone) mounted remote sensing technologies for 1) identifying right of way (ROW) integrity threats and for 2) detecting natural gas leaks under operational conditions within natural gas transmission and distribution pipeline systems across urban to rural sites. Project results will strengthen industry consensus on the value of newly developed leak detection sensors, integrity threat monitoring methods, unmanned aerial monitoring platforms, and survey methods using multiple sensors. Deliverables will include a validation test framework for real-world, operational drone mounted technologies, field-validated drone-mounted integrity threat monitoring and methane detection instruments, and a probabilistic understanding of instrument performance under real-world field scenarios.

Operations Technology Development, NFP (OTD) will work with technology end users and a vendor to develop an operational validation test framework focused on operating field sites within the pipeline network, use a single technology vendor to evaluate the framework, and model sensor performance in a manner that can be fed into higher level risk models.

Summary and Conclusions

The project results established a validation testing framework that was proven during field testing. It also documented a probabilistic understanding of uncertainties for each technology tested. Future funded work should focus on a full evaluation of various leak sizes at different depths below water to explore any impacts that submerged infrastructure may have on the ability of the drone to detect leaks. Also, further development and testing of the drone mounted integrity threat monitoring system was suggetsed.

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