Tracking vibrations in a pipeline network

Abstract

Tracking vibrations on a pipeline network includes installing multiple vibration recorders on the pipeline network, with each recorder including a sensor, a timer, a processor, and a digital communication device. At each vibration recorder, vibration signals are received from the sensor at programmed times under the control of the processor of the vibration recorders and processed by the processor. The processed vibration signals are communicated from the vibration recorder to a reader device using the digital communication device. Thereafter, the processed vibration signals from the one or more reader devices are collected at a central computer system. Finally, the collected processed vibrations signals are analyzed at the central computer system to determine abnormal vibration patterns and to obtain measures of any leaks present in the pipeline network.