Thermal leak detection on pipelines

The ground temperature measurement method developed by GTC® is ideal for the fast and cost-effective location of leaks in buried pipelines. Excavation work can be minimised. Traffic disruptions and hazards to other pipeline systems such as electricity, gas or water can be avoided.

When laying new pipelines, fibre optic cables can be laid at low cost. Distributed fibre-optic temperature measurements can then be carried out on these glass fibres during the operating phase. These measurements provide the temperature profile along the entire cable.

With permanent DTS temperature measurement and the integrated analysis software, leaks are automatically detected and alarms triggered.

Thermal leak detection on district heating pipes

When operating district heating networks, it is important to detect and locate leaks at an early stage.
If a pipeline installed in the ground shows a leak, the ground in the surroundings of the leakage is strongly heated up. This is related to the fact that, for example, about 10 m³ per day of heating medium flows through a hole with a diameter of 2-3 mm in the pipeline.
for the temperature sounding method developed by GTC® , temperature sensors are installed into the ground at a distance of approx. 0.5 m to 2 m parallel to the district heating pipe, down to  a depth below the pipe.

Thermal leak detection in ammonia pipelines

The detection and location of leaks in ammonia pipelines is based on the principle that liquid ammonia which escapes from a leakage extracts heat from the environment by rapid evaporation. The resulting thermal anomalies can be reliably located by distributed fibre-optic temperature measurements. For this purpose, the fibre-optic measuring cables are fixed to the pipelines.

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