Leak Localization on Cylinder Tank Bottom Using Acoustic Emission

Abstract

In this study, a scheme for leak localization on a cylinder tank bottom using acoustic emission (AE) is proposed. This approach provides a means of early failure detection, thus reducing financial damage and hazards to the environment and users. The scheme starts with the hit detection process using a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) and a fixed thresholding method for a time of arrival (TOA) and an end-time determination. The detected hits are then investigated to group those originating from the same AE source together by enforcing an event definition and a similarity score. Afterwards, these newly grouped hits are processed by a time difference of arrival (TDOA) to find the locations of the events. Since the locations of the events alone do not pinpoint the leak location, a data density analysis using a Voronoi diagram is employed to find the area with the highest possibility of a leak’s existence. The proposed method was validated using the Hsu-Nielsen test on a cylinder tank bottom under a one-failed-sensor scenario, which returned a highly accurate result across multiple test locations.