Management of natural gas pipeline is an important task for economical and
safety operation, loss prevention and environmental protection from methane
emission. A leak detection of gas pipeline, therefore, plays a key role in
the overall integrity management for a pipeline system. Especially for a l
ong pipeline operated alongside of densely populated areas, a leak detectio
n system is an indispensable condition to allow its construction. In this p
aper, a leak detection method based on a dynamic simulation with wave equat
ions is presented. An industrial application to one of the longest gas pipe
line is also presented with its performance information. (C) 2000 Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.