SYSTEM AND METHOD OF REMOTE MONITORING OF THE INTEGRITY OF PRESSURISED PIPES BY MEANS OF VIBROACOUSTIC SOURCES

Abstract

A description is given of a system and a method of monitoring of a pipe for the transportation of a fluid at a predefined pressure value. The system comprises at least one pressure pulses generator device hydraulically connected to the fluid transported by the pipe. Each pressure pulses generator device comprises at least one first tank, designed to contain fluid coming from the pipe and to maintain it at a first pressure value which is smaller than the predefined pressure of the fluid transported by the pipe, and at least one second tank, designed to contain fluid coming from the pipe and to maintain it at a second pressure value which is greater than the predefined pressure value of the fluid transported by the pipe. The first tank and the second tank generate respectively a negative pressure pulse, caused by the passage of fluid from the pipe to the first tank, and a positive pressure pulse, caused by the passage of fluid from the second tank to the pipe. Each pressure pulses generator device comprises at least one pressure transducer designed to detect the pressure values of the fluid and to convert them into respective acoustic signals. The system comprises moreover at least one measurement station placed along the pipe and provided with one or more vibroacoustic sensors configured to detect the acoustic signals received from the pressure pulses generator devices.

Claims

1. A system of monitoring a pipe for the transportation of a fluid at a predefined pressure value (P), the system comprising: at least one pressure pulses generator device hydraulically connected to the fluid transported by the pipe, wherein each pressure pulses generator device comprises: at least one first tank, designed to contain a first predefined quantity of fluid coming from the pipe and designed to maintain the first predefined quantity of fluid at a first pressure value (P1) which is smaller than the predefined pressure value (P) of the fluid transported by the pipe; at least one second tank designed to contain a predefined quantity of fluid coming from the pipe and designed to maintain the second predefined quantity of fluid at a second pressure value (P2) which is greater than the predefined pressure value (P) of the fluid transported by the pipe, wherein the first tank and the second tank generate respectively a negative pressure pulse, caused by the passage of fluid from the pipe to the first tank, and a positive pressure pulse, caused by the passage of fluid from the second tank to the pipe; and at least one pressure transducer, designed to measure the first and second pressure values of the fluid and designed to convert the first and second pressure values into respective recorded acoustic signals (s(t)), and at least one measurement station placed along the pipe and provided with one or more vibroacoustic sensors configured to record acoustic signals (sA(t), sB(t)) generated by the at least one pressure pulses generator device.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one pair of measurement stations placed at a predefined distance along the pipe.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein each pressure pulses generator device further comprises a plurality of solenoid valves designed to control the movements of the fluid in the pipe to the pressure pulses generator device and vice versa.

4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a centralised processing unit configured to process data coming from the at least one pressure pulses generator device and the at least one measurement station.

5. A method of monitoring a pipe using the system of claim 1, the method comprising: generating at least one acoustic signal by the at least one pressure pulses generator device; receiving by at least one measurement station the at least one acoustic signal; filtering the at least one acoustic signal to produce at least one filtered acoustic signal maintained in a predefined range of frequencies; back propagating the at least one filtered acoustic signal on a corresponding set of points along the pipe to produce at least one back-propagated acoustic signal; performing, for each point of the set, a cross correlation on a moving time window on the at least one back-propagated acoustic signal in order to extract an energy value therefrom; producing, for each point of the set, an integral as a function of time of the energy value obtained in the phase of cross correlation to make a set of the energy values integrated as a function of time; and applying a threshold criterion to trigger a possible alarm signal, wherein the set of the energy values integrated as a function of time forms a map versus time and position along the pipe on which possible anomalies of the pipe are represented by peaks of the energy values.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein two distinct acoustic signals (s.sub.A(t), s.sub.B(t)) are recorded by two measurement stations after an activation of at least one pressure pulses generator device, the two distinct acoustic signals (s.sub.A(t), s.sub.B(t)) being received by two adjacent measurement stations positioned respectively at opposite ends A and B of a section (A-B) of the pipe of a predefined length.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the two distinct acoustic signals (s.sub.A(t), s.sub.B(t)) are back-propagated respectively from point A to point B, and from point B to point A, of the section (A-B) of the pipe on a corresponding set of points along the section (A-B) of the pipe.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the integral as a function of time of the energy value, at a generic position (x) along the section (A-B) of the pipe, is:
E.sub.C(x,t)=[.sub.t1.sup.t2.sub.CA().Math..sub.CB(t)d]dt, wherein: ${\hat{S}}_{C.Math.A}\left(f\right)=\frac{.Math.x_A-x_C.Math./.Math.x_A-x_H.Math.}{.Math.H_{A.Math.8}.Math.}.Math.S_A\left(f\right).Math.e^{j.Math..Math.2.Math..Math..Math..Math.f.Math..Math.x_A-x_C.Math./v}$ is the Fourier transform of a first estimated signal which is generated in said generic position (x) by back propagating the acoustic signal (s.sub.A(t)) measured at the point A; S.sub.A(f) is the Fourier transform of the acoustic signal s.sub.A(t), where (f) is the frequency; .sub.CA(t) is the inverse Fourier transform of .sub.CA(f); ${\hat{S}}_{C.Math.B}\left(f\right)=\frac{.Math.x_{A.Math.8}-x_C.Math./.Math.x_A-x_8.Math.}{.Math.H_{A.Math.B}.Math.}.Math.S_B\left(f\right).Math.e^{j.Math..Math.2.Math..Math..Math..Math.f.Math..Math.x_B-x_C.Math./v}.Math..Math.\mathrm{is}$ is the Fourier transform of a second estimated signal which is generated in said generic position (x) by back propagating the acoustic signal (s.sub.B(t)) measured at the point B; S.sub.B(f) is the Fourier transform of the acoustic signal s.sub.B(t), where (f) is the frequency; .sub.CB (t) is the inverse Fourier transform of .sub.CB(f); H.sub.AB(f) is the transfer function for pressure transients which are propagated from point A to point B of said section (A-B) of the pipe; and v is the speed of sound inside a fluid flowing from point A to point B of the section (A-B) of the pipe.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein on the at least one acoustic signal, at least one procedure is applied on the basis of the direction of arrival of the at least one acoustic signal, the at least one procedure being selected from the group consisting of: adapted filtering; deconvolution; and adaptive reduction of noise.

10. The method according to claim 5, further comprising calibrating the system in order to set a threshold value in order to apply the threshold criterion.

Description

[0036] The features and the advantages of a system and a method of remote monitoring of the integrity of pressurised pipes according to the present invention will be made clearer by the following description, given by way of a non-limiting example and referred to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which:

[0037] FIG. 1a is a schematic view of a device generating pressure pulses belonging to the system of remote monitoring of the integrity of pressurised pipes according to the present invention;

[0038] FIG. 1b is a perspective view of the pressure pulses generator device;

[0039] FIG. 2 is a representation, as a function of time, of a waveform generated by a perturbation induced in an intermediate point C of a section of pipe A-B;

[0040] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of the method of remote monitoring of the integrity of pressurised pipes according to the present invention;

[0041] FIG. 4 is a diagram of the pressure pulses generated by a fluid sent to the low-pressure tank of the pulses generator device of FIG. 1;

[0042] FIG. 5 is a diagram of the pressure pulse generated by a fluid expelled from the high-pressure tank of the pulses generator device of FIG. 1;

[0043] FIG. 6 shows a generic pressurised pipe for the transportation of fluids to which the system and the method of monitoring according to the present invention can be applied;

[0044] FIG. 7 is a diagram of the pressure transient which occurs in points V22, V20 and V19 of the pipe of FIG. 6 in conditions of discharge of fluid in a pressure pulses generator device placed in the point V22 of the pipe of FIG. 6;

[0045] FIG. 8 is a diagram that shows, as a function of time, the acoustic signals s(t) measured and processed at the points V20 (above) and V22 (below) of the pipe of FIG. 6;

[0046] FIG. 9 is a diagram that shows, in an enlarged view, the acoustic signals s(t) measured and processed at the point V22 of the pipe of FIG. 6;

[0047] FIG. 10 is a diagram that shows the pressure transients, coded in binary code, of an example of application of the system and of the method of monitoring according to the present invention;

[0048] FIG. 11 is a schematic representation of a pipe on which monitoring tests have been performed, obtaining the values of FIG. 10;

[0049] FIG. 12 is a diagram that shows a first series of energy values obtained from the example of application of the system and of the method of monitoring as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11; and

[0050] FIG. 13 is a diagram that shows a series of energy values obtained from the example of application of the system and of the method of monitoring as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.

[0051] Referring in particular to FIG. 1, a system of remote monitoring of the integrity of pressurised pipes according to the present invention is shown. The system of monitoring is applicable to a generic pipe 10 for the transportation of a fluid at a predefined pressure value P. The fluid can be constituted by a liquid, a gas or a liquid/gas mixture.

[0052] The monitoring system comprises at least one pressure pulses generator device 12, hydraulically connected to the fluid transported by the pipe 10. Each pressure pulses generator device 12 comprises at least one first tank 14, designed to contain a first predefined quantity of fluid coming from the pipe 10 and to maintain this first predefined quantity of fluid at a first pressure value P.sub.1 which is lower than the predefined pressure value P of the fluid transported by the pipe 10. Each pressure pulses generator device 12 comprises therefore at least one second tank 16, designed to contain a second predefined quantity of fluid coming from the pipe 10 and in order to maintain this second predefined quantity of fluid at a second pressure value P.sub.2 which is greater than the predefined pressure value P of the fluid transported by the pipe 10.

[0053] The first low-pressure tank 14 and the second high-pressure tank 16 generate respectively a negative pressure pulse, caused by the passage of fluid from the pipe 10 to the first tank 14, and a positive pressure pulse, caused by the passage of fluid from the second tank 16 to the pipe 10. Each pressure pulses generator device 12 comprises moreover at least one pressure transducer 18, designed to detect the pressure values of the fluid and to convert these pressure values into respective signals s(t), and a plurality of solenoid valves 20, designed to control the movements of the fluid from the pipe 10 to the pressure pulses generator device 12 and vice versa.

[0054] Each pressure pulses generator device 12 operates therefore as binary and active source of controllable pressure pulses of opposite sign, for any type of fluid (liquids, gases and mixtures), with the following special features: [0055] possibility of generating binary and/or multi-level sequences of negative and positive pressure pulses in a manner that can be selected by the user and so as to exploit advanced techniques of coding for the purpose of incrementing the signal/noise ratio and the detectability of the acoustic signals s(t); [0056] reuse of the tanks: when the first tank 14 is filled with fluid, it is brought to high pressure, so as to be able to inject fluid into the pipe 10. Simultaneously, the pressure of the fluid in the second tank 16 is reduced and this second tank 16 becomes the low-pressure tank which aspirates fluid from the pipe 10. This technical solution prevents any contact between the fluid transported by the pipe 10, and the surrounding environment, in order to make the acoustic signals generator device completely watertight; [0057] negligible perturbation of the hydraulic balance inside the pipe 10, balancing the negative and positive pressure pulses, with zero average value, so as not to alter the static conditions of the fluid in the pipe and the relative acoustic propagation constants.

[0058] Advantageously the pulses generator device 12 can produce binary waveforms with negative and positive pulses, with the advantage of being able to use advanced coding schemes of the source wave in order to increase the signal/noise ratio and the sensitivity for detecting the anomalies.

[0059] The source does not alter the hydraulic balance of the fluid/pipe system in static conditions, balancing negative and positive pulses. The system of monitoring of a pipe is closed and does not produce any release of fluid into the environment. Moreover, by using simultaneously several source devices 12 equipped with discharge/charge solenoid valves, a discrete number of amplitudes of the pressure pulses is obtained, even greater than two, extending the range of the sequence of the acoustic signals to multi-level codes.

[0060] The system of monitoring comprises at least one measurement station 22 or 24 (FIG. 2), placed along the pipe and provided with one or more vibroacoustic sensors configured to detect the acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) or s.sub.B(t) received from one or more pressure pulses generator devices 12. Preferably, the system of monitoring comprises at least one pair of measurement stations 22 and 24 placed at a predefined distance along the pipe 10. Each measurement station 22 and 24 is provided with respective vibroacoustic sensors configured to record the acoustic signal s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t). Direct arrival at each measurement station 22 and 24, of the acoustic signal emitted by the pressure pulses generator devices 12, is used to calculate the velocity of propagation (speed of sound) and the equivalent acoustic transfer function of section A-B of pipe 10 comprised between the measurement stations 22 and 24.

[0061] The pipe 10 behaves like a waveguide for the pressure transients (acoustic waves) which propagate inside the pressurised fluid transported by the same pipe 10. A discrete network of vibroacoustic sensors, such as for example pressure, hydrophone, accelerometer sensors, etc. belonging to respective measurement stations 22 and 24 positioned along the pipe 10, records both the acoustic waves directly generated by the pressure pulses generator devices 12 and the acoustic waves possibly generated by anomalies that occur along the pipe 10.

[0062] As shown in FIG. 2 and as described in the document WO 2014/096019 A1 in the name of the same Applicant, pairs of adjacent measurement stations 22 and 24, positioned respectively in points A and B of the pipe 10, are used to measure the effective parameters of propagation (speed of sound and attenuation) in order to perform accurate standard reflectometry reconstructions, such as for example triangulations of the times of arrival of a same waveform in the acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t). The data are processed by a centralised processing unit of the monitoring system.

[0063] The basic principle of the processing of the data is the one whereby, in the pipe 10, fluctuations of the pumping regimes, regulations of the flow at the valves and the presence of active generators of pressure are primary sources of pressure transients, generally at the terminal ends of the pipe 10. On the other hand, along the pipe 10, other noises (pressure variations) are also generated. Some examples of these noises are constituted by mechanical activities performed near the pipe 10, which transmit vibrations to this pipe 10, and/or by the scattering of the acoustic signals in transit in the pipe 10, in correspondence to localised reductions in diameter, pipe joints, branches, etc. These secondary sources which reflect the acoustic signals in transit in the piping can be activated by means of the use of the pressure pulses generator devices 12.

[0064] The method of remote monitoring of the integrity of pressurised pipes according to the present invention is based on the following assumptions: [0065] the pipe 10 is divided and analysed in a plurality of sections A-B, wherein each section A-B of pipe 10 is comprised between pairs of adjacent measurement stations 22 and 24; [0066] the signals measured in A and in B, respectively s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t), are used to compute an acoustic energy emitted/scattered from a discrete set of point along the section A-B of pipe 10, rather than being processed for their instantaneous amplitude; [0067] if a section A-B of pipe 10 contains a point of scattering of the acoustic signals in transit, the relative signature is contained in the recordings of these acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t) performed by the measurement stations 22 and 24. The signature is a lagged and attenuated version of the original waveform introduced by the pressure pulses generator devices 12; [0068] it is hypothesised that the speed of sound v, and the coefficient of absorption a inside the pipe 10 are known and/or can be derived by means of numerical simulators. As described in the document WO 2014/096019 A1 in the name of the same Applicant, the parameters of propagation are estimated continuously, in such a way that they can be directly used by the method of monitoring.

[0069] On the other hand, the acoustic signals that propagate directly from the pressure pulses generator devices 12 and the measurement stations 22 and 24 can also be used in order to estimate the parameters of propagation; [0070] s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t) indicate the acoustic signals recorded by the measurement stations 22 and 24 respectively at the points A and B of the section A-B of pipe 10, where (t) is time; [0071] S.sub.A(f) and S.sub.B(f) indicate the Fourier transforms respectively of the acoustic signal s.sub.A(t) and of the acoustic signal s.sub.B(t), where (f) is the frequency of these signals; [0072] H.sub.AB(f) indicates the transfer function of the pressure transient which is propagated from point A to point B of the section A-B of pipe 10; [0073] v indicates the speed of the sound inside the fluid which flows in pipe 10 from point A to point B of the respective section A-B of pipe 10;

[00001]$-{\hat{S}}_{C.Math.A}\left(f\right)=\frac{.Math.x_A-x_C.Math./.Math.x_A-x_B.Math.}{.Math.H_{A.Math.B}.Math.}.Math.S_A\left(f\right).Math.e^{\mathrm{j2f}.Math..Math.x_B-x_C.Math./v}$ is the Fourier transform of the estimated signal which is generated in an intermediate point C (FIG. 2) of the section A-B of pipe 10 by means of back propagation of the acoustic signal s.sub.A(t) measured in the point A; [0074] .sub.cA(t) is the inverse Fourier transform of .sub.CA(f);

[00002]$-{\hat{S}}_{C.Math.B}\left(f\right)=\frac{.Math.x_B-x_C.Math./.Math.x_A-x_B.Math.}{.Math.H_{A.Math.B}.Math.}.Math.S_B\left(f\right).Math.e^{j.Math.2.Math..Math.f\left|x_B-x_C\right|/v}$ is the Fourier transform of the estimated signal which is generated in an intermediate point C (FIG. 2) of the section A-B of pipe 10 by means of back propagation of the acoustic signal s.sub.B(t) measured in the point B; [0075] .sub.CB(t) is the inverse Fourier transform of .sub.CB(f); [0076] E.sub.C(x,t)=[.sub.t1.sup.t2.sub.CA().Math..sub.CB(t)d]dt is the integral at a generic position x (the generic intermediate point C of FIG. 2) along the pipe 10, of the cross-correlation of a time window from t.sub.1 to t.sub.2 of .sub.CA(t) and .sub.CB(t).

[0077] The method of remote monitoring of the integrity of pressurised pipes according to the present invention comprises therefore the following steps: [0078] generation of one or more acoustic signals s(t) by one or more respective pressure pulses generator devices 12; [0079] reception, by two adjacent measurement stations 22 and 24 positioned respectively in points A and B of pipe 10, of the acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t); [0080] filtering, with a band-pass filter and with bandwidth W, of the acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t), so as to maintain these acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t) in a predefined range of frequencies, useful for obtaining the energy of these acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t). On the acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t) procedures of adapted filtering and of deconvolution can be applied, as well as algorithms of adaptive reduction of the noise, on the basis of the direction of arrival of these signals; [0081] the acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t) are back-propagated respectively from point A to point B and from point B to point A of the section A-B of pipe 10 on a discrete set of points along this section A-B of pipe 10 (FIG. 3). The distance between the adjacent points obtained in this way represents substantially the expected resolution. The back-propagation operation compensates the propagation, and it is performed using the inverse of the equivalent acoustic transfer function of the section A-B of pipe 10, which is calculated using the acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t), for example processing the direct arrivals from the acoustic sources to the measurement stations 22 and 24; [0082] for each point along the section A-B, a cross-correlation is performed on a moving time window between the back-propagated acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t), for the purpose of highlighting a potential coherence. Ideally, an acoustic signal originated from one point in the set of points analysed and propagated to point A and to point B is correctly equalized in the phase of back-propagation. The cross-correlation simply extracts the respective energy value therefrom. In a silent point of the pipe 10, in fact, normally no appreciable signal is detected, obtaining as a result a negligible energy value. The time duration of the moving cross-correlation window can be adapted to the period of activity of the pressure pulses generator devices 12; [0083] for each point of the set the integral is evaluated as a function of a discretized time, obtaining then a matrix of energy values. The coordinates of the matrix are the positions of the points of the pipe section between A and B, and the time of computation of the energy. The set of the energy values integrated as a function of the time forms a map versus time and position along the pipe on which possible anomalies of the pipe 10 are represented by peaks of said energy values.

[0084] A threshold criterion on the energy value is applied in order to trigger a possible alarm signal. The threshold value needs to be set following a phase of calibration of the system. Moreover, since the distribution of the energy along the pipe 10 can be different, due to different working conditions of the same pipe, a phase of training of the system is also necessary. The integration of the energy is performed on a limited time window and then restarted, as a function of the time length of the waveforms produced by the pressure generator devices 12 (for example from a period of time comprised between tens of minutes and a few hours), in order to avoid effects of masking or of polarization on future events.

[0085] The energy computed from the acoustic signals s.sub.A(t) and s.sub.B(t) can also be used with a differential approach, that is to say subtracting from the current energy value an estimated energy value in a reference scenario.

[0086] In this process thorough knowledge of the original waveform is fundamental, in order to perform a reliable procedure of deconvolution and adaptive subtraction.

[0087] The set of the integrated energy values as a function of time and space forms a map on which possible anomalies of the pipe 10, such as for example deformations, pipe joins, branches, etc., are represented by peaks of these energy values. The method of monitoring can also be applied to one single acoustic signal, for example s.sub.A(t), recorded during the utilization of a single pulse generator device 12. The acoustic signal s.sub.A(t) is auto-correlated after a time variant compensation of the propagation, as in a procedure of adapted filtering. The result is back-propagated and then integrated as a function of time. Possibly the distribution of the energy along the pipe 10 can be compared, in a differential manner, with the same distribution of a reference scenario.

[0088] The method of monitoring based on the calculation of the energy of the acoustic signals can also be applied for the identification of external interferences on the pipe 10, or of any other activity able to produce vibroacoustic signals in a certain position along this pipe 10. In these cases there is no need to make use of active sources of noise, as the pressure transients are generated by the interactions with the pipe 10.

[0089] FIGS. 4 and 5 show respectively diagrams of the pressure pulse in an example of application of the system and of the method of remote monitoring of the integrity of pressurised pipes according to the present invention. The pressure pulses generator device 12, provided with the two tanks 14 and 16, is used to generate a negative pressure pulse (FIG. 4) and a positive pressure pulse (FIG. 5) in the pipe 10. These pressure pulses can be controlled as regards both the time duration, and the amplitude of pressure. Binary coding of these pressure pulses can be performed (for example with spread-spectrum transmission techniques, LABS: low autocorrelation binary sequences or Golay sequences) and/or a multi-level modulation (for example m-PAM: multilevel pulse-amplitude modulation).

[0090] FIG. 6 shows the application of the system and of the method of monitoring according to the present invention to a section V16-V23, 33 km long, of a pipe with internal diameter equal to 24 for pressurised gas transportation. Along the section V16-V23 four stations of generation and of recording of vibroacoustic signals are installed, denoted respectively by V17, V19, V20 and V22.

[0091] At the station V22 a short negative pressure pulse is generated. FIG. 7 shows the pressure signals measured at the three stations V19, V20 and V22. The original signal (V22) is distinctly visible at a time of around 5 seconds and is followed, at a time of around 25 seconds, by the reflected echo from an occlusion of the section V16-V23 of pipe at a valve in the point V23. The acoustic wave generated by the pressure pulse at the station V22 is also recorded by the other stations V19 and V20 and the respective pressure signals are shown in FIG. 7.

[0092] FIG. 8 shows some smaller reflections (indicated by the arrows in the enlarged square) which should not occur in a pipe with constant cross section (diameter). The overall acoustic response has then be feeded to an iterative inversion procedure. The section V16-V23 of pipe has been parameterised as a sequence of pipe segments with unknown cross section (diameter). Starting from a model with constant cross section (diameter), a simulator has computed the correspondent synthetic acoustic response, which has been compared with the real measurements. The model has been updated in an iterative manner, until the residual between the pressure signals calculated and those effectively measured is below a predefined threshold. The final inverted model has highlighted the following anomalies in the section V16-V23 of pipe: [0093] the north terminal of the section V16-V23 of pipe is located around 50 m downstream of the valve V23. A site inspection has revealed that the pipe was closed with a welded closure in this buried portion; [0094] an anomaly P1 was identified at 10315 m distance from the point V16. This anomaly produced a negative reflection (increase in the equivalent cross section). The position of the anomaly P1 coincides with the point V19 and the anomalous reflection was attributed to a blind branch of the pipe; [0095] another anomaly P2 was identified at a distance of 19815 m from the point V16, while a further anomaly P3 was identified at a distance of 31305 m from the point V16. These anomalies, which cannot be inspected, were attributed to buried deformations of the pipe.

[0096] The equivalent final model explains also correctly the smaller echoes, like the higher order multiples (FIG. 9). It is important to note that the simulator has to model all the effects of propagation, including the attenuation and the dispersion, which are functions of the frequency.

[0097] FIG. 10 shows the pressure transients, coded in binary code, of another example of application of the system and of the method of monitoring according to the present invention. In this example of application a reflectometry campaign was performed on a pipe 1896 m long and with internal diameter equal to 12. The pipe was filled with water at a pressure of 5 bar.

[0098] The pipe, shown schematically in FIG. 11, is closed at both ends. At a first end (station A) a pressure pulses generator device 12 is placed which generates a binary sequence of pressure transients of the low autocorrelation binary sequence type or LABS. The relative diagram is shown in FIG. 10.

[0099] The pipe has two anomalous situations, shown schematically in FIG. 11: [0100] a valve is partially closed at the point Site 5; [0101] a short branch with a closed end (20 m in length with internal diameter equal to ) is connected to the pipe at the point Site 2. No discharge of water occurs at this branch.

[0102] FIG. 12 shows the results in terms of energy values, of the reflectometry campaign performed on the pipe of FIG. 11 in the point Site 5. The results were obtained by computing the difference between 40 minutes of data recorded in reference conditions, that is to say with the valve at Site 5 open, and 40 minutes of data recorded in anomalous conditions, that is to say with the valve 50% closed. The differential energy peak at the point Site 5, placed at a distance of 1145 m from the station A, is correlated to an energy scattering effect at the partial closure of the pipe.

[0103] In a spectrogram, with range of frequencies 0-250 Hz, of the acoustic signal recorded at the station A of the pipe it is possible to detect the variation of the equivalent acoustic channel of the pipe by comparing the condition prior to the actuation of the valve, with the condition after the partial closure of the valve. Vertical bands with high energy value correspond to the activation of the pressure sources. The sudden activation of the discharge/inlet valves and the use of sequences in binary code permits to increase the bandwidth of the signal.

[0104] FIG. 13 shows the results, in terms of energy values, of the reflectometry campaign performed on the pipe of FIG. 11 to detect the anomaly in the point Site 2. The results were obtained by making the difference between 40 minutes of data recorded in reference conditions, that is to say with the branch disconnected from the pipe, and 40 minutes of data recorded in anomalous conditions, that is to say with the branch connected to the pipe. The peak at the point Site 2, placed at a distance of 680 m from the station A, is correlated to an energy scattering at the connection with the branch.

[0105] It was thus seen that the system and the method of remote monitoring of the integrity of pressurised pipes according to the present invention achieve the objectives disclosed previously.

[0106] The system and the method of remote monitoring of the integrity of pressurised pipes of the present invention designed in this way can in any case undergo numerous changes and variants, all coming within the same inventive concept. The sphere of protection of the invention is therefore defined by the appended claims.