The requirement for leak detection in multiphase pipelines has been increasing continuously. Recent offshore incidents in the USA and elsewhere have made the public much more aware of the effect of oil spillage. As it is much more expensive to separate gas from liquid offshore and transport them separately, more multiphase pipelines are being used.
ATMOS Pipe has been successfully applied to several multiphase pipelines where either multiphase flow metering is available or separate meters are used for the gas and liquid phases. As the accuracy of multiphase flow meters is limited to 5% or worse, the sensitivity of the leak detection system is not as high as in single phase pipelines. The cost of installing and maintaining multiphase flow meters is often the main drawback for flow balance based leak detection systems.
ATMOS Wave is a pressure-based leak detection system following several years’ research and development. It has proven to be more sensitive than flow-based systems. Field tests to multiphase pipelines are planned in order to verify the leak sensitivity and location accuracy performance figures under different flow regimes.