JP2004138627A - Piping monitor for leakage - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically detect the presence of fluid leakage in a transportation pipe line for transporting a fluid. <P>SOLUTION: This monitor is provided with a judge-determining means 25 for judge-determining the fluid leakage from the transportation pipe line 17 by comparing the first flow rate information with the second flow rate information. The fluid leakage from the buried transportation pipe line 17 for transporting the fluid is surely monitored by this constitution. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Conventionally, as a leak monitoring device for a pipeline for transporting a fluid, for example, a configuration of a leak monitoring device for a gas supply pipe as disclosed in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 has been known. Hereinafter, the configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

First, in the conventional example shown in FIG. 7, a gas supply source 1 such as propane gas, a gas supply pipe 2, a parent gas meter 3 for integrating the entire supply gas from the gas supply source 1, and individual gas usage of each supply destination It was composed of an individual gas meter 4 for integrating the amounts and individual gas appliances 5. Here, the parent gas meter 3 takes in the flow rate detection mechanism 6 and the CPU 7 which takes in the data detected by this detection mechanism to determine whether or not it is normal, and takes out the data calculated by the CPU 7 through the signal line 8. The communication controller 9 is provided, and the data is transmitted to the host computer 11 on the center side through the telephone line 10. Here, 12 is a pressure regulator, and 13 is a valve.

In such a configuration, the flow rate is detected by the flow rate detection mechanism 6 installed in the parent gas meter 3, the gas usage reduction time zone, the minimum flow rate and their deviation values are learned, and the total value thereof and the current data are obtained. It is determined whether or not the current data is within the normal range by comparison, and an alarm output is generated when it is determined that the data is abnormal.

In another conventional example shown in FIG. 8, the gas is supplied to a gas appliance 5 via a parent gas meter 3, which integrates the entire supply gas from the gas supply source 1, a gas supply pipe 2, and an individual gas meter 4 of each supply destination. At the same time, the parent gas meter 3 and the individual gas meter 4 have a flow transmission function 14, and are gas supply leak monitoring devices capable of exchanging flow information with a management device 15 that manages each gas meter. Here, reference numeral 16 denotes a minute leak monitoring meter.

In such a configuration, the gas flow rate during a predetermined time period during the day when the gas consumption is small is collected for each gas meter in the management device by the flow transmission function, and the flow rate value Ns of the parent gas meter 3 and each individual The sum of the flow rate values N1, N2,... Nn of the gas meter 4 is compared with N1 + N2 +.
Ns ≦ N1 + N2 +... + Nn
In the case of, it is assumed that there is no leakage,
Ns> N1 + N2 +... + Nn
In the case of (1), the configuration is such that there is a leakage determination method that there is leakage.
JP-A-4-64787 JP-A-4-36338

However, in a pipe leak monitoring device such as the conventional example, pipe leak determination is performed on the assumption that gas appliances in all houses are not used at the same time. As the lifestyle of the people becomes more diverse, it becomes unclear whether there is a gas leak upstream of the individual gas meter or whether gas appliances such as gas air conditioners are actually used continuously. In addition, there is a problem that the reliability of the leak determination due to the above-mentioned method is remarkably reduced, and furthermore, even if there is a continuous use of a spark ignition, it is erroneously determined that there is a gas leak upstream of the gas meter.

In another conventional example, there is an error of about ± 3% in the gas flow rate measurement. Therefore, when calculating the total flow rate of each individual gas meter, the error of each meter is superimposed and enlarged, and the reliability of the leak judgment is reduced. When the number of units increases, it is extremely difficult to calculate the flow rate of each individual meter at the same time, and each individual meter measured at a different time from the measurement time of the parent gas meter There is a problem that even if the sum of the flow rates of the meters is compared, the reliability of information for determining leakage is low.

The first object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problem, and it is a first object of the present invention to reliably and accurately determine leakage from a transportation pipeline based on flow rate information measured by two flow rate measuring means.

{Circle around (2)} A second object of the present invention is to improve the measurement accuracy by measuring the time in a short time by the instantaneous flow rate measuring means so that the measurement times coincide.

{Circle around (3)} A third object is to improve the determination accuracy by comparing the measurement time or the measurement time with the flow rate information, which is a pair of the time information and the flow information, and comparing them.

A fourth object of the present invention is to detect a minute leak by performing a leak determination based on a flow rate in a flow rate range equal to or less than a predetermined value.

A fifth object is to detect minute leaks with high accuracy by setting the instrumental difference of the flow rate measuring means to be equal to or less than the leak determination flow rate.

A sixth object is to improve leak determination accuracy by making a leak determination based on information obtained by measuring the flow rate over two days or more.

A seventh object is to improve the workability of the installation work by notifying the determination means by reporting the flow rate information before and after the transportation pipeline to the determination means by a radio signal.

An eighth object is to simplify the maintenance management work of the leak monitoring device by enabling the leak test device to check the operation check of the leak monitoring device.

{Circle around (9)} A ninth object is to dispose the leak test device in the first flow rate measuring means to surely inspect the operation of the first flow rate measuring means.

The tenth object of the present invention is to detect leaks of pipes after an earthquake or land subsidence by performing a leak monitoring operation when a vibration of a predetermined vibration level or more is generated in the vicinity of a transportation pipeline.

(11) It is an eleventh object to quickly and accurately determine a leakage abnormality before and after the occurrence of a vibration equal to or higher than a predetermined vibration level.

In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, a pipe leak monitoring device according to the present invention includes a transport pipe for transporting a fluid, a leak detecting unit that detects leakage of the fluid from the transport pipe, and a vibration detector. And a judging means for judging leakage when the seismic sensor detects a predetermined vibration level or more.

By performing a leak monitoring operation when a vibration at or above a predetermined vibration level occurs near the transportation pipeline, it is possible to early detect a pipe leak after an earthquake or land subsidence.

The pipe leak monitoring device of the present invention can detect a pipe leak after an earthquake or land subsidence at an early stage.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transportation pipe for transporting a fluid, a shutoff valve provided on an upstream side of the transportation pipe, a pipe branching means provided on a downstream side, the shutoff valve and the pipe branch. A first flow rate measuring means provided on the most upstream side between the means, a second flow rate measuring means provided on the downstream side of the first flow rate measuring means between the shutoff valve and the pipeline branching means, A first communication unit for transmitting the first flow information obtained by the first flow measurement unit, a second communication unit for transmitting the second flow information from the second communication unit, A third communication unit that receives the first flow rate information and the second flow rate information, and compares the first flow rate information and the second flow rate information to leak a fluid from the transport pipeline. Is provided with a determination means for determining the state.

The second invention is configured such that the first flow rate measuring means and the second flow rate measuring means are instantaneous flow rate measuring means.

The third invention has a configuration in which the leak determination is performed based on the first flow rate information and the second flow rate information, which are a pair of time information and flow rate information.

The fourth invention is configured to include a determination unit that performs a leak determination when one of the first flow rate information and the second flow rate information is equal to or less than a predetermined flow rate.

The fifth invention is configured to include the first flow rate measuring means and the second flow rate measuring means in which the difference between the flow rate measuring devices is equal to or less than the leakage determination flow rate in the measurable flow rate range.

The sixth invention is configured to include a determination unit that performs the leakage determination a plurality of times over two days or more.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the first communication unit, the second communication unit, and the third communication unit include a wireless device that communicates flow rate information by a wireless signal.

The eighth invention has a configuration including a leakage test device that generates a test signal for testing a normal operation of leakage monitoring.

The ninth invention has a configuration in which a leak test device for transmitting a test signal to the first flow rate measuring means is provided.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transportation pipeline for transporting a fluid, a leak detecting unit for detecting leakage of the fluid from the transportation pipeline, a vibration sensor for detecting vibration, and A configuration is provided in which a determination means for performing a leakage determination when a level or more is detected is provided.

The eleventh invention has a configuration in which a seismic device for detecting vibration is provided, and a determination means for performing a leak determination when the vibration sensor detects a vibration level equal to or higher than a predetermined level.

According to the eleventh means, a highly accurate determination can be quickly realized by the leakage abnormality determination before and after the occurrence of the vibration equal to or higher than the predetermined vibration level.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited by the embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a transport pipe 17 for transporting a fluid, a shutoff valve 18 provided on the upstream side of the transport pipe 17, and a pipe provided on the downstream side of the transport pipe 17 A first ultrasonic flow meter 20, which is an instantaneous flow meter as a first flow measuring device provided on the most upstream side between the shutoff valve 18 and the pipeline branching device 19; A second ultrasonic flow meter 21 as second flow measuring means provided at the most downstream side between the shut-off valve 18 and the pipe branching means 19, and a second ultrasonic flow meter obtained by the first ultrasonic flow meter. A first wireless device 22 as first communication means for transmitting the first flow rate information, and a second communication means as second communication means for transmitting the second flow rate information obtained by the second ultrasonic flow meter 21. A second wireless device 23, third communication means for receiving the first flow information and the second flow information, A determination unit 25 that determines leakage of the fluid from the transport pipeline 17 by acquiring and comparing the first flow rate information and the second flow rate information. Configuration. Here, 26 is a seismic sensor, 27 is a gas appliance, 28 is an alarm, 29 is a telephone notification device, 30 is an individual meter of each house, and 31 is a main pipeline.

Then, in the determination means 25, if the first flow rate information on the upstream side and the second flow rate information on the downstream side of the transport pipe 17 for transporting the fluid become equal to or less than a predetermined flow rate, for example, 500 liters / hour or less, a leak is detected. Was determined.

In such a configuration, in the time mode in which measurement is performed at a predetermined time, the first ultrasonic flow meter 20 measures the flow rate Q1, and the first wireless device 22 transmits the first flow rate information data. . Similarly, the second ultrasonic flow meter 21 measures the flow rate Q2, and the second wireless device 23 transmits the second flow rate information data. Here, the first flow rate information data was a combination of a mode parameter indicating one of three modes of time, test, and seismic sensitivity, time information, and flow rate information. The second flow rate information data was a combination of time information and flow rate information. Then, in the determination means 25 provided on the downstream side, the transmission data is received by the third wireless device 24, and if the flow rate Q1 as the first flow rate information is equal to or less than a predetermined value 500 liter / hour, the flow rate Leakage is determined by taking the difference Δq between Q1 and the flow rate Q2 as the second flow rate information and comparing it with a flow rate difference threshold ΔQ which is a preset leak determination flow rate. That is,
Q1-Q2 = Δq
Δq ≧ ΔQ
In the case of, it is determined to be a leak and an alarm is issued. Then, the shutoff valve was automatically or manually closed. Also,
Δq <ΔQ
If so, it was determined that there was no leakage, and the measurement was continued.

For example, assuming that the threshold value ΔQ is 5 liters / hour and the measurement accuracy of the flow rate measurement is 1% accuracy, the flow rate difference of 5 liters / hour is measured unless the predetermined flow rate is 500 liters / hour or less. It turns out that it becomes difficult to do. Therefore, the measured flow rate range in which the leak determination can be realized is determined by the threshold value ΔQ for the leak determination and the measurement accuracy of the measuring instrument, and the leak determination is performed only when the flow rate less than the flow rate measurement range is measured. As a result, highly accurate leak determination can be realized.

Further, in order to perform the measurement using two flow meters, the instrumental difference in the flow measurement between the first ultrasonic flow meter and the second ultrasonic flow meter is the leak determination flow rate in the measurable flow rate range. By setting the threshold value to be equal to or less than the threshold value ΔQ, it is possible to accurately perform a leak determination even with a minute leak.

Here, in the above-described leak determination, it is possible to determine the leak based on the result of one determination, but in order to improve the accuracy of the determination, the leak is determined from the results of the two determinations. When the two determination results match, the determination result is adopted. When the two determination results do not match, the flow rate measurement is performed once again to perform the determination, and the determination of the result is employed. I decided. It is obvious that the more the number of determinations is increased, the more the determination accuracy is improved. Then, by performing a plurality of determinations over two days or more, the determination accuracy can be further improved. For example, even if a leak due to gas work or the like is found in the determination of one day and the leak is determined, if no gas work is performed the next day, no leak occurs and the leak determination is eliminated. Therefore, by performing leakage monitoring over two days, the accuracy of leakage determination can be improved.

Further, since the first flow rate information and the second flow rate information are measured by the ultrasonic flow meter which is an instantaneous flow meter, the measurement time of the first ultrasonic flow meter and the measurement time of the second ultrasonic flow meter are measured. It is measured at a time that is almost the same as the time that was performed. For example, in monitoring a leak of a minute flow rate, a device such as a membrane flow meter must measure over a long period of time. If there is a leak in the middle of the pipe, the time measured by the second flow rate measuring means on the downstream side is longer than the time measured by the first flow rate measuring means on the upstream side, and the time measured by the first flow rate measuring means is longer. There is a danger that the flow state at the time that was measured and the flow state at the time that is being measured by the second flow rate measuring means would be different conditions, and measurement could not be performed accurately. However, when the measurement is performed using the instantaneous flow meter, the measurement times can be matched, so that the leak determination can be performed in the same flow state, and the determination accuracy can be improved. In the present invention, since the time information of the measurement time and the flow rate information are paired information, even when the flow rate information is measured over a long period of time, such as a positive displacement flow meter, it is not an instantaneous flow meter, but from when to when. Since it is clear that the data is, the average flow rate per unit time can be calculated. The leak can be determined from the calculated data using the above equation, and the determination accuracy can be improved. FIGS. 3 to 5 show flowcharts of the above measurement and determination means.

Further, since the flow rate information is exchanged by wireless communication, a signal line connecting the determination means between the first ultrasonic flow meter and the second ultrasonic flow meter becomes unnecessary, and the workability of the installation work is greatly improved. Be improved. As shown in FIG. 6, the same effect can be obtained even when the second ultrasonic flowmeter 21 and the judging means 25 are installed close to each other, and are connected by signal lines without using wireless means. Is obvious.

On the other hand, a leak test device 32 is installed in the first ultrasonic flow meter 20, and when a test switch 33 of the leak test device 32 is pressed, a leak test signal is transmitted to the third wireless device in a test mode. Is done. For example, it is possible to test whether or not the determination unit determines that there is a leak by converting the current measured flow rate Q1 to a flow rate larger by Δq and transmitting the signal as a leak test signal. For example, if a leak cannot be determined by the test, various abnormalities such as an abnormal flow measurement, an abnormal communication, an abnormal determination threshold, and an abnormal battery can be found. Also, by including the operation of periodically generating the test signal in the measurement flow of the first flow rate measuring means, the operation test of the leak monitoring device can be automatically performed. By this test, it is possible to easily check the battery serving as the drive power source of the first ultrasonic flowmeter, the leakage criterion ΔQ, and the like, thereby simplifying the maintenance management work.

(4) Further, a vibration sensor for detecting vibration was installed on the first ultrasonic flowmeter 20, and the flow rate was measured when the vibration sensor 26 detected a vibration level equal to or higher than a predetermined value. Then, the leak determination is made by transmitting the information data in the seismic mode.

In such a configuration, by setting the predetermined vibration level to seismic intensity 2 which is an earthquake level felt by a person, leakage monitoring can be performed after a vibration of seismic intensity 2 or more has occurred. Normally, in many cases, measurement is performed at predetermined long-term intervals, such as one-day intervals, in consideration of the life of the battery that is the power supply of the leak monitoring device. Therefore, even if an earthquake occurs, the next monitoring time is reached. By the time the device did not operate for almost one day, by setting such a seismic mode, it is possible to check for leakage immediately after the earthquake, and to find the leakage early. In addition, by setting the vibration level, it is possible to detect a trouble due to construction work and a leak due to ground deformation at an early stage.

Although the ultrasonic flowmeter has been described as the instantaneous flow rate measuring means, the same effect can be obtained by using a hot wire flowmeter or a nozzle flowmeter.

According to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

(4) Leakage from the transportation pipeline can be reliably and accurately determined based on the flow rate information measured by the two flow rate measuring means.

(4) The measurement time can be made coincident by performing the measurement in a short time by the instantaneous flow rate measurement means, and the measurement accuracy can be improved.

Also, the determination accuracy can be improved by making the measurement times coincide with each other based on the flow rate information in which the time information and the flow rate information are paired.

Furthermore, a small leak can be detected by performing a leak determination based on a flow rate in a flow rate range equal to or less than a predetermined value.

こ と Also, by setting the instrumental difference of the flow rate measuring means to be equal to or less than the leakage determination flow rate, a minute leak can be detected with high accuracy.

{Circle around (2)} By performing the leak determination based on the information obtained by measuring the flow rate over two days or more, the leak determination accuracy can be improved.

Furthermore, by reporting the flow rate information before and after the transport pipeline to the determination means by a radio signal, the wiring work is unnecessary, and the workability of the installation work can be improved.

Also, since the operation check of the leak monitoring device can be checked by the leak test device, the maintenance work of the leak monitoring device can be simplified.

(4) The operation inspection of the first flow rate measuring means can be reliably performed.

Furthermore, by performing a leak monitoring operation when vibration exceeding a predetermined vibration level occurs in the vicinity of the transportation pipeline, it is possible to early detect a pipe leak after an earthquake or land subsidence.

In addition, a highly accurate determination can be quickly realized by the leakage abnormality determination before and after the occurrence of the vibration equal to or higher than the predetermined vibration level.

As described above, the pipe leak monitoring device according to the present invention can detect a pipe leak after an earthquake or land subsidence at an early stage, and therefore, in a pipeline for transporting a fluid such as propane gas, an earthquake or land subsidence occurs. It can be applied to discover pipe leaks after ground deformation.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a pipe leakage monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Block diagram of the device Measurement flow chart of the first ultrasonic flow meter of the same device Measurement flow chart of the second ultrasonic flow meter of the same device Flowchart of determination means of the device Block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. Configuration diagram of conventional pipe leakage monitoring device Configuration diagram of a pipe leakage monitoring device showing another conventional example

Explanation of reference numerals

Reference Signs List 17 transport pipeline 18 shut-off valve 19 pipeline branching means 20 first ultrasonic flow meter (first flow measuring means)
21. Second ultrasonic flow meter (second flow measuring means)
22. First wireless device (first communication means)
23 Second wireless device (second communication means)
24 Third wireless device (third communication means)
25 Judging means 26 Seismic sensor 32 Leak test device

Claims (8)

A transport pipeline for transporting fluid, leak detection means for detecting leakage of the fluid from the transport pipeline, a seismic sensor for detecting vibration, and when the vibrator detects a predetermined vibration level or more. A pipe leak monitoring device comprising a judging means for making a leak judgment. A transport pipeline for transporting fluid, a shutoff valve provided on the upstream side of the transport pipeline, a pipeline branching unit provided on the downstream side, and the most upstream between the shutoff valve and the pipeline branching unit. First flow measurement means provided on the side, second flow measurement means provided downstream of the first flow measurement means between the shut-off valve and the pipeline branch means, and the first flow measurement means First communication means for transmitting the first flow rate information obtained by the means, second communication means for transmitting the second flow rate information from the second communication means, A third communication means for receiving the second flow rate information; and a seismic sensor for detecting vibration in the first flow rate measuring means. Determining means for comparing the first flow rate information with the second flow rate information to determine leakage of fluid from the transport pipeline; Piping leakage monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising. 3. The piping leak monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein the first flow rate measuring means and the second flow rate measuring means are instantaneous flow rate measuring means. 2. The pipe leak monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising: a determination unit configured to perform a leak determination based on the first flow rate information and the second flow rate information in which the time information and the flow rate information are paired. 2. The piping leak monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising: a determination unit configured to perform a leak determination when one of the first flow rate information and the second flow rate information is equal to or less than a predetermined flow rate. The pipe leak monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising a first flow rate measuring means and a second flow rate measuring means whose difference between the flow rate measuring devices is equal to or less than a leakage determination flow rate in a measurable flow rate range. The pipe leak monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a determination unit configured to perform a leak determination a plurality of times over two days or more. The piping leak monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first communication unit, the second communication unit, and the third communication unit include a wireless device that communicates flow rate information by a wireless signal.

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