Development and pilot-scale demonstration of optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) for gas pipeline monitoring

In this paper, we field demonstrate a natural gas pipeline monitoring based on optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR). OFDR can monitor distributed temperature and strain measurements along the natural gas pipelines and provide valuable information about pipe structural health, like hoop strain changes caused by pipe wall thinning or temperature changes from gas leaks based on Joule-Thomson effect. Distributed temperature and strain measurements were demonstrated where the pipeline operated at various pressure levels. The static pressure-induced hoop strain in a pilot-scale field test in a natural gas flowing high-pressure loop. The pilot scale testing results demonstrated in this paper indicate that the OFDR system is a promising tool for real-time monitoring of a pipeline without influence on normal operating conditions of the gas pipeline.