Skip to main content

AirLeakSlam: Automated Air Leak Detection

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 96))

Abstract

Estimations indicate that up to a third of the power consumption of compressed air leaks is lost due to undetected leaks. The current methods of detection and localization of these leaks require intensive manual labor, making use of handheld devices. In addition, the added energy cost caused by these air leaks is concealed in the total cost of energy. These factors can explain why there is a limited commitment to detect and repair air leaks. To address this issue, we propose a solution which does not require manual labor in the process of detecting and locating pressurized air leaks. By equipping existing factory vehicles with a multi-modal sensing device containing a LIDAR, an ultrasonic microphone array and a camera, we are able to locate leaks in large industrial environments with high precision in 3D. With this proposed solution we aim to encourage the industry to proactively search for pressurized air leaks and therefore reduce energy losses costing a fraction of currently employed methods.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Eikenens, A.: Intersection point of lines in 3D space (2012). https://nl.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/37192-intersection-point-of-lines-in-3d-space

  2. Eret, P., Meskell, C.: Microphone arrays as a leakage detection tool in industrial compressed air systems. Adv. Acoust. Vibr. 2012, 1–10 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/689379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Frenz, E., Moon, C., Pickering, D.J., Mellen, S., Brown, W.C.: Ultrasound techniques for leak detection. SAE Technical Paper Series, vol. 1 (2010). https://doi.org/10.4271/2009-01-2159

  4. Guenther, T., Kroll, A.: Automated detection of compressed air leaks using a scanning ultrasonic sensor system. In: Sensors Applications Symposium, Proceedings, SAS 2016, pp. 116–121 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1109/SAS.2016.7479830

  5. Holland, S.D., Roberts, R., Chimenti, D.E., Song, J.H.: An ultrasonic array sensor for spacecraft leak direction finding. Ultrasonics 45(1–4), 121–126 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultras.2006.07.020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Kerstens, R., Laurijssen, D., Steckel, J.: eRTIS : a fully embedded real time 3D imaging sonar sensor for robotic applications. In: International Conference on Robotics and Automation (to be published)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kohlbrecher, S., von Stryk, O., Meyer, J., Klingauf, U.: A flexible and scalable SLAM system with full 3D motion estimation. In: 2011 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, vol. 32, pp. 155–160. IEEE (2011). https://doi.org/10.1109/SSRR.2011.6106777. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/rcm.8045

  8. Leopardi, P.: A partition of the unit sphere into regions of equal area and small diameter. Electronic Trans. Numer. Anal. 25, 309–327 (2006)

    MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  9. McCorkle, M.: Compressed Air System Leaks: The Cost, Detection, and Repair, Common Culprits (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Perry, W., Mehltretter, N.: Applying root cause analysis to compressed air: how to solve common compressed air system problems with the 5-whys. Energy Eng.: J. Assoc. Energy Eng. 115(4), 56–62 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/01998595.2018.12016673

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Radgen, P.: Compressed air system audits and benchmarking results from the German compressed air campaign “Drucliuft effizient" (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  12. SKF: Product catalog. https://www.skf.com/uk/products/condition-monitoring/basic-condition-monitoring-products/ultrasonic-leak-detector/index.html

  13. SONOTEC: product catalog. https://www.sonotec.eu/products/preventive-maintenance/ultrasonic-testing-devices/

  14. Steckel, J., Peremans, H.: Ultrasound-based air leak detection using a random microphone array and sparse representations. In: IEEE SENSORS 2014 Proceedings, pp. 1026–1029, November 2014. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSENS.2014.6985178. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/lpdocs/epic03/wrapper.htm?arnumber=6985178

  15. Van Trees, H.L.: Optimum Array Processing. Wiley, New York (2002). https://doi.org/10.1002/0471221104

  16. Wang, T., Wang, X., Hong, M.: Gas leak location detection based on data fusion with time difference of arrival and energy decay using an ultrasonic sensor array. Sensors (Switzerland) 18(9) (2018). https://doi.org/10.3390/s18092985

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anthony Schenck .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Schenck, A., Daems, W., Steckel, J. (2020). AirLeakSlam: Automated Air Leak Detection. In: Barolli, L., Hellinckx, P., Natwichai, J. (eds) Advances on P2P, Parallel, Grid, Cloud and Internet Computing. 3PGCIC 2019. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 96. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33509-0_70

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33509-0_70

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-33508-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-33509-0

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics