DETECCIÓN-DE PÉRDIDAS EN TUBERÍAS DE AGUA: PROPUESTA BASADA EN UN BANCO DE FILTROS.

Currently leak detection (LD) in water pipelines is an active area of research that is attracting increasing interest due to the importance of the safe transport of this vital resource. This work considers the problem of LD in water pipes by means of analytical redundancy, based on a mathematical model and using state estimation techniques. The main aim of this work is to research, propose, implement and apply efficient algorithms that allow to tackle generally the LD. To achieve this, a bank of filters including Kalman Filters (KF) and Particle Filter (PF) is proposed and evaluated. Thus a conceptual contribution to the formulation of the LD problem is proposed in a modular way so that future studies of other techniques can solve the problem. In addition, efficient and reliable algorithms are developed, based on a state estimator capable of responding to industrial standards such as the delivery, from input and output measures available, of a reliable estimate of the state of the process and that is independent of the linear or non-linear dynamics and easy to handle and configure. The computer simulation and the experimental results show the effectiveness of combining KF with PF for the simple case of two sequential leaks in a pipe, presenting advantages such as rapid convergence and reducing the estimation error which are important factors in LD in water pipeline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]