Examples of pipeline monitoring with nonlinear observers and real-data validation

This article shows how nonlinear observers can be used as tools for the monitoring of pipelines. In particular two observer approaches for two different applications are presented: a one-leak detection and isolation problem on the one the hand, and the same problem with friction estimation in addition on the other hand. In the first case, the system which represents the pipeline with a leak satisfies some uniform observability condition allowing for the design of a classical ''high gain'' observer. In the second case, the system is no longer uniformly observable, but still satisfies the observability rank condition, and an Extended Kalman Filter is proposed, under the use of exciting inputs. In both cases, experimental results are provided.