Multi-parameter CBM pipeline safety monitoring system based on optical fiber sensing

The long-range pipelines for coalbed methane (CBM) transport are generally laid in the field with wide coverage and under harsh operating condition. Most conventional electronic sensing technologies are not appropriate for CBM pipeline safety monitoring featuring long distance, large-capacity measuring points, and severe working condition. In view of above problems, the multi-parameter optical fiber sensing is proposed. For preventing third-party damage, a vibration sensing scheme is designed based on Phi-OTDR principle. For leakage prewaring, a ROTDR-based temperature detection scenario is realized. For pipe deformation precaution, a BOTDR-based strain sensing solution is exploited. Additionally, a cloud database is built on the server for online monitoring. The experimental results demonstrate that: the sensing range of vibration can be 12km with the 20-m spacial resolution and 8-m positioning accuracy; the temperature measurement accuracy is +/- 1 degrees C. within the temperature range -25 degrees C similar to 200 degrees C. over the range of 10 km optical fiber; the strain measurement range is 11000 mu epsilon when the measured distance is about 10 km and the spatial resolution is 1.23m. The multi-parameter detection approach by optical fiber sensing provides a new monitoring method for the safety prewaring of long-range CBM pipelines.