See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/228769305

Long-distance fiber optic sensing solutions for

pipeline leakage, intrusion and ground
movement detection
ARTICLE in PROCEEDINGS OF SPIE - THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR OPTICAL ENGINEERING MAY 2009
Impact Factor: 0.2 DOI: 10.1117/12.818021

CITATIONS

READS

1,418

2 AUTHORS, INCLUDING:
Marc Nikles
Omnisens
63 PUBLICATIONS 959 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE

Available from: Marc Nikles

Retrieved on: 03 November 2015

Invited Paper

Long-distance fiber optic sensing solutions for pipeline leakage,

intrusion and ground movement detection
Marc Nikles
Omnisens S.A., 3 Riond Bosson, CH-1110 Morges, Switzerland

ABSTRACT
An increasing number of pipelines are constructed in remote regions affected by harsh environmental conditions where
pipeline routes often cross mountain areas which are characterized by unstable grounds and where soil texture changes
between winter and summer increase the probability of hazards. Third party intentional interference or accidental
intrusions are a major cause of pipeline failures leading to large leaks or even explosions. Due to the long distances to be
monitored and the linear nature of pipelines, distributed fiber optic sensing techniques offer significant advantages and
the capability to detect and localize pipeline disturbance with great precision. Furthermore pipeline owner/operators lay
fiber optic cable parallel to transmission pipelines for telecommunication purposes and at minimum additional cost
monitoring capabilities can be added to the communication system.
The Brillouin-based Omnisens DITEST monitoring system has been used in several long distance pipeline projects. The
technique is capable of measuring strain and temperature over 100s kilometers with meter spatial resolution. Dedicated
fiber optic cables have been developed for continuous strain and temperature monitoring and their deployment along the
pipeline has enabled permanent and continuous pipeline ground movement, intrusion and leak detection. This paper
presents a description of the fiber optic Brillouin-based DITEST sensing technique, its measurement performance and
limits, while addressing future perspectives for pipeline monitoring. The description is supported by case studies and
illustrated by field data.
Keywords: fiber optic sensor, asset integrity monitoring, pipeline integrity monitoring, leak detection, ground movement
detection, geohazards, distributed sensing, distributed strain and temperature, Brillouin optical time domain analysis.

1. INTRODUCTION
Pipelines are being laid over longer distances in more remote areas affected by geohazards, harsh environmental
conditions and possible third party intrusion. Deep water flowlines and arctic pipelines have introduced new challenges
in terms of pipeline integrity management as they are submitted to seabed erosion and permafrost thaw settlement or
frost heave problems. Pipeline integrity monitoring has often been restricted to visual inspection and mass/volume
balance measurements, leading to very limited capabilities to detect and locate pipeline disturbance such as leakages,
geohazards or third partys interferences or intrusions. As a result, pipeline failures are usually noticed only when either
the output flow is affected or the surrounding environment is severely affected. It is widely recognized that pipeline
failures have huge environmental, cost and image impacts, forcing the oil and gas industry to look for new sensing
techniques to perform permanent and real-time integrity monitoring. Fiber optic-based monitoring systems have been
proven to be the utmost promising one.
The technique developed by Omnisens S.A. and referred to as DITEST presented in this contribution has been used for
the monitoring of onshore and offshore pipelines over the last 6 years and has shown to-date unmatched pipeline
integrity monitoring performance. The developed technique uses standard telecommunication grade optical fibers as
sensors deployed alongside the pipeline in order to perform a continuous uninterrupted monitoring. Once connected to a
measuring unit the optical fibers provide information about temperature and strain conditions with meter resolution along
the pipeline. Fully distributed temperature and strain profiles are recorded at regular time interval of a few minutes over
up to 40km distance, which can be extended to 100s km via dedicated repeaters without compromising on the
monitoring performances.
*marc.nikles@omnisens.com; phone +41 21 510-2121; fax +41 44 274-2031; www.omnisens.com

Fiber Optic Sensors and Applications VI, edited by Eric Udd, Henry H. Du, Anbo Wang, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316, 731602
2009 SPIE CCC code: 0277-786X/09/$18 doi: 10.1117/12.818021

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-1

The occurrence and location of leakages is determined by analysis of the temperature profiles and the achievable
detection limits are in the 0.01% of the total throughput for oil leaks and even lower for pressurized gas; more than two
orders of magnitude lower than that of any conventional mass/volume balance system.
At the same time the fiber optic strain profile is used to detect and locate ground movement and pipeline strain, enabling
the early detection of increased stress due to external effects such as geohazards, permafrost thaw settlement or even
third party intrusion. Specific fiber optic cables have been developed, demonstrating ground movement sensitivity in the
centimeter range. Pipeline strain monitoring can also be performed with sensitivities as low as 10 microstrains provided
that the cables are bonded to the pipeline. A variety of cables for either or both leak and ground movement detection is
available and can be selected with respect to different soil characteristics and pipeline installation procedures.

2. PIPELINE MONITORING REQUIREMENTS

The monitoring is an important part of the pipeline integrity management program defined by pipeline owner/operators.
Proper and effective monitoring is aiming at the optimization of the operation and maintenance of company assets
towards continuous availability as well as protecting the environment and the population by identifying threats to the
pipeline. The requirements of an ideal pipeline integrity monitoring system are:

Uninterrupted monitoring with no dead zone along the whole pipeline length

Permanent and continuous 24/7 monitoring regardless of weather and pipeline conditions

Ability to detect and locate any early signs of geohazards (or ground movements)

Ability to detect and locate small leaks before they develop into large catastrophic leakages

High sensitivity to guarantee fast response to any threat to the pipeline

No false alarm

This paper describes a fiber optic monitoring system which has been develop with the objective to meet the above
requirements. The distance range of the monitoring system is compatible with long distance transmission pipeline and is
able to cover the typical distance between valves and pump or compressor stations. Since the monitoring is non intrusive,
the technique is applicable to any kind of pipelines and the monitoring performance is maintained despite of flow rate
and operational changes. The combined information about pipeline temperature and structural conditions is transferred to
SCADA systems. The availability in real-time of complete information about the pipeline integrity helps pipeline
operators to make the right executive decisions based on actual pipeline operational and structural conditions and not on
assumptions.

3. SENSING PRINCIPLE
Developed for telecommunication applications, OTDRs have been the starting point of distributed sensing techniques.
They use the Rayleigh scattered light to measure the attenuation profiles of long-haul fibre optic links. In the optical
time-domain-coded technique, an optical pulse is launched into the fibre and a photodetector measures the amount of
light which is backscattered as the pulse propagates along the fibre. The detected signal, the so-called Rayleigh signature,
presents an exponential decay with time which is directly related to the linear attenuation of the fibre. The time
information is converted to distance information provided that the speed of light is known, similar to radar or lidar
detection techniques. In addition to the information on fibre losses, the OTDR profiles are very useful to localize breaks,
to evaluate splices and connectors, and in general to assess the overall quality of a fibre link.
Raman and Brillouin scattering phenomena have been used for distributed sensing applications over the past few years.
Raman was first proposed for sensing applications in the 80s [1], whereas Brillouin was introduced later as a way to
enhance the range of OTDR [2] and then for strain and/or temperature monitoring applications [3]. Fig. 1 schematically
shows the spectrum of the scattered light from a single wavelength o in optical fibres. Both Raman and Brillouin
scattering effects are associated with different dynamic non-homogeneities in the silica and therefore have completely
different spectral characteristics.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-2

Fig. 1: Schematic representation of the scattered light spectrum from a single wavelength signal propagating in optical
fibres. An increase of the fibre temperature has an effect on the Raman and Brillouin components, whereas strain
has an effect on Brillouin components only.

The Raman light scattering is caused by thermally influenced molecular vibrations. Consequently the backscattered light
carries the local temperature information at the point where the scattering occurred. The amplitude of the Anti-Stokes
component is strongly temperature dependent whereas the amplitude of the Stokes component is not. Raman sensing
requires some filtering to isolate the relevant frequency components and is based on the recording and computation of
the ratio between Anti-Stokes amplitude and Stokes amplitude, which contains the temperature information. Since the
magnitude of the spontaneous Raman backscattered light is quite low (10 dB below spontaneous Brillouin scattering),
high numerical aperture multimode fibres are used in order to maximize the guided intensity of the backscattered light.
However, the relatively high attenuation characteristics of multimode fibres limit the distance range of Raman-based
systems to approximately 10 km, beyond which their decline in usefulness in most practical cases.
Brillouin scattering occurs as a result of an interaction
between the propagating optical signal and thermally
excited acoustic waves in the GHz range present in the
silica fibre giving rise to frequency shifted
components. It can be seen as the diffraction of light
on a dynamic grating generated by an acoustic wave
(an acoustic wave is actually a pressure wave which
introduces a modulation of the index of refraction
through the elasto-optic effect). The diffracted light
experiences a Doppler shift since the grating
propagates at the acoustic velocity in the fibre. The
acoustic velocity is directly related to the medium
density which is temperature and strain dependent. As
a result the so-called Brillouin frequency shift carries
the information about the local temperature and strain
Fig. 2: Strain and temperature dependence of the Brillouin
of the fibre as shown in Fig. 2 [4]. The Brillouin
frequency shift of standard telecommunication optical
frequency shift is an intrinsic parameter of the fiber
fibers.
and its value is independent from the measuring
system ensuring long term unbiased measurements with no need of periodic recalibration. Furthermore its perfect linear
dependency on temperature and strain allows accurate and straightforward determination of fiber conditions unaffected
by connectors or splice losses.
Brillouin-based techniques bring the following advantages over other distributed techniques:
1.

The technique makes use of standard low-loss single-mode optical fibre offering several tens of kilometres of
distance range and a compatibility with telecommunication components.

2.

It is a frequency-based technique as opposed to Raman-based techniques which are intensity based. Brillouin
based techniques are consequently inherently more accurate and more stable in the long term, since intensitybased techniques suffer from a higher sensitivity to drifts.

3.

Brillouin scattering can be optically stimulated leading to a much greater intensity of the scattering mechanism
and consequently an improved signal-to-noise ratio.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-3

4.

The stimulation mechanism involves two counter-propagating lightwaves which can be controlled individually
providing a very valuable way to adjust the measurement parameters with respect to the application
requirements in terms of resolution, distance range, acquisition time while offering large optical budget.

The active stimulation of Brillouin scattering can be achieved by using two optical lightwaves [5]. In addition to the
optical pulse usually called the pump, a continuous wave (CW) optical signal, the so-called probe signal is used to probe
the Brillouin frequency profile of the fibre. A stimulation of the Brillouin scattering process occurs when the frequency
difference (or wavelength separation) of the pulse and the CW signal corresponds to the Brillouin shift (resonance
condition) and provided that both optical signals are counter-propagating in the fibre. The interaction leads to a larger
scattering efficiency resulting in an energy transfer from the pulse to the probe signal, and an amplification of the probe
signal. The frequency difference between pulse and probe can be scanned for precise and global mapping of the Brillouin
shift along the sensing fibre (Fig. 3). Lastly at every location, the maximum of the Brillouin gain is computed and the
information translated to temperature or strain using the calibration coefficients in Fig.2. The probe signal intensity can
be adjusted to acceptable levels for low-noise fast acquisition whatever the measurement conditions and fibre layout,
thus solving the small signal-to-noise ratio issues which are generally associated with distributed sensing based on
spontaneous light scattering.
The localization of the temperature or strain information along the fibre is possible using a pulsed pump signal. The
interaction of the probe with the pump is recorded as a function of time and the time information can be converted into
distance. An actual temperature profile of the fibre can be computed using calibration curves (Fig. 2). Thanks to the high
speed of light, fibre lengths of several kilometres can be scanned within a fraction of second, yielding several thousands
of measurement points. Fig. 3 shows the identification of 2 hot spots along a 30km fiber.

3.0
2.5

30 km fiber
optic cable

52.0
1.5

- 1.0
0.5
30
25

20

Ambient +50C

10.5

15

10.6

10

10.7
5

10.8

Ambient +20C
10.9

Fig.3: Effect of 2 hot spot on the Brillouin gain spectrum along a 30 km fiber; the frequency difference between pump and probe
signal giving rise to the maximum Brillouin gain corresponds to the local Brillouin frequency shift. The local temperature or strain
information is then computed using calibration curves as the one shown in Fig. 2.

The systems based on stimulated Brillouin scattering are often referred to as Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis
(BOTDA) in the literature and the DITEST monitoring technique is based on the BOTDA measuring technique.
Typically, the DITEST technique can achieve temperature and strain measurement performance such as 10 strain
resolution and 0.5C temperature resolution (defined as 2 times the standard deviation on repetitive measurements) over
distance up to 30 km with spatial resolution of 2 meters. The acquisition time (time to get one complete profile) may
vary from a few seconds to 10 minutes depending on the distance and the measurement performance requirements [6].
The DITEST technique offers flexibility that makes possible the development of regeneration or repeater modules that
provide either an extension of the distance range to 100s of km without compromising on the measurement
performances or remote sensing capabilities as described in section 5.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-4

4. FIBER OPTIC SENSING FOR PIPELINE INTEGRITY MONITORING

Fiber optic sensing fulfills pipeline integrity monitoring by offering ground movement detection, leak detection, subsea
pipeline monitoring and soil property change monitoring. These features are addressed in the following sections.
4.1 Geohazards - ground movement detection
Geohazards or ground movements are recognized by the pipeline industry as major threats to pipelines. A variety of
natural geohazards can significantly affect the integrity of pipelines; they range from geotechnical, hydrotechnical and
tectonic hazards [7]. Fiber optic sensing for pipeline ground movement detection is based on the measurement of strain
along a sensing fiber integrated in a dedicated Strain Measurement Cable (SMC). Unlike telecommunication fiber optic
cable, the SMC design allows the cable strain to be transferred to the fiber which in turns can be detected and monitored.
Strain introduced by ground movement effectively is the parameter that can be monitored to detect the development of a
landslide. In fact, when a landslide occurs, the shear interface between the sections which dont move and the section of
land which slides down is submitted to strain as illustrated in Figure 4. The conversion from lateral displacement to fiber
longitudinal strain can be understood as follows [8, 9]. Based on the schematics of Figure 4, it can be seen that the
original section d of cable is submitted to a constant strain , whereas the rest of the cable remains strain free. The cable
elongation d depends on the lateral displacement L and the strain is simply given by:

= d/d
It can be shown that the fiber strain can be
expressed as:

Stable ground

Transition zone

Transition zone

Landslide

Stable ground

d
Cable

d
2
= 1 + (L d ) 1
d
where the ratio L/d provides information
about the magnitude of the cable
displacement.

L
d+d

Fig. 4: Landslide schematic representation

Thanks to the high sensitivity strain measurement capability, small cable displacement be detected and localized with
meter accuracy anywhere along tens of kilometer of SMC. Typical results are presented in Figure 5 which shows 2
examples simulating long (20m) and short (2m) ground movement transition zones.

(a)

(b)
2d

Lateral displacement: 50 cm

800
600
400
50 Threshold

200
0
-200
10

30

50

70
90
Distance [m]

110

130

Measured
Elongation
Lateral
displacement
induced [microstrain]
strain [micro-strain]

Measured
Elongation
[microstrain]
Lateral
displacement
induced strain
[micro-strain]

1000

150

80
Lateral displacement: 5 cm

60

40
50 Threshold

20

-20
0

20

40

60
80
Distance [m]

100

120

140

Fig. 5: (a) Detection of 50cm lateral displacement over 20m; (b) Detection of 5cm lateral displacement over 2m. In both cases, a
1.5m spatial resolution was used to perform the measurements.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-5

4.2 Pipeline leak detection

Pipeline leak detection relies on continuous accurate distributed temperature monitoring along a Temperature
Measurement Cable (TMC) located in the vicinity of the pipeline [10]. Two approaches need to be distinguished
depending on the type of fluid that is transported by the pipeline.
As illustrated in the schematic of Figure 6, the
surrounding of the pipeline is cooled when the fluid is
compressed. Leakage detection is then based on the
Joules-Thompson effect. The fluid being in adiabatic
regime, any pressure change, as caused by a leak for
instance, induces a temperature drop which affects the
TMC. The interrogator detects then the temperature
change leading to the leakage detection and
localization. Typical figures are 0.5oC/bar x P which
indicates that a small pressure change would induce
significant temperature variations.
Transported liquids such as crude oil, brine or heating
system fluids are at a temperature higher than the
surrounding soil temperature. Any small leak then
leads to an increase of temperature in the vicinity of the
pipeline. The occurrence of a local hot spot along the
sensing cable is the signature of a leakage.

Pipeline
Leak

Temperature effects
warming
T/ C

cooling
High pressure Gas pipelines
LNG or LPG pipelines

Oil or fuel pipelines,

Heating pipelines
Brine pipeline

T/
C

time

time

Fig. 6: Effect of different types of leakages on pipeline

surrounding temperature.

4.3 Offshore pipeline integrity monitoring

The challenges associated to the design and the operation of subsea pipeline or flowlines varies depending on the
pipeline type and route; but the failure risks are in most cases associated to [11]: the modification of the pipeline
environment, seabed topology, as well as pipeline crossing and dropped objects (such as ship anchors or fishing gears).
A modification of the pipeline direct surrounding due to seabed erosion or seabed migration can lead to additional
cooling of the exposed pipeline section and possible hydrates and wax plugging [12]. The extent of hydrate or wax
formation problem increases with pipeline length through the effects of cooling and the challenge is significantly greater
when assuring flows in deep water and remote subsea locations, emphasizing the need of pipeline permanent monitoring
[13, 14].
Additionally subsea migrating bedforms submit the pipeline to large strain with eventually the risk of pipeline upheaval
buckling. Anomalous event, which could expose the pipelines, can be detected based on the differential temperature
between a pipeline and its environment. Whereas visual pipeline ROV inspections are difficult or even impossible,
standard subsea fiber-optic cable laid along the pipeline has proven effective to provide an early warning of such events
before they develop into catastrophic pipeline failures. Examples include erosion monitoring of shallow water, shore
crossing, offshore buried pipeline sections. Being able to monitor seabed erosion helps identify and remediate erosion
conditions similar to those that may have contributed to shallow water or river crossing pipeline failures. If necessary the
fiber optic temperature monitoring system can be combined with fiber optic strain measurements in order to map in realtime bedform migration and to detect and localize pipeline strain. Last but not least, temperature based fiber optic can be
used to detect and localize pipeline leaks through the associated temperature change.
4.4 Soil property changes, frost heave,
Offshore arctic conditions pose additional challenges to the safe operation of subsea pipelines [15, 16, 17]. The pipeline
route may be exposed to seabed ice gouging and permafrost thaw settlement. If the pipeline route is located near the
mouth of a river, it may become exposed due to erosion of the seabed from springtime river overflood draining through
holes in the ice sheet (strudel scours) or river channel flows. The thermal influence of the pipeline on the permafrost
needs to be taken into account since the heat generated by the pipeline melts the backfill and warms up the surrounding

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-6

soil causing permafrost thaw settlement. These arctic conditions can apply significant loads on a subsea pipeline or leave
it exposed above the seabed to other applied loads.
Continuous temperature sensing enables the monitoring of the permafrost conditions and to locate potential erosion
events. The example of a buried subsea pipeline operating at warmer temperatures than seawater temperatures as
illustrated in Figure 7. Seabed erosion and possible exposure of a pipeline may be detected and located through
temperature changes observed along the TMC [17]. Cable only needs to be installed in close proximity of the buried
pipeline.
Seabed and Trench Boundaries
Backfill

Pipeline(s)
Fiber Optic Communications &
Temperature Monitoring Cable

Thermal Influence following start up to

Thermal Influence to + x months
Thermal Influence to + y months

Fig. 7: Seabed erosion and permafrost thaw settlement due to combined thermal influences gradually melting the backfill and the
surrounding soil and environmental stresses.

5. COMPREHENSIVE FIBER OPTIC PIPELINE MONITORING SOLUTION

5.1 Generic System Overview
The DITEST comprehensive long range pipeline monitoring system is schematically composed of the following
components (Fig. 8) [10]:

strain and temperature monitoring units,

including combinations of measuring
units, remote signal regeneration
modules and optical switches; each of
these units constitutes an optical node
located in a pipeline node such as a
pumping or compressor station;

strain and temperature measurement

cables (respectively SMC and TMC)
connecting two stations;

data communication interface between

monitoring units and the control station;

Measurement control, visualization and

configuration software

b UKU

UGX

4K

b UIU

SI

Fig. 8: Schematic of complete pipeline monitoring solution. Location

of the monitoring unit is arbitrary.

5.2 Strain and temperature interrogator

Scenarii have been developed to multiply the monitored distance range for the monitoring of long distance transmission
pipelines and to support remotely interrogating a sensor deployed over long distances from the control station. Although
low loss optical fibers are available (typical fiber propagation loss < 0.25 dB/km), the attenuation of the fiber still sets
limits to the measurement range. Furthermore the performances in terms of spatial resolution and temperature/strain
accuracy are also related to the distance range, since the optical waves are being affected by the fiber attenuation. On

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-7

one hand, the decreasing pulse intensity generates a smaller interaction and on the other hand a weaker signal on the
photo-detector is associated to a lower signal-to-noise ratio that requires longer averaging times. The distance range of
this technique is therefore in practice limited to some 30 km with meter spatial resolution. However, the pump-andprobe technique offers flexibility that makes possible the development of regeneration or repeater modules that provide
either an extension of the distance range or remote sensing capabilities [18].

125km of monitoring range along the pipeline

Fig. 9: Extending Monitoring Distance with Remote Modules.

An extended range concept is shown in Figure 9. A standard fiber optic telecommunication cable is used to bring the
pump and probe signals to a DITEST Remote Module (DRM) that includes optical signal processing for optical power
control and signal routing. The module performs active signal regeneration by using optical amplification techniques
similar to those extensively used in optical telecommunications. The modules can be cascaded leading to remote
distances in excess of hundreds of kilometers. However, implementing the DRMs and for submerged offshore
applications will require submersible housings and subsea power supply to the DRMs. Qualification tests have been
successfully performed with fiber lengths up to 125 km from one measuring unit or 250km with a centrally located
measuring unit monitoring 2 sections of 125km [18].

Fig. 10: Temperature measurements performed 116.4 km away from the measuring unit using DRM. The test setup is composed of
different fiber sections (0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 10 m respectively) placed in a temperature controlled bath. The result demonstrates the ability
to perform high resolution temperature measurement over extend distance range with no compromise on spatial resolution and
temperature measurement accuracy.

The DRM enables to maintain the monitoring performance over extended distances while the monitoring performance in
terms of temperature and strain accuracy obtained with the DRMs is equivalent to the performance directly available
from the instrument. In the example shown in Figure 10, a test setup is connected to the DRM located 100 km away from
the measuring unit. The test setup comprises 5 sections of different fiber lengths (ranging from 0.5 m to 10 m sections)
connected via a 16.4 km fiber spool to the DRM. The five different test sections are placed in a temperature controlled
bath so that their temperature can be varied. Temperature measurements with a 1.5 m spatial resolution are repeated for
different bath temperatures (from 15oC to 45oC). The measured profiles are shown in Figure 10. The average
measurement time is about 5 minutes per profile. Although the spatial resolution is set to 1.5 m, the 0.5 m section is
clearly identified as a consequence of spatial over-sampling (interleaving). Full temperature accuracy is obtained for

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-8

sections greatter or equal too the spatial reesolution (2 m,

m 5 m and 10 m) demonstraating a true 1.55 m meter spaatial resolutionn
at 116km andd the possibilitty to maintainn the measurem
ment performaance over veryy long distancces, e.g. 125km
m.
The ability to
t measure distributed
d
tem
mperature andd strain along
g TMC and SMC sensingg cables with
h high spatiaal
resolution (<
< 2m) and meeasurement acccuracy over long distancee guarantees that the deveeloped DITES
ST monitoringg
system fulfillls pipeline integrity monitooring requirem
ments over disttances compaatible with trannsmission pip
pelines, i.e. thee
monitoring raange is compaatible with typpical distances between vallves and/or coompressor or ppump stationss. Furthermoree
the maintaineed high spatiaal resolution over long distaance is of key
y importance for
f the early ddetection of leeaks or groundd
movements.
nd temperatu
ure measurem
ment cables
5.3 Strain an
Strain Measuurement Cablees (SMC) are robust fiber optic cables specifically
s
deesigned for grround movem
ment detectionn.
They integratte rodent prottection and arre suitable forr direct burial with adequatte impact, cruush and abrasiion resistancee.
The SMC aree designed foor the detectioon of small ground
g
movem
ments in the 10cm
1
range w
while maintain
ning excellennt
robustness annd integration capabilities. Mechanical and optical ch
haracteristics of the cable aare in compliaance with IEC
C
794-1 Optical Fibre Cabless Specificationns. Typical SM
MC layout is presented in Figure
F
11.
HDPE Blue

Ste el wires

Fiber with coatin

StI Irs

tti he

Fig. 11: Example of Strainn Measuremennt Cable (SMC

C) used for grround movemeent detection.
h environmennt
Cable manuffacturers have developed a variety of tellecommunicattion fiber optiic cables suitaable for harsh
such as direcct burial and submarine
s
appplications. These cables can
n accommodaate a large fibber number off optical fiberss
integrated inn lose tubes and their ouuter protectioon is designeed to resist to
t impact, crrush, abrasion
n, installationn
requirements and even roddent, while offfering lifetim
me in excess of
o 30 years. Selected
S
and qualified stan
ndard armoredd
telecommuniccation fiber optic
o
cables caan be used for temperaturee sensing appllications. The cable can inttegrate opticaal
fibers used for
f temperaturre monitoringg in addition to the fiberss for data com
mmunication as well as co
ommunicationn
between the DITEST
D
measuring units and
a the controol room. Mecchanical and optical
o
characcteristics of th
he cable are inn
compliance with
w IEC 794-1 Optical Fibrre Cables Speccifications. Typical
T
TMC layouts
l
are preesented in Fig
gure 12.

Fig. 122: Examples off qualified arm

mored fiber opptic telecomm
munication cabbles which are used as Temp
perature
Measurem
ment Cables (T
TMC). The seelection of thee adequate cabble depends onn the environm
mental
r
requirements
a well as the soil characterristics and the installation pprocedures.
as
5.4 Data com
mmunication
n
Pipeline ownner/operators lay fiber optiic cable parallel to transm
mission pipelinnes for telecoommunication
n purposes onn
regular basis nowadays takking advantagge of the trenching work to
o lay cables at
a reduced cossts. At minim
mum additionaal
cost monitoriing capabilitiees can be addeed to the comm
munication sy
ystem. Similarly an optical L
LAN can be set up by usingg

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-9

spare optical fibers of the installed TMC. This LAN can be used to connect the DITEST measuring unit to data server
and other equipments to SCADA systems using TCP/IP protocol.

6. CASE STUDIES
6.1 Brine pipeline leak detection
In 2002 the construction of a natural gas storage facility some 1500m under the ground surface was started in the area of
Berlin in Germany [19]. Using mining technology the building of underground caverns for gas storage in large rock-salt
formation requires hot water and produces large
quantities of water saturated with salt, so-called
brine. In most cases the brine cannot be processed onsite and must be transported by a pipeline to the
location where it can either be processed, or injected
back safely into the ground. Because the brine can be
harmful to the environment, pipeline small leak
detection was a mandatory requirement. A 55km
pipeline was built and a DITEST-based fiber optic
leak detection system was design to permanently and
continuously monitor the pipeline. The installation of
the pipeline and the fiber cable had to deal with
several road and river crossings which required
horizontal drilling and several cable junctions. Some
60 splices (that correspond to an additional loss of up
to 3 dB) had to be done to complete the cable
installation. The high optical budget of the DITEST
interogator can accommodate such losses and since
Fig. 13: Brine pipeline construction in the Berlin area n Germany.
the frequency-based Brillouin technique is insensitive
to attenuation the calibration is straightforward and stable over time leading to long term, maintenance free operation of
the leak detection system.
During the pipeline construction phase the fiber cable was first placed in the trench and buried in the sand some 10 cm
underneath the pipeline. The cable positioning with respect to the pipeline is important in order to optimize the leak
detection sensitivity of the system. The positioning eventually is a trade-off between the maximum contrast in the case of
a leak and the detection response time of leaks occurring from every point of the tube circumference. The pictures in
Figure 13 show the pipeline construction before backfill.
The brine is pumped out of the underground
caverns and is injected into the pipeline at a
temperature of 35C to 40C. At normal flow rate
the temperature gradient along the whole pipeline
length is about 8C. Since the pipeline is buried at a
depth of approximately 2 to 3 meters, the seasonal
temperature variations are quite small and the
average soil temperature was measured to be around
5C. As a result a substantial temperature increase
is associated to any pipeline leak even in the case of
very small leakages. The pipeline construction was
completed in November 2002 and the pipeline was
put into operation in January 2003. In July 2003, a
first leak was detected by the monitoring system. It
was later found that the leak was accidentally
caused by excavation work in the vicinity of the
pipeline. Figure 14 shows the occurrence of the
leakage and its effect on the temperature profiles as

Temperature profile before leakage

1 DM60

6 1ft855
Junction

box 30

11 DM50

Junction box 31

1 0. 84 5

1 DM40

202

175

150

125

100

75

50

25

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

223

OOZ

ZZ

Temperature profile after leakage

098t

Junction box 30
998t0
098t0
0

D0'8t

Junction box 31

00'8t0

968t
000

DLV ODV

Leakage
DZV
OOV

9L

09

90

DL

DL

9L

DOL

9ZL

09L

9LL

Figure 14: Detection and localization of a leakage provoked by

excavation works in the vicinity of the pipeline.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-10

they were immediately displayed on the central PC display in the control room. The graphs in Figure 14 correspond to
measured raw data, i.e. Brillouin frequency shifts, as a function of distance and the figure shows a zoom in view of the
section with the leak. The local temperature increase associated to the brine leak is measured to be around 8C. An alarm
was immediately and automatically triggered which could stop the flow and eventually could avoid large pipeline spills.
6.2 Arctic Alaskan offshore pipeline monitoring
Offshore arctic conditions pose unique design challenges to the safe operation of subsea pipelines exposed to seabed ice
gouging, permafrost thaw settlement, strudel scour, and channel migration [15, 16, 17]. The application of fiber opticbased distributed temperature monitoring systems has demonstrated the ability to monitor the pipeline operational
conditions and to achieve efficient flow assurance monitoring [17]. As visual inspection is impossible, real-time
temperature monitoring via optical fibers along the pipeline route can provide an early warning of the development of
erosional events, pipeline insulation damages, seabed soil modifications as shown in Fig. 8. It allows the operator to take
timely and appropriate actions to ensure the integrity of the pipeline.
The DITEST fiber optic monitoring system is used to monitor 2 offshore pipelines in the Alaskas Beaufort Sea oil
fields. The example described herein shows the temperature monitoring of a 14km pipeline bundle prior to its startup in
late 2007 (Fig. 15). The pipeline installation is part of Oooguruk oil field developments in the Beaufort Sea and is
composed of 8km of buried subsea flowlines transporting the produced fluids from an offshore gravel island/drillsite to
an onshore above ground pipeline which runs to an existing transmission pipeline. A total of 14 km of pipeline distance
is continuously monitored with the DITEST fiber optic communication cables installed within the pipeline bundle. The
monitoring system demonstrated to meet the monitoring performance to detect temperature events occurring over just
one meter, such as leaks and erosional events. The system has been able to map seabed temperature profiles along the
pipeline route and to accurately track temperature excursions as they were occurring with field verified data prior and
during pipeline operation startup. The monitoring system operates permanently and continuously with an active leak
detection system based on the detection of local temperature variations.
Example 1 Pre-Start Temperature Profile
65
Offshore Production
Island or GBS

60
55
50

Temperature (degrees F)

45
Shore Crossing
(September)

40

Erosion & Infill (September)

35
30
25

Above Ground
Exposed to Air
Not Heated by
Pipeline(s)

20
15

Erosion (June - July)

Buried Subsea and Heated by Pipeline(s)

10
Onshore Facility Tie-In

5
0
0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

Distance (Feet)

Fig. 15: Example of temperature monitoring prior to pipeline start-up showing typical erosional events.

6.3 Geotechnical and leak detection system for Peru LNG

In the Andes mountains, pipeline failures caused by geohazards reach 50% of the total number of incidents while ground
movement remain a minor threat (<1%) in geologically stable regions such as Western Europe [7]. The first section of

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-11

the Peru LNG pipeline route crosses the mountains from East to West where geohazards are frequently found. The
project consists of a new 408 km, high pressure 34 inch gas pipeline system to transport natural gas from a take-off point
on the existing TGP Pipeline System at approximately km 211 to a new LNG facility constructed approximately 170 km
south of Lima on the coast of Peru, at Pampa Melchorita.
The first 60 km pipeline section is equipped with a DITEST
fiber optic-based pipeline monitoring system. The monitoring
system includes:

Geotechnical monitoring including detection and

localization of ground movements;

Leak detection and localization.

SMC

TMC

The complete monitoring system includes the monitoring

Trench partially filled with soft
equipment which is located in a shelter and both TMC and SMC
materials (sand)
sensing cables installed in the trench some 0.6 to 1.5m in the
Pipe
ground and above the pipeline in soft backfill material (Fig. 16).
The complete monitoring system is composed of a multiple
Fig.16: Cross-section of a pipeline trench with
channel DITEST strain and temperature interrogator, SMC for
pipeline, TMC and SMC lay-out in the backfill.
geotechnical monitoring and TMC for leak detection, which is
part of the telecommunication optical fiber cable. The latter is used for the communication between the interrogator and
the control station as schematically illustrated in Figure 10. The monitoring requirements are permanent and continuous
leak and ground movement monitoring over the complete distance with immediate alarm in the case of detected threats
for the pipeline integrity.

7. CONCLUSIONS
The monitoring technique presented in this article and referred to as the DITEST fiber optic pipeline integrity monitoring
system was developed to address the requirements of pipeline owner/operators in terms of integrity monitoring, aiming
at the early detection of the major threats to pipeline, such as ground movement, leak, soil property changes, permafrost
thaw settlement and frost heave, seabed migrations, scouring, etc. and even intrusion via temperature and/or strain
changes.
The monitoring technique has been used for the monitoring of onshore and offshore pipelines over the last 6 years and
has shown to-date unmatched pipeline integrity monitoring performance. The developed technique uses standard
telecommunication grade optical fibers as sensors deployed alongside the pipeline in order to perform a continuous
uninterrupted monitoring. The availability in real-time of the information about the pipeline structural conditions is an
important enhancement of pipeline owner/operators integrity management program, resulting in potential reduction in
maintenance, surveillance costs and health-safety-and-environment risks.
The distance range of the DITEST monitoring system was developed with the objective to be compatible with long
distance transmission pipeline and is therfore able to cover the typical distance between valves and pump or compressor
stations. Since the monitoring is non intrusive, the technique is applicable to any kind of pipelines and the monitoring
performance is maintained despite of flow rate and operational changes. The combined information about pipeline
temperature, leak occurrence and structural conditions is transferred to SCADA systems. The availability in real-time of
complete information about the pipeline integrity helps pipeline operators to make the right executive decisions based on
actual pipeline operational and structural conditions and not on assumptions.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to warmly thank Fabien Ravet and Fabien Briffod from Omnisens SA for their contribution to this
article as well as Dana DuToit from Omnisens North America for kindly accepting to present the paper at the conference.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-12

REFERENCES
[1]

J.P. Dakin, D.J. Pratt, G.W. Bibby, J.N. Ross, Distributed optical fiber Raman temperature sensor using a semiconductor light
source and detectors, Electronics Lett., 21, pp. 569-570 (1988).

[2]

T. Horigushi, M. Tateda, Optical-fiber-attenuation investigation using Brillouin scattering between a pulse and a continuous
wave, Optics Lett., Vol. 14, p. 408 (1989).

[3]

T. Horiguch, T. Kurashima, M. Tateda, Distributed-temperature sensing using stimulated Brillouin scattering in optical silica
fibers, Optics Lett., 15, N8, pp.1038-10-140 (1990).

[4]

M. Nikls, L. Thvenaz, Ph. Robert, "Brillouin gain spectrum characterization in single-mode optical fibers", J. Lightwave
Technology, JLT-15, pp. 1842-1851 (1997).

[5]

M. Nikls, L. Thvenaz, P.A. Robert, "Simple distributed fiber sensor based on Brillouin gain spectrum analysis", Optics Lett.
21(10), pp.758-760 (1996).

[6]

M. Nikles, "Fibre optic distributed scattering sensing system: perspectives and challenges for high performance applications", 3rd
European Workshop on Optical Fibre Sensors, A. Cutolo, B. Culshaw, J. M. Lopez-Higuera eds., Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6619,
66190D (2007).

[7]

M. Porter, C. Logue, K. W. Savigny, F. Esford, I. Bruce, Estimating the influence of natural hazards on pipeline risk and system
reliability, Proceedings of the 2004 International Pipeline Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, October 4 8, paper IPC040238 (2004).

[8]

Iten, M., Puzrin, A.M., and Schmid, A. Landslide monitoring using a road-embedded optical fiber sensor, Smart Sensor
Phenomena, Technology, Networks, and Systems, Proceedings of SPIE 6933, (2008)

[9]

M. Iten, D. Hauswirth, M. Facchini, Th. Hertig, F. Ravet and M. Nikles, "Soil-embedded fiber optic strain sensors for detection of
differential soil displacements", To be published in: the Proccedings of the 4th International Conference on Structural Health
Monitoring on Intelligent Infrastructure (SHMII-4), Zurich, Switzerland, 22-24 July (2009).

[10]

F. Ravet, F. Briffod, and M. Nikles; Extended distance fiber optic monitoring for pipeline Leak and ground movement
detection, Proceedings of the 2008 International Pipeline Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Sept. 29-Oct. 3, paper IPC200864521 (2008).

[11]

Committee on the Safety of Marine Pipelines, Marine Board, National Research Council, "Improving the Safety of Marine
Pipelines" (1994).

[12]

Ellison, B.T., Gallagher, L.M., and Lorimer, S.E., The Physical Chemistry of Wax, Hydrates, and Asphaltene, OTC 11963,
Proc. Offshore Technology Conference, Houston Texas, 1-4 May 2000.

[13]

JIN Wei-Liang, SHAO, Jian-Wen, and ZHANG En-Yong. Basic Strategy of Health Monitoring of Submarine Pipeline by
Distributed Optical Fibre Sensor, Proceedings of the 22nd Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference (OMAE),
Cancun, Mexico, June 8-13, OMAE2003-37048 (2003).

[14]

Kaczmarski, A.A., and Lorimer, S.E., Emergence of Flow Assurance as a Technical Discipline Specific to Deepwater: Technical
Challenges and Integration into Subsea Systems Engineering, OTC 13123, Proc. Offshore Technology Conference, Houston
Texas, April 30 - 3 May, (2001).

[15]

A. G., Carey Jr., "Particle Flux Beneath Fast Ice in the Shallow Southwestern Beaufort Sea, Arctic Ocean", Marine ecology
Progress Series; College of Oceanography, Oregon State University, Corvallis Oregon, Vol. 40, pp. 247-257, October 28 (1987).

[16]

A.C. Palmer and P.J. Williams, Frost heave and pipeline upheaval buckling, Can. Geotech. J., Vol. 40, pp. 10331038 (2003).

[17]

B. Eisler, G. Lanan, M. Nikls and L. Zuckerman, Distributed Fiber Optic Temperature Sensing System for Buried Subsea Arctic
Pipelines, Deep Offshore Technology International Conference & Exhibition, DOT08, Houston (USA), Feb. 12-14 2008

[18]

M. Nikls, F. Briffod, R. Burke and G. Lyons, Greatly Extended Distance Pipeline Monitoring Using Fiber Optics, Proceedings
of the 24th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering (OMAE), Halkidiki, Greece, OMAE200567369 (2005).

[19]

M. Nikls, B. Vogel, F. Briffod, S. Grosswig, F. Sauser, S. Luebbecke, A. Bals, T. Pfeiffer, "Leakage detection using fiber optics
distributed temperature monitoring", Proceedings of the 2004 Symposium on Smart Structure and Material: Smart Sensor Techn.
and Meas. Syst., E. Udd, D. Inaudi eds., Proc. SPIE Vol. 5384, pp. 18-25 (2004).

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7316 731602-13