METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ESTIMATING FLUID LEAK FLOW RATES USING DISTRIBUTED OPTICAL FIBER SENSORS

摘要

A leak detection system for a structure and method thereof, including a structure having a first barrier to a first fluid and a second barrier to a second fluid, the first barrier and the second barrier defining a space there between; and at least one sensor, placed in the space, and configured to detect presence of the first fluid or the second fluid in the space due to a fluid leak in the first barrier or the second barrier. The fluid leak produces an acoustic emission, the at least one sensor comprises a fiber optic sensor configured to measure one or more characteristics of the acoustic emission, and the system and method are configured to estimate the orifice diameter of the fluid leak based on the measured one or more characteristics, and to calculate a leak rate based on the estimated orifice diameter.