NETWORK OF PIPES FOR SUPPLYING WATER OR GAS AND/OR FOR EVACUATING PROCESS WATER WITH A HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE, METHOD FOR DETECTING A LEAKAGE IN A NETWORK OF PIPES OF THIS TYPE AND METHOD FOR THE COMPUTER-AIDED DETERMINATION OF A THEORETICALLY REMAINING LIFETIME OF A RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCE FOR AT L

摘要

Summary: The invention concerns a pipe network (10), with a hierarchical structure, for supplying water or gas and/or removing industrial water where the flowmeters (54-82) provided in the individual pipes are standalone units that are connected to a master flowmeter (52) in a master-slave network. The flowmeters (54-82) have their own, autarkic power supply system. By totaling the measured flow values in the lower-order pipes in the hierarchy and comparing the result with a measured flow value in the related pipe on the next highest level, a leak can be detected in one of the lower-order pipes. In addition, the invention also concerns a process for detecting a leak in such a pipe network (10) and a process for determining-with the aid of a computer-the operating life theoretically remaining for a renewable power source for at least one flowmeter in such a pipe network.