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 REMAIN

摘要

The invention relates to a network of pipes (10) for supplying water or gas and/or for evacuating process water with a hierarchical structure. To this end, flow meters (54-82) provided inside the individual pipes are stand-alone devices and are connected to a master flow meter (52) in a master/slave network. The flow meters (54-82) have a separate autarkic power supply. A leakage in one of the subordinate pipes can be determined by adding measured flow values in hierarchically subordinate pipes and comparing with a measured flow value in the pipe belonging thereto of the next highest order. The invention also relates to a method for detecting a leaking in a network of pipes (10) of the aforementioned type, and to a method for the computer-aided determination of a theoretically remaining lifetime of a renewable energy source for at least one flow meter in a network of pipes of the aforementioned type.