PORTABLE ACOUSTIC MONITORING PACKAGE (PAMP)

The Portable Acoustic Monitoring Package (PAMP) has been designed to record and monitor the acoustic signal in natural gas transmission lines. In particular the three acoustic signals associated with a line leak. The system is portable ({approx}30 lbs) and is designed for line pressures up to 1000 psi. It has become apparent that cataloging of the various background acoustic signals in natural gas transmission line is very important if a system to identify leak signals is to be developed. The low-pressure (0-200 psig) laboratory test phase has been completed and a number of field trials have been conducted. Before the cataloging phase could begin, a few problems identified in field trials identified had to be corrected such as: (1) Decreased microphone sensitivity at line pressures above 250 psig. (2) The inability to deal with large data sets collected when cataloging the variety of signals in a transmission line. (3) The lack of an available online acoustic calibration system. These problems have been solved and the WVU PAMP is now fully functional over the entire pressure range found in the Natural Gas transmission lines in this region. Field portability and reliability have been greatly improved. Data collection and storage have also improved to the point were the full acoustic spectrum of acoustic signals can be accurately cataloged, recorded and described