Preface

A pipeline network, which is by far the most efficient way to transport fluids despite the expense of appropriate maintenance, is a complex system with many types of components and consumers. Therefore, pipeline networks have reached high levels of importance for transportation all over the world. It is crucial for industries and societies that networks operate properly by considering the growing need for efficient interconnecting fluid systems. This task is not easy, because one must concurrently ensure a safe fluid supply and the fulfillment of the varying demands of consumers. This task becomes more complicated with the emergence of leaks blockage and the defects in sensors, actuators, which can generate the deterioration and malfunction of the whole network. Network breakdowns induce high economic losses and environmental damage, which make the design and implementation of monitoring systems essential for the opportune detection and localization of faults to safeguard the network. The monitoring of networks is a concern normally tackled by interdisciplinary groups comprising scientists, researchers, and industrial engineers from diverse knowledge fields. These include fluid mechanics, instrumentation, automatic control, signal processing, computing, and civil engineering. The main problems that these interdisciplinary groups find in the design of automatic supervision systems for pipeline networks are the following.