Water pipes that monitor themselves
The EU-funded project ADVOCATE (Autonomous wireless sensors driven by harvested vibration energy for leak detection in water mains) developed smart gate valves for water and wastewater pipes to reduce the amount of water lost through leaky pipes. The objective was to create a MESH communication network that connects a large number of valves in the manholes of a (city) sewage system with three main areas of application. These are the replacement of valves on an ad hoc basis when they fail or stretches of leaking pipe need to be replaced, the replacement of valves during refurbishment programmes and the integration of valves during new service installation programmes. The developed system was however based on point-to-point radio and requires connecting the electronics located underground into the valve with a serial cable. Only a network with two routing nodes has been created and tested but further work could see this system becoming a commercial product. Project partners built and tested a novel pressure sensor prototype, as well as a number of test beds for validating the prototype and a laboratory prototype . The developed pressure sensors give better precision than the ones currently available on the market. However, the piezo-film VEH system from sewage water was below the expected level to power the electronics for the pressure sensors into the valves and a battery had to be used instead. The technologies developed by the consortium could also be used in a number of other industrial sectors, such as oil and gas pipelines and brewing.
Keywords
Water pipes, smart valves, wireless sensors, vibration energy, leak detection, energy harvesting
