July 2014, Vol. 69 No. 7
Equipment Spotlight
Equipment Spotlight: Gas & Water Leak Detection
New gas and water leak detection equipment by Moffatt Enterprises, Heath Consultants, Echologics, Aries Industries, SubSurface Leak Detection,
Pure Technologies and SENSIT Technologies.
Moffatt Enterprises
Find a leak in less than 30 seconds before it is buried, without pressure by testing each pipe joint as it is laid. An ultrasonic transmitter is used in coordination with an ultrasonic detector to find the leak. The detector converts inaudible ultrasonic signals into audible tones and amplifies them for ease of detection. By placing the transmitter on the inside of a pipe or test item, the signal will seek out and penetrate any hole in the pipe or joint. 541.548.1144
Heath Consultants
Heath’s intrinsically safe RMLD-IS is an eye-safe laser-based natural gas detector (methane) that can quickly and efficiently detect leaks up to one hundred feet away allowing remote detection of difficult to access places such as busy roadways, locked yards, underground piping, compressor stations and offshore platforms. When the infrared laser beam is transmitted from the launch port, some of the laser light is reflected back and converted to an electrical signal that carries the information needed to deduce the methane concentration. The RMLD-IS has proven to be a highly effective leak survey instrument, compared to flame ionization and similar equipment, but with the added advantage of remote detection. 800-HEATH-US, heathus.com
Echologics
Utilities can now accurately detect and monitor leaks on selected water transmission mains from the office—24/7—with the availability of the EchoShore system, a fixed leak detection solution from Echologics. The EchoShore system leverages components of Echologics’ next-generation LeakFinderRT technology and combines it with GPS and cellular telemetry, creating a network capable of continuously monitoring critical water transmission mains and alerting utilities to leaks before they result in catastrophic main breaks. Using sound properties to track the noise activity in a transmission main, the EchoShore system is designed to collect data and send it to a central receiver. The acoustic vibrations are then analyzed to determine the precise location of a leak. The system is designed to alert utilities to the leak location and leak size via email, SMA, phone call or an Echologics-based customer interface. 888-ECHOLOG, echologics.com
Aries Industries
GasCam can enhance the diagnosis of distribution system problems, minimize costly excavations, and streamline the maintenance and repair process. It can also assist maintenance personnel by accurately locating blockages, water infiltration, cracked or broken mains, undocumented valves and service taps, and unauthorized service taps. The daylight readable LCD color monitor provides bright colorful easy viewing. The smaller color camera head eases the entry and exit from taps. GasCam advances live gas main inspection technology and is certified intrinsically safe to stringent Class I, Division I, Group D standards. 800.234.7204, ariesindustries.com
SubSurface Leak Detection
The MODEL LD-18 digital water leak detector removes intermittent sounds like barking dogs and passing vehicles. Graph the leak sound levels at 5-10 spots directly over the pipe. Let the LD-18’s amplifier pinpoint the leak’s location for you instead of relying upon your hearing. Key features include: all-digital amplifier with automatic noise reduction of intermittent sounds; high and low filters; storage and graphing of sound levels at different locations on the pipe; bar graph and numeric display of sound loudness; USB connection and back light. 775.298.2701, subsurfaceleak.com
Pure Technologies
SmartBall is an innovative free-swimming in-line leak detection technology designed to operate in live large diameter pipelines. It is a free-swimming foam ball with an instrument-filled aluminum alloy core capable of detecting and locating very small leaks and gas pocket leaks in pipelines. SmartBall can be inserted and retrieved from a pipeline under normal operation. The ball travels with the water flow for up to 12 hours, collecting information about leaks over many miles of pipeline with a single deployment. SmartBall calculates the locations of leaks by detecting acoustic pulses emitted by the ball at receivers attached to pipe appurtenances. The locations of the leaks relative to the receiver positions are determined by analyzing arrival times of the pulses.
Additional instrumentation in the SmartBall is used to calculate flow rates along the pipeline and to identify valves, pipe joints and other features of the line. 855.280.7873, puretechltd.com
SENSIT Technologies
SENSIT Technologies offers a durable and user-friendly gas detection instrument — the TRAK-IT IIIa which can be configured for combustible gas readings in PPM, LEL and/or Percent Volume. The TRAK-IT IIIa instrument is ideal for gas leak pin pointing and meets NFPA 54 purging requirements. TRAK-IT IIIa can also be equipped for confined space applications. 888.473.6748, gasleaksensors.com
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