Design and Optimization of a Piezoelectric Acoustic Sensor for Fluid Leak Detection Applications

Pipeline leaks are known to frequently occur in chemical processing and urban gas pipes, which can lead to equipment damage, explosions, and potentially serious injuries. A design of a piezoelectric acoustic sensor for fluid leak detection is proposed in this work. The low-frequency acoustic leak signals that travel through the fluid in a pipeline can be detected using a piezoelectric acoustic sensor. The design and simulation of sensor is done using COMSOL Multiphysics software. The sensor specification is used to guide the choice of materials and optimization of geometry. The simulated results show the characteristics of transient response using a nondestructive detection approach at various leakage rates. The recommended detection method's ability to detect leak signals with tolerable accuracy is shown through simulated results. The designed sensor can be used for both long-term leak monitoring and short-term safety evaluations. The simulated sensitivity of 191 µV/m at 27.46 kHz resonance frequency is achieved by optimizing device design. The maximum deflection at the center is 2.37 nm. The total electric energy generated at 1 N of force and 5 Hz frequency is 8 nJ.