Efficient and Fast Pipelines Leak Localization Using Inverse Transient Analysis: A Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm-Based Approach

Inverse Transient Analysis emerges as a well-established and promising approach, showcasing notable efficacy in leak detection in pipelines. Within ITA optimization, addressing challenges such as speed, accuracy, and the ability to circumvent local optima is crucial. To tackle these issues, this paper employs the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm in conjunction with the ITA method for accurate leak localization in water pipes, achieving high accuracy within reasonable execution times. Numerical results show that the proposed PSO algorithm is significantly more efficient than optimization approaches based on Genetic Algorithms and the Exhaustive Search Method used in previous studies, requiring only 32 s to estimate the exact location of leaks in 15 km pipelines. Furthermore, a hybridization of the PSO algorithm with the Matched Field Processing (MFP) method is introduced to reduce the search space, yielding reliable results within reasonable computation times, particularly for long pipes.