Clogged Pipe Detection and Monitoring by Using Acoustic Analysis Methodology

Abstract

Clogged sewer pipelines are one of the main problems that cause Sanitary Sewer Overflow ( SSO) which leads to serious environmental issues and property damage. This work presented clogged pipe detection and monitoring methods based on acoustic analysis to identify pipe clogged occurrence and degree of blockage that can be mitigating the risks from SSO’s problems. The technique is to attach the vibration speaker on the pipe as an acoustic source. The clogged by blockage will be detected by reading the change in the pipe resonance frequency via the microphone installed on the other side of the pipeline. The resonance frequency of the measured signals was characterized by Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT). Compensation based line was used to normalize the frequency responses for easier acoustic analysis. The experiments have indicated the resonance frequency shifting down and Sound Pressure Level (SPL) decreasing when pipe clogged. Moreover, this paper provided the technique that offers small and noncomplex data which any classification method can identify pipe clogged easier in future work.