Studying and Analyzing Leak Locations in Deeply Buried and High-Resistivity Pipeline Based on a DC Potential Method

It is not uncommon for underground water supply or heating pipelines to break and leak, but such events can cause serious inconvenience to the lives of residents. The accurate and timely detection of the leak locations is the primary objective in solving pipeline rupture issues. Based on the direct current (DC) resistivity method, which provides a stable signal, convenient interpretation, and strong anti-interference ability, we adopted the pole-pole device form of the DC potential method to detect the locations of leaks in high-resistivity water supply or heating pipelines. A finite element numerical simulation method was used to study the characteristics of the leakage point potential distribution with and without metal pipeline interference. The numerical simulation results show that the pole-pole DC potential method has strong anti-interference ability and can effectively locate locations of leaks in pipelines with metal interference. The numerical simulation results were verified by physical experiments. The research results show that the pole-pole DC potential method can effectively detect the locations of leaks in high-resistivity pipelines.