Monitoring System for Under-Water Pipe Line

The growing interest in new under-water pipe lines for the delivery of natural gas (in Baltic Sea, Mediterranean region, Caspian Sea, Black Sea, etc.) needs a new instruments for the monitoring of leakage and/or possible destruction of the pipes, which could not only disturb fragile ecological systems of Baltic and other seas, but also can lead to the technological catastrophes. We plan to develop a prototype of the system consisting of pervaporation membrane and gas sensors. Overall system will be immersed into water and will be fabricated in two versions: as a stationary instrument dipped into sea water and as an instrument towed along the pipe line. Micromachined metal oxide semiconductor gas sensors used for the detection of methane concentrations is designed and fabricated using “nano-on-micro” approach. Overall system is optimized from the point of view of minimum power consumption, which is necessary to assure its long term operation under autonomous conditions.