Fault detection using PDE-based observer in transport flow.

This paper deals with the state fault detection scheme for distribution flow networks subject to continuously varying conditions at boundaries. A robust PDE detection observer for transport flow systems is designed. Directly built on the nonlinear hyperbolic systems of balance laws model with anti-collocated setup, the PDE observer based on backstepping theory provide the on-line estimation of signals that are not measured. The stability of the error equation is proved. The estimation and the observability time are used for fault detection; an adaptive threshold is defined for the purpose. The performances of the observer and the fault detection method are validated on actual flow data collected from a real water distribution system (WDS) for leakage detection. The leak detection time corresponds to the first alarm activation, confirms the effectiveness of proposed approach.