Welcome to the new issue of the Pipeline Technology Journal (ptj). I am honoured to sit on the ptj Editorial Board and am pleased to introduce this issue’s editorial theme: leak detection and monitoring.

The latest CONCAWE Performance of European Cross-country Oil Pipelines report (https://www.concawe.eu/) highlights that since 1971 (the start of the CONCAWE data), improvements in leak detection and monitoring systems have translated to better leak detection in liquid pipelines. The report identified that systems have detected 25% (as a moving average) of leaks over the last five years.

With the technology used in leak detection improving year-on-year, it's interesting to examine what's changes and what the future trends are -- especially with the move to net zero and emerging fuels. There will be new products flowing in our pipeline infrastructure, and detection and monitoring systems will need to address new challenges, including hydrogen, carbon dioxide and even ammonia.

In this issue, ptj looks at how the industry is gearing up for the future. We have a great line-up of papers, including an interesting in-line inspection approach to detecting theft, which has increased in recent years and is likely to be a continuing issue as energy prices soar. There’s also a paper on an extended, real time transient approach that uses continuous monitoring and pattern recognition to spot leaks in difficult products such as hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Two papers focus on the use of fibre optic cable applications; one is about external detection and the other describes a novel use of fibre inside the pipe. Finally, an article about leak prevention introduces a plastic mechanical protection system that sits over the pipeline to reduce the impact of third-party damage.

We hope you enjoy this edition, and that it will educate you on the status of current and future technologies for leak detection and monitoring.  
 
Your sincerely,
 
Mike Kirkwood, Director, Integrity Engineering and Emerging Energy
T.D. Williamson