Energy-Weighted TDOA Method for Acoustic Leak Localization in Monophasic Fluid Pipelines

Acoustic emission techniques have become an effective solution for monitoring and leak detection in fluid transport pipelines, mainly due to their non-intrusive nature and high sensitivity. Among these approaches, localization based on the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) is widely used; however, its accuracy is often limited by measurement noise and unequal sensor contributions, particularly in realistic industrial environments. This paper proposes an energy-weighted TDOA method to enhance the accuracy and robustness of acoustic leak localization in monophasic fluid pipelines. The proposed approach integrates the acoustic energy received by each sensor into the localization process, giving greater importance to sensors closer to the leak source, where the signal is generally more reliable. A weighted cost function is formulated and solved using numerical optimization techniques. The method is evaluated through numerical simulations conducted under both ideal and noisy conditions. Gaussian noise is introduced to represent realistic uncertainties in time-of-arrival measurements, and Monte-Carlo simulations are carried out to assess the statistical robustness of the proposed method. The results show that, while the classical TDOA approach performs well in noise-free scenarios, its accuracy rapidly degrades in the presence of noise. In contrast, the energy-weighted TDOA method achieves higher localization accuracy, lower error dispersion, and improved robustness. These results confirm the relevance of the proposed approach for practical pipeline monitoring applications.