Correlation parametric method for determining the velocity of acoustic wave propagation in a pipeline

The article is devoted to the experimental determination of the actual velocity of acoustic waves propagation through underground pipelines of centralized heat and water supply of ci-ties. The relevance of the problem is caused by the production necessity to increase the effi-ciency of diagnostics of the corresponding worn-out networks. Especially it concerns swift search of leaks, which daily occur in large cities of Ukraine. The search is carried out by cor-relation leak detectors, the accuracy of which depends on the accuracy of setting the speed of propagation of hydraulic shock waves along the pipeline, which generates the sought leak. Since the velocity values programmed in the devices do not always correspond to the actual values, the reasons for this discrepancy and the modes of velocity refinement in the known modern devices are analyzed. Their disadvantages concerning the use in domestic networks are given and the corresponding correlation parametric method is proposed. It consists of the artificial creation of acoustic probing signals and spatial-frequency selection of pipeline re-sponse to this probing. An application example of the method is given. Its advantages and use-ful features are given.