Tech Briefs Magazine - November 2023 - 26

Gold Sponsor
Robotics
& Automation
Finalist
Patchflow-Robotics for
In-Pipe Leak Repair
Rory Bateman, Owain Pill
Imperial College London
London, United Kingdom
T
he frequency of droughts has increased by nearly a third
globally since 2000. A U.N. report states that 75 percent of
the world could face drought by 2050, and 5.7 billion people
could live in areas with water shortages for a month or more
every year. Water scarcity due to climate change alone will
necessitate a reduction in leakage.
" The idea for Patchflow was created after reading a National
Infrastructure Commission report that stated that England could
require an additional 4,000 megaliters of water each day by the
year 2050, " said Co-Founder Rory Bateman. " Halving leakage in
water distribution networks will be essential to making up this
shortfall. When researching what plans were in place for this, we
found that there were many new technologies that related to
improving leak detection but few that aimed to revolutionize
the method of fixing the leaks. Considering this is where more of
the cost in leak reduction occurs, it made sense to focus there. "
London was chosen as the location for the team's project as it
has one of the earliest piped water distribution systems in the
world. With more than half of pipes in London over 100 years
old and made of corrosion-prone cast iron makes the city an
ideal candidate for the proposed system.
The majority of R&D occurring within the U.K.'s potable water
industry revolves around the detection and location of leaks even
though this only accounts for 20 percent of the repair process's
cost. Most of this cost in repair is associated with the shutting
down of busy travel routes. The product's USP is its non-disruptive
nature, meaning that the water companies can negate the need to
pay expensive council charges associated with closing roads.
As the robot travels through the network, it would make use
of differential pressure sensors built into its skin, these pressure
sensors will detect discrepancies in the water flow. Using these
sensors in parallel with physics-based CFD models and neuromorphic
processing units, the device would be able to detect
exactly where the leak is without the need for visual data.
" Working with drinking water can bring some significant challenges, "
said Bateman. " One major challenge was that all materials
used in the device must comply with Ofwat regulations. To
address this challenge, we implemented an isolation approach
to sealing cracks. Another challenge was a lack of information
26
about the contents and makeup of the water network. This
means that it is impossible to understand the nature of a pipeline
or the crack within until a device is sent down to investigate.
This is particularly relevant when repairing cast iron pipes, where
tuberculation (the formation of corrosion mounds) is common. "
The anchoring relies upon soft robotics, utilizing silicone-immersed
SMAs to enact a retreating infill process. This allows for
fast and controllable actuation without damaging the side walling
of the pipes. Following alignment, the robot's secondary anchor
begins to expand. Here the SMAs provide heat and pressure for
thermally activated resins. This allows for a retreating infill method
with cure times between 20-30 minutes. This keeps the repair
process short, minimizing the exposure time of the product to
drinking water.
Investigation into the cost of setting up and running the system
revealed that for the same leak repair budget that Thames
Water currently expends, this proposition could increase fixes
by approximately 4.2 times. Meaning, it's possible to catch up
and keep pace with new occurring leaks within 8 years of implementation.
By comparison, the current Thames Water approach
would take around 51 years to reach this same stage. To do this,
a fleet of approximately 642 robots will be required. In this theoretical
case, the technology could save Thames Water 165 million
pounds worth of lost water in the first year alone.
According to Bateman, the project is still under development
and the next steps involve addressing the most difficult technical
challenges, which will be addressed in several projects over
the next year. " Applications will initially be focused on polyethylene
pipes as they are technically more feasible to repair. The
future vision is to expand this platform to cast iron pipes which
pose a greater but more rewarding challenge, " he said.
For more information, visit https://contest.techbriefs.
com/2023/entries/12215.
www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs, November 2023
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