System and method for detecting multiple leaks in pipelines using hydraulic transients and machine learning

A leak detection system for detecting a plurality of simultaneous leaks within a pipeline system that transports a fluid, comprising:

• a valve located at an output port of the pipeline system for perturbing a pressure head in the fluid in response to a valve closure by the valve;
• a detachable pressure measurement device for measuring a pressure head at the output port;
• a signal acquisition unit for acquiring a transient pressure head signal from the pressure measurement device, wherein the transient pressure head signal includes a random noise;
• a neural network model that maps the transient pressure head signal to an output leak function, wherein the output leak function is a probability density function that is proportional to a length of the pipeline system, wherein a dimension of the output leak function is a fixed dimension of an output layer of the neural network model that is independent of a number of leaks;
• and
• a display for displaying the output leak function from the neural network model in conjunction with a drawing of the pipeline system with indications for locations of the plurality of leaks.