A Kalman filter for estimating transient pressure and flow rate in a pipe

The purpose of this study is to estimate transient pressure and flow rate in a pipe using measured pressure values of three points. Previously, method of estimating transient pressure and flow rate by combining a steady-state Kalman filter and an optimized finite element model of pipeline dynamics has been proposed by authors. Fluid transients in a pipe were estimated off-line by using experimental values in order to show basic performance of the Kalman filter. For comparison, an off-line remote measurement method for unsteady flow was applied to the same data. Estimation results of the Kalman filter show good agreement with the result of the method of characteristics and the remote measurement method for unsteady flow. In this paper, steady flow rates obtained by the Kalman filter, flow meter, and method of characteristics were compared. As a result of the comparison, the estimated result showed proportional to the measurement result. Therefore, it was confirmed that the Kalman filter has a good accuracy comparable to the MOC.