Linear Wireless Sensor Networks for Cathodic Protection Monitoring of Pipelines

This paper presents design considerations and implementation of linear wireless sensor networks (LWSNs) to be used in cathodic protection (CP) monitoring of oil and natural gas pipelines. Firstly, the paper overviews the CP monitoring system of pipelines. Then, it presents the proposed design of LWSN along with some implementation details by providing high-level design illustrations and system parameters. Moreover, some hardware and software design issues and challenges are addressed briefly. LWSN based CP monitoring system is designed for the use in high rise mountains along with deep valleys, and some other extreme or unattended locations where communication infrastructure is unavailable, or there exists limited or interrupted access to the infrastructure.