Exploiting Gas Pipelines as an Unconventional Communication Channel

In recent decades, an increasing need has arisen to monitor infrastructures such as gas or water pipes to ensure adequate safety and maintenance. Natural gas is one of the most important energy sources in the current age. It is transported via cross-country steel pipelines to make it available to industries across the country. Considering safety and longevity, the principal dangerous phenomenon is the corrosion of the steel pipeline and the consequent gas supply interruption. Thanks to the cathodic protection technique, the facility is maintained in a protected state. The information about the cathodic voltage must be communicated outside the measurement point. Unfortunately, many pipes are situated where it is impossible to install a dedicated infrastructure for communication. To overcome this problem, a new means to achieve a signal transmission is presented. In particular, the possibility of using gas pipes as a communication channel is described. The performances of pipeline communication and the obtained improvement of them in terms of transmitted power and the reached distance must be considered. After reaching a successful analogical communication, it has to be digitized in the context of smart sensor involving the IEEE 1451 standard and the IoT paradigm to significantly simplify the creation of a smart sensor network.