Empirical Channel Model for Placement Optimisation of Sensors Deployed on Oil & Gas Transmission Pipelines

Sensor optimisation is a significant challenge addressed when deploying a Wireless Sensor Network, especially in applications where a large number of sensors is considered. However, a compromise between the minimum number of sensors and the best possible performance shall be taken into account. For this reason, an empirical channel model is necessary. This study is focused on the RF propagation around and along steel cylindrical surfaces. A large number of transmission gain measurements was conducted within the 2.4 GHz ISM-band. An empirical channel model was extracted from those measurements as a function of cylinder’s arc length s and curvature κ. This channel model could be used for the optimisation of sensor placement during planning and deployment of a wireless sensor network for applications such as monitoring of Oil and Gas transmission pipelines.