Cepstral method for time delay estimation in acoustic leak detection

In this paper, a method based on the power cepstrum is proposed and analysed for estimating time delays between two acoustic signals measured in water distribution systems. The method determines the time delay from the location of the first peak in the difference between the power cepstra of the sum and difference of the signals. Results obtained using simulated and experimental signals demonstrate the ability of the method to accurately estimate time delays in situations where correlation-based methods fail, in particular, when the signals are corrupted by tonal noise such as resonances. An advantage of the cepstral method over correlation-based methods is that the time delay can be determined without pre-processing or requiring the spectral information of the measured signals. • Cepstral method enables accurate time delay estimation under tonal noise. • Time delay is estimated from the peak in the residual power cepstrum. • Method is robust and does not require pre-processing, unlike cross-correlation.