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NETWORK / 18 / JULY/AUGUST 2016 real-time net works C anvey Island in the Thames Estuary was used as the trial location for the original conversion to natural gas in the 1960s, and it is from nearby Kent that engineers from gas network company SGN, in partnership with DNV GL, are developing a trial flexible gas network that will help to develop the gas distribution system of the future. SGN's Real-Time Networks project will use an array of innovative technology to capture real-time data from the existing gas network. Through the use of novel sensors and cloud-based computing, it will conduct what is said to be an entirely new type of analysis of the gas network – an analysis that could help to ensure SGN serves the future needs of customers in the UK. The £8 million Network Innovation Competition project, funded by Ofgem, means that the gas network is now entering the era of 'big data' – and becoming capable of delivering a diverse supply of gases that could ultimately reduce cost for the customer. Real-Time Networks is being trialled in southeast England. It will provide a timely update to existing gas network modelling, and seek to future-proof the network, at a time when the UK is a net importer of gas. Joining the 21st century Gas networks use tools for network modelling and management that ensure a consistent source of natural gas is supplied, but this network model now needs updating, explains Real-Time Networks project manager, Alexander Webb. Steady-state computer modelling is already used to determine optimum pipeline designs, pressures and capacities. There is much greater visibility of conditions at the top end of the network – where flow, gas temperature and gas quality are typically measured – than further down the gas supply system, where these values are typically inferred by calculation. "Many of these calculations date from the 1980s. They have served us well, but they are less relevant than they once were," says Webb. As part of Real-Time Networks, SGN is installing a series of sensors to collect information from across the network to understand how gas is flowing from the top of the grid to the point of use by the customer. Engineers are also installing data loggers at customers' meters in the southeast of England for the same purpose. As part of the project, these loggers are being installed on 1,200 gas meter boxes. They will gather fresh data on how consumers use gas from a wide range of domestic and commercial properties, including schools, hospitals and prisons. "As part of Real-Time Networks, we will be recording their usage for two years, to help update our demand models," Webb says. Downstream renewable technologies, such as combined heat and power (CHP) systems and heat pumps, are also undergoing laboratory testing for the same purpose by DNV GL, whose engineers specialise in energy consulting and project execution. Some technologies such as CHP have the ability to feed back power to the electricity grid. The engineers are interested in how this could impact on the network as a whole. "We want to be able to see where the gas network might in the future have the capability to ease constraints on the electricity grid, and vice versa," Webb adds. Novel sensors will be implemented at specific points along the grid network to monitor gas quality as part of Real-Time Networks. Existing technologies used to analyse gas at the upper end of the gas grid are not necessarily appropriate. For example, natural gas chromatography, which analyses gas at a molecular level, is precise but takes four to eight minutes to take a reading, and its maintenance and operational costs are expensive. Network: l Gas quality l Network flow Weather: l Temperature l Wind speed Consumers: l Domestic l I&C Low carbon technologies: l Heat pumps l CHP Low carbon gases: l Biomethane Spring Summer Autumn Winter one year < six-minutely data Demand model concept Real-Time demand model Cloud storage "We want to be able to see where the gas network might in the future have the capability to ease constraints on the electricity grid, and vice versa."