Highlights & Projects
Can gas quality tracking also be applied to downstream distribution grids? This is exactly what we have now proven for the first time at LSW Netz…
Over the past few years, CV determination by gas quality tracking has become state of the art and is successfully applied in many gas grids today. So far, however, the application has been limited to transmission or regional distribution grids. An implementation for downstream distribution grids, which are usually characterised by high complexity, an implementation has been a challenge until now. But this is exactly what we succeeded now with SmartSim at LSW Netz GmbH & Co. KG.
The respective grid in Lower Saxony consists of two separate sub grids, supplying a total of 50,000 customers with natural gas and biomethane. The biomethane is fed directly into the downstream distribution grid. In order to avoid a costly CV adjustment of the biomethane with LPG, an innovative concept was developed jointly between LSW Netz and SmartSim, in which the grid is divided into a total of 94 CV districts. SmartSim is then used to track the injected gases downstream to the end users so that a representative billing calorific value can be determined for each CV district.
The implemented solution has been validated through extensive field testing using a mobile gas chromatograph. Due to the excellent results, the method was recently positively evaluated by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and an approval was issued by the Office of Weights and Measures of Lower Saxony. The method has been used for billing since the beginning of 2021.
