Currently the costs of monitoring gas pressures within the distribution network are too high and our need to measure more of the network is increasing as we begin to supply different types of gas.
The UK gas infrastructure is becoming increasing complex and as such reliance on data analytics and, in the future, AI systems to inform the decision-making process will continue to grow.
Providing the volume of data necessary to make better decisions will require investment and if current data acquisition systems are deployed [satellite, datalogger with GSM], the cost to industry and our customers would be unacceptably high.
The advent of Internet of Things technology with low power low cost technologies, may provide solutions to this issue and therefore this project aims to explore the capability of printed electronic to embed such IoT sensing technologies into everyday network components to transform our infrastructure into a 21st century Smart Gas Grid.
Objectives
• Create a printed sensor which is adapted and characterised to become integrated with existing ‘approved’ network components.
• Identify the best way to integrate the sensor into the component.
• Design the supporting electronics to operate the sensor
• Design the most effective way to communicate and store the data from the device, in particular to be able to transmit data through ground and above the surface without the need for excavation. Also, the incorporation of NFC technology
• Design a way to encase all elements into the component.
• Select a battery that will provide an adequate long lifespan to the system (circa 10 year)
• the final developed product to be a low-cost pressure sensitive device
Learnings
Outcomes
This project has developed a prototype of a new form of pressure sensor for use in the gas industry. It has demonstrated it is possible to integrate sensing technologies with existing gas network components and to connect these to low cost electronics to communicate metrics to a hosted dashboard.
The accuracy of the new sensor device even at this prototype stage is encouraging. Tests demonstrate the sensor is able to report pressures which are always within 1% of the reading taken from a calibrated handheld pressure recording instrument [noting the sense points were in marginally different location on the test rig which in itself will induce some delta]. It was also proven that the sensor response was extremely rapid with sample rates set to every second - well in excess of any polling rate in use within the gas industry.
In summary this project has proven very successful and has delivered a new low cost pressure sensor prototype that could be a very attractive option for the gas industry and support the challenges of energy systems transition by providing a low cost root to more granular levels of network performance detail.
NGN intend to progress a follow on project, working with HP1T to undertake a full scale pilot to further understand the opportunities for such technologies, again insight into their real world operation and long term performance, identify new network insights and behaviors, not possible with existing technologies and further develop the sensor to create more capability, driving the value of network performance monitoring even further.
The initial project concept has been shared with the other gas distribution networks to garner interest and collaboration.
The prototype sensor has not been connected to the live gas network, rather it has been tested against a compressed air driven test rig.
Lessons Learnt
Clearly the COVID 19 pandemic was an event of such impact that normal risk and planning did not in any sense account for. Future projects will look to reflect such risk and potential cost impacts to better frame the work.
The development of a test rig within the NGN InTEGReL facility proven to be incredibly challenging, again it is felt the pandemic played a part in this, slowing down vendor responses, increasing cost estimates and so on. This led to a comprehensive rethink mid project to create a testing capability at lower cost that was fully within the control on NGN. Further projects requiring third party work will seek to build in quotes and utilize the support of the EIC to improve the deliverability of such work.
The next development of this sensor is via HP1T to put through ATEX certification and move through to TRL9. Subsequent to that NGN will undertake a pilot programme to identify the full benefit potential for this type of technology, how it connects securely into our infrastructure and what other capabilities could be evolved to move the gas industry infrastructure ever closer to a smart gas network. NGN will seek collaboration with the other gas networks to expand this work.
