Pressure management of low pressure gas distribution networks

天然气分配网络的甲烷泄漏是一个严重的财务和环境问题。甲烷对全球变暖的影响是二氧化碳的84倍（1）* 全球损失的天然气估计为30万GWh或每年160亿英镑 *对全球变暖的影响相当于17亿吨二氧化碳当量。除了更换管道（这需要大量的资金成本），减少泄漏的唯一方法是通过改善管网的压力管理。由于泄漏量与管道内的压力成正比，因此压力降低20%会导致泄漏量减少20%。目前，压力由数千个气体调节器（英国有26，000个）控制。其中大多数是人工调整的-通常每年调整四次，这是一个很高的业务成本和后勤挑战。唯一的远程压力管理技术可以追溯到20世纪80年代，价格昂贵，安装耗时，需要持续的人工干预。Utonomy的创新专利解决方案调整网络中的压力，使其始终尽可能低，同时保持供应安全。自2019年1月以来，Utonomy一直在其现场网络上进行SGN的现场试验。这些试验成功地验证了核心技术。下一个监管期RIIO-2（4月21日至3月26日）包含OFGEM为泄漏和平均网络压力设定的目标。Utonomy解决方案的部署将帮助英国GDN（天然气分销网络）实现这些目标。尽管该技术已在现场试验中得到验证，但在整个天然气网络中推广之前，仍需要进一步的开发工作。该项目将完成这项工作，并将是商业化之前的最后一步。研发计划包括适应GB网络中存在的许多不同的调速器类型，为具有挑战性环境（如洪水）的地下安装找到解决方案，并继续进一步改进网络安全。该项目还将使该技术能够在英国以外的市场进行试验。

Methane leakage from gas distribution networks is a serious financial and environmental issue.* Methane's impact on global warming is 84 times greater than CO2(1)* Gas lost globally is estimated at 300,000 GWh or £16 billion p.a.* The impact on global warming is equivalent to 1,700 million tCO2e.Other than replacing pipes, which has a massive capital cost, the only means of reducing leakage is through improved pressure management in the network. As leakage is proportional to the pressure in the pipes, a 20% pressure reduction results in 20% less leakage.Currently, pressure is controlled by thousands of gas governors (26,000 in the UK). The majority of these are adjusted manually -- typically four times per year, which is a high operational cost and a logistically challenging. The only other remote pressure management technology dates from the 1980s, is expensive, time- consuming to install and requires continuous manual intervention.Utonomy's innovative, patented solution adjusts pressures in the network so that they are always as low as possible, while maintaining security of supply.Utonomy has been running field trials with SGN on their live network since January 2019. These trials have successfully proven the core technology.The next regulatory period RIIO-2 (April 21 to March 26) contains targets set by OFGEM for leakage and average network pressures. Deployment of the Utonomy solution will help the UK GDNs (gas distribution networks) to meet these targets.Although the technology has been proven in field trials, there is still further development work required before it can be rolled out across a whole gas network as "business as usual". This project will complete this work and will be the final step prior to commercialization. The R&D programme includes adapting to the many different governor types that are present in the GB network, finding a solution to underground installations with challenging environments such as flooding, and continuing to make further improvements in cyber security. The project will also enable the technology to be trialed in markets outside the UK.