Relevant standards for natural gas measurement

Natural gas metering is actually the measurement of natural gas flow, which is measured indirectly during the natural gas flow process. The accuracy of the measurement depends on the quality of the entire process, including the reasonable design, construction, operation and maintenance of the entire measurement system. In order to ensure that the metering system is fully managed according to unified technical requirements and to ensure the accuracy of natural gas flow, it is very necessary to formulate scientific and reasonable natural gas metering standards.

Among the relevant standards for natural gas measurement, flow measurement standards are the main ones. In addition, it should also include the measurement and calculation standards for relevant parameters such as natural gas density, composition, calorific value, compression factor, as well as instrumentation, design and safety standards. Natural gas measurement involves various aspects such as design, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance, inspection, verification, safety and environmental protection. Therefore, its relevant standards are very extensive.

1. The status of natural gas measurement standards in North America

The United States has a well-developed oil industry and advanced natural gas metering technology, with strict and complete regulations, standards and advanced metering equipment.

In 1978, the United States passed the Natural Gas Act, which unified natural gas prices between states and the federal government, stipulated that the actual energy content per cubic foot would be the basis for natural gas trading, and changed the traditional way of measuring natural gas. This new way of measuring is to combine the two independent measurement systems of natural gas quality measurement and calorific value measurement to produce a new natural gas energy measurement system.

2. European natural gas measurement standards

In 1998, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) issued a standard NEN1776 (Gas Supply systems - Natural Gas measuring stations - Functional requirement) for basic technical requirements of natural gas metering stations. The standard reflects the latest situation of the standard requirements of the EC natural gas metering system. The referenced standards it includes give a relatively comprehensive overview of the relevant standards for natural gas metering in the EC. EN1776 mainly includes the basic requirements for the design, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of natural gas transmission metering stations. The capacity of the metering station is a flow rate greater than 500m3/h (standard state) and a working pressure of not less than 1bar (gauge pressure). The standard includes content settled in energy units, which provides a method for measuring calorific value. Since the metering station consists of a variety of equipment, the standard assumes that each equipment must meet CEN or ISO standards.

In addition, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) technical committee, which develops standards for natural gas flow measurement, has also developed a series of standards and recommendations for natural gas measurement.

3. The status of relevant standards for natural gas measurement in my country

my country has not yet formed a systematic standard for natural gas measurement. At present, the country uses measurement standards such as "Standard Orifice Plate Measurement Method for Natural Gas Flow" (SY/T6143-2004) and "Calculation Method for Natural Gas Calorific Value, Density, Relative Density and Wobbe Index" (GB/T11062-1998) in natural gas measurement. However, these standards do not cover all aspects of natural gas measurement, especially in natural gas trade measurement, there is a lack of unified and systematic technical standards for natural gas measurement systems. In order to meet the needs of my country's increasingly international natural gas, it is necessary to accelerate the integration of China's natural gas measurement standards with the international standards.