Recognizing the need for an economical means to rapidly indicate and accurately track quality level changes in natural gas, Advantica Technologies (formerly BG Technology) of the UK, developed an energy-sensing device based on the correlative measurement principle. Correlative operation differs from other methods, such as calorimeters that burn the gas and chromatographs that separate and identify the gas components, in that physical measurements, (i.e., temperature, pressure, speed of sound, etc.), are used to determine gas quality parameters through empirical and mathematical relationships. Advantica Technologies employed in-depth knowledge of natural gases throughout the UK national transportation system, state-of-the-art modeling software, and the novel application of sensors to correlate an array of gas quality values from a minimum number of physical measurements. Prototype devices performed beyond expectations in both laboratory and field tests across the range of quality variations that occur in the UK "gas composition". In 2000, Invensys Metering Systems partnered with Advantica Technologies through an exclusive license agreement for the development and commercialization of a line of correlative energy measurement devices. Field tests were conducted during the year of 2001 on European, Australian, and North American gases. From this experience, much was learned and many improvements were made. The first model in the product line will be the GQS-1000 Gas Quality Sensor. Availability of the GQS-1000 is anticipated for mid-year 2002.
展开▼
