System and Material Specifications for an Advanced Gas Distribution System, Task 1: Strengths and Weaknesses of Current Distribution System

摘要

Three major strengths of the present gas distribution system were identified: (1) the fuel that is transported which is natural gas that is readily available, clean, low in overall cost and does not create inventory problems for its users; (2) the strong customer base that includes industrial, residential, and commercial users; (3) the strong strategic position of the system in which the conduits are in protected underground locations. The principal weaknesses include: (1) problems in expanding the system to include new customers; (2) increasing problems with third-party damage (harm to the pipeline caused by digging or construction by an organization that is neither the customer nor the gas utility); (3) difficulty in locating buried system elements and leaks; (4) load management problems that are symptoms of information management problems.