Case Study: Ensuring Proper Billing Through Accurate Calibration Of Gas Conversion Devices

By Beamex

Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG) is Poland's largest gas exploration and production company, and the only vertically integrated Polish gas company with a leading market share in all gas sectors in Poland. The company produces oil and gas from domestic sources, and imports gas from Russia, Norway, Germany and the Central Asian countries. In 2006, PGNiG produced 4.3 bn cubic meters of gas, which accounts for 31 % of the total gas consumption in Poland, and 530 thousand metric tons of oil and condensate in on-shore Poland.

PGNiG is the parent firm of Mazovian Gas Company (MSG). MSG operates in the north-eastern part of Poland and covers an area of 87 thousand square kilometres, which corresponds to 27.7 % of the territory of Poland. There are 761 localities in this area, including 120 towns, Warsaw and ?ód? among them. The ?ód? plant distributes natural gas all over the entire province of ?ód? to a total of 386,000 individual clients, including approximately 350 large industrial companies. Jacek Midera is a measurement specialist at the ?ód? plant.

The situation
Calibration in a gas company is a matter of accuracy, safety and profitability. Most importantly, accurate measurements ensure proper billing. The impact of even a small measurement error can be tremendous in terms of lost revenue. This is indication of the direct economic importance of making accurate calibrations in these applications.

Periodic calibration of instruments is required. The typical process parameters calibrated at ?ód? plant are related to delivering natural gas.

Therefore, most calibration needs are related to pressure and temperature instruments that are connected to gas conversion devices. Midera explains, "Customers want to pay for the exact amount of gas they've received. Therefore, gas conversion devices must be extremely accurate in measuring delivered gas. This means that requirements for the calibrators are especially high. The Beamex® MC5-IS meets the requirements perfectly."

Calibrating instruments properly in a timely manner is an important aspect of ensuring that the measurement system is functioning accurately. Calibration documentation can be used to verify that calibrations have been performed properly to reduce the number of billing errors. Should there be a problem, this information may prove to be a key in determining when, where and/or how an error occurred and how to appropriately correct the error.