The first laboratory for high pressure calibration of gas meters in Poland
The previous high pressure calibration of gas meters was possible only outside Poland's borders. Thanks to the modern laboratory in Hołowczyce, GAZ-SYSTEM will provide such services on the territory of Poland.
“The laboratory will allow for the characteristics of the gas meters to be determined under the calibration pressure that is in fact very close to the pressure under which a given gas meter works. Thus, we will improve the accuracy of settlements of the transmitted gas. — said Artur Zawartko, vice-president of GAZ-SYSTEM. — LWG is also an opportunity for broader cooperation between science and business. We will conduct research and development activities related to gas amount measurements. — Zawartko added.
Due to the entry into force of the Ordinance*, only gas meters with a maximum flow rate of Qmax=100m3/h and working in a gas network with a maximum working pressure no higher than 0.5 MPa should undergo legal metrological control.
The remaining gas meters are still supervised by the gas industry. This is why GAZ-SYSTEM is working on establishing its own principles of metrological control.
No station allowing for gas meter calibration under working pressure has previously existed in Poland. This is now possible in Hołowczyce (Mazovian Province), where GAZ-SYSTEM opened the first Gas Meters Calibration Laboratory (Laboratorium Wzorcowania Gazomierzy, LWG) in Poland.
The gas meter calibration station can be operated in an open and closed system. In the first case, gas is taken from a gas network and returned there thanks to the proximity of the gas compressor station in Hołowczyce. In the second, the flow is forced by a special compressor.
The advantages of both systems are the following:
- the possibility of setting any pressure no higher than the current pressure of the gas network,
- gas flow on the station in the closed system independent of the gas flow rate in the network,
- easier stabilisation of pressure and temperature, i.e. the most important parameters for the process.
How does gas meter calibration work?
“The process consists of forcing the flow of the same amount of natural gas through the examined and model gas meters and determining the difference between their indications. This process allows the characteristics of a gas meter examined under the conditions of its future work to be determined.” — said Aneta Korda-Burza, director of the Laboratory Division at GAZ-SYSTEM.
The cost of the investment was almost PLN 30 million and approx. 30% of this amount was financed by the Innovative Economy Operational Programme. LWG has 8 employees. For the Sarnaki municipality, the construction means that each year, a property tax in the amount of 2% of the value of investment outlays will go to the municipality budget.
GAZ-SYSTEM has two laboratories: the Gas Quality Measurement Laboratory in Pogórska Wola in the Małopolskie Province and the Gas Meters Calibration Laboratory in Hołowczyce.
*(Ordinance of the Minister of Finance of 13 April 2017 establishing the types of measuring instruments subject to legal metrological inspection and the scope of metrological inspection — Journal of Laws of 2017 item 885 of 08/05/2017, effective as of 9 May 2017).
Technical data
I. The Gas Meters Calibration Laboratory will provide services including:
calibration of turbine, rotor, ultrasound, and other gas meters,
examination of fixtures, instruments, and appliances used in the gas industry in individually established scopes.
II. Basic station parameters are:
- pressure range: between 3.5 and 53 bar in closed circuit, up to 53 bar in open circuit,
- flow rate: between 5 and 6000 m3/h in closed circuit, up to 6500 m3/h open circuit,
- temperature ranges of a station working in closed circuit:
from +16 oC to +24 oC, - stability of temperature in close circuit: ±0.1 K.
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Contact person:
Tomasz Pietrasieński
GAZ-SYSTEM Spokesperson
tel. 22 220 18 12 , mobile: 885 888 849
e-mail: rzecznik@gaz-system.pl
