Papers

The American Gas Association published Report No. 9, Measurement of Gas by Multipath Ultrasonic Meters 2nd Edition [Ref 1] in April 2007. Report 9 details recommended practice for using multipath gas ultrasonic meters (USMs) in fiscal (custody) measurement applications. This paper reviews some of history behind the development of AGA Report No. 9 (often referred …

AN OVERVIEW AND UPDATE OF AGA 9 Read More »

We say Advanced Wireless Data Radio Communication Systems Design Process not because this is a more in- depth andmoretechnicalprocess,butbecause thesystemsinvolvedarecomplexinnatureandmustbecarefullydesignedand programmed. If anything, what I want to do is teach you a more simplified approach and technique to design a SCADA or Telemetry project, but one which you do the same whether the system is …

ADVANCED COMMUNICATION DESIGNS Read More »

This paper describes the current contents of the United States (U.S.) orifice flow metering standard − American Petroleum Institute (API) Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards (MPMS) Chapter 14.3, “Orifice Metering of Natural Gas and Other Related Hydrocarbon Fluids,” Part 2, “Specification and Installation Requirements.”[1] This document is also known as American Gas Association Report No. …

A REVIEW OF API MPMS CHAPTER 14.3/AGA REPORT NO. 3 − PART 2 Read More »

Can the effectiveness of skills training be measured? A Region Director friend of mine who works for a large natural gas pipeline company complained that his new measurement employees (new hires and experienced personnel that have transferred into gas measurement) are not performing required tasks and activities to his expectations. “My over-pressure protection & measurement equipment supplier, two months ago, presented a free, 1-day training session on “How to Test a Relief Valve Set Point.” I paid for donuts and lunch! We told them exactly how to do it. “My employees just don’t get it.”
This response, a reaction created from frustration, plays out time and time again. Although this Director recognizes a performance deficiency, his statement is directed at a result (actual outcome) rather than the cause(s) that creates his concern. Many companies today are implementing proactive workforce readiness strategies. They are no longer simply paying lip service to the need for effective training programs, devising reactive measures, or creating explanations regarding why employees don’t understand and cannot perform the skills expected of them.
To begin the process of determining the cause(s) of learning deficiency, we need to understand something about the instructors learning model, the learning objectives, how the training content was presented, and how learner’s knowledge is tested (assessed).
As a Technical Training Manager working in the industry, I was often told, “Just tell them how to do it” and they will be fine. They don’t need to know why. Operation management was often disappointed when they determined their “Tell Them How” theory of training didn’t work. Little, if any, knowledge was transferred: none may have been measured. The actual cost of effective training (including gains in productivity) pales when compared to the increased cost of inaccurate measurement, delayed product deliveries, unscheduled downtime, damaged equipment replacements, impaired and strained customer relations, and re-training.

This paper provides an overview of the recently released Gas Quality Management Manual [1] that was developed by the American Gas Association Transmission Measurement Committee over a period of roughly seven years. The manual pulls together a wide range of information and provides context that allows both the expert and the novice to understand the …

AN OVERVIEW OF THE AGA GAS QUALITY MANAGEMENT MANUAL Read More »

The necessity to be able to take a representative sample of the hydrocarbon product known as natural gas is to ensure proper accounting for transactions and efficient product processing. The various sampling methods that are available and the most widely known options and limitations of these methods are discussed here. The appropriate equipment to use …

NATURAL GAS SAMPLING For CUSTODY TRANSFER Read More »

Natural gas measurement today is accomplished through the use of two different classifications of gas meters. The first consists of inferential type meters, including, orifice, ultra-sonic and turbine meters, and the second is the positive displacement meters, which consist of diaphragm and rotary displacement meters. The inferential type meters are so-called because rather than measuring …

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ROTARY DISPLACEMENT METERS Read More »

Overpressure protective devices are of vital concern to the natural gas industry. Safety codes and current laws require their installation each time a pressure reducing station is installed that supplies gas from any system to another system with a lower maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP). The purpose of this article is to provide a basic …

Relief Valves and Overpressure Protection Methods Read More »

In the gas industry, there are two basic types of regulators used for both pressure reducing and back pressure (relief) control. The two types are:  Self Operated Regulators (Sometimes referred to as spring loaded regulators)  Pilot Operated Regulators (Loading and Unloading style pilot regulators) This paper will discuss the basic principle of Self …

FUNDAMENTALS OF PRESSURE REGULATORS Read More »

The history of orifice metering began in the early 1900’s. The first test data was done by the U.S. Geological Survey and in 1913 the first “Handbook of Natural Gas” was published. So, as you can tell, orifice metering has been around for over 100 years and in that time, much has been learned and …

Fundamentals of Orifice Metering Read More »