American Gas - August/September 2013 - (Page 8)
issues
Source Code
Industry standard enhances tracking and
traceability
d ig e s t
A new study by cornell University
undergrad Oliver Lake reveals
that 59.9 million Americans, or
19.4 percent of the nation’s
population, live within four
miles of a public CNg fueling station. The report used
2010 U.s. census data for its
calculations, which also found that
21.5 million Americans live within
two miles of a cnG station and
5.3 million live within one mile of
a facility. Lake’s report refutes the
belief that fueling infrastructure is
a primary roadblock holding back
cnG adoption in transportation.
The planned Los ramones pipeline from texas to central
mexico would triple mexican
natural gas imports from the
U.s. The pipeline, which would
carry about 3 billion cubic feet of
natural gas per day by 2015, will
help mexican companies reduce
their use of fuel oil. As one official
told reporters, “A lot of investment
is looking to come to mexico, so
we have to respond by providing
natural gas as part of our offer to
get these companies to come.”
constitution Pipeline co. has
asked the Federal energy regulatory commission to approve a
122-mile pipeline connecting
northeastern pennsylvania
and eastern New York state.
The pipeline is designed to carry
enough gas to serve some 3 million homes and link Pennsylvania
gas-producing areas to northeastContinued on page 10
8
AmericAn GAs august/september 2013
i
n 2011, a new standard for keeping track of
plastic natural gas pipes and fittings was created, and today, that standard is starting to
have a real impact in the industry.
The standard—known as ASTM F2897—
specifies a 16-digit alphanumeric code that
contains a range of information about an individual component, such as the manufacturer,
lot number, production date, material, and
size. This can be printed on each component
as text or as some type of barcode. Compliance
with the standard is voluntary, but a number
of companies are beginning to take advantage
of this capability. “Today, manufacturers are
just starting to put these codes on pipes and
fittings, and utility companies are just starting to ask for it,” says Alicia Farag, program
manager at the Gas Technology Institute in
Des Plaines, Ill.
With the traditional approach, various manufacturers and vendors each used different methods
to identify parts. “Prior to this specification, a
utility would get components and the information
on them would be all over the place as far as how
it was designated, where it was placed, and those
sorts of things,” says Greg Goble, an engineering
manager for R.W. Lyall, a Corona, Calif.-based
manufacturer of pipeline components. With
the standard code, on the other hand, “we have
a common way for manufacturers to be able to
convey information about a particular component
and certain attributes about that component,”
he says. That, in turn, helps utilities find specific components for maintenance efforts, or to
respond with greater speed and accuracy in the
event of a recall or equipment failure. It also assists
with documentation and visibility for the purposes
of regulatory reporting.
Many manufacturers see a significant benefit
in using the standard, and the Plastics Pipe Institute has established a website (www.componentid.org) where manufacturers can register their
two-character, company-specific identifier, which
is part of the overall code. For its part, Lyall
started putting the codes on its below-ground
pipeline products in early 2012. “As a manufacturer, we see this as something that enhances
safety within the industry, because when an issue
comes up, it gives you a way to understand and
mitigate the risks quickly,” says Goble. In addition, he says, the code provides a “standardized
language and syntax” that makes it possible for
utilities to build information systems that automate more record-keeping activities.
GTI is one of the organizations creating
such a system to take advantage of the standard
barcodes. “We have developed a system that
uses high-accuracy GPS, tablet computers, and
barcode scanning to automate the installationmapping process,” says Farag. “It helps increase
accuracy and data quality by eliminating
manual data entry and back-office processing
while creating a record of all the assets you have
installed. If you start seeing leak trends in a certain type of component, for example, you can
know exactly where those components are so
that they can be quickly located and replaced.”
The system should be commercially available in
the fall, she says.
The benefits of the standard identifiers will
only increase over time, as components reach the
end of their life cycle and older workers—and
their knowledge—leave the workforce. As Goble
explains: “Twenty or 30 years from now, instead
of having to be super sleuths to figure out what
in the world it is we just dug out of the ground,
we’ll have a very good record of what was put in
there, who made it, what it was, and what it was
intended to do.” —Peter Haapaniemi
issues
In Harmony
Gas and renewables are complementary,
Texas-focused report says
t
o meet its fast-growing needs for clean
electricity, the Texas power market should
look for ways to co-develop and integrate
natural gas and renewable energy resources says
a new report produced by The Brattle Group
for the Texas Clean Energy Coalition.
Texas is already the nation’s top-consuming
http://www.componentid.org
http://www.componentid.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Gas - August/September 2013
American Gas - August/September 2013
Contents
President’s Message
Subject Index
Dual-Fuel CNG Beauties
Digest
Issues
Issues
Issues
Need to Know
By the Numbers
Places
In Las Vegas, Another Man-Made Wonder
State House
State House
Elm Street
Main Street
A Matter of Trust
Profile
Here Comes the Grid
Marketing
Jobs
Vendor News
Marketplace
Headway
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