Peter Hass

IPSOS Industrial Consulting GmbH, Berlin,

Germany

1. Introduction

The increasing number of biogas plants which is favored now as a part of the energy concept of the German Government and the European Union has major impact on traditional gas distribution and transmission systems. In addition, synthetic methane gas or hydrogen injections must be considered in the near future which will originate from wind power generation (conversion of excess capacities). The main aspect of this change is the resulting calorific value which may be subject to changes in a short time which must therefore be measured, calculated and permanently surveyed.

This chapter describes the basics of gas mixing and the various situations which may be encountered and must be handled in the transportation or distribution process. There are some limitations which must be considered for industrial consumers and power plants. Measurements and simulations are required to survey and control the process of gas distribution and finally generate figures for accounting and billing. Some typical examples are presented to give an insight into real situations and projects.

The problems and limitations of the gas distribution process in heterogeneous networks and biogas injections are discussed with respect to the IT-structure and organizational environment. The final benefit that can be achieved is an individual calorific value for each consumer in the grid enabling a fair billing despite the variations of many gas injections from many sources.