AGCL beats gas distribution hurdles with Digitalization, IT-OT convergence

Digital technologies have the potential to transform both the upstream and downstream oil & gas sectors in profound and tangible ways, especially at a time when India is stepping up efforts to boost the share of gas in its energy basket from nearly 6% currently to 15% by 2030 through favorable policies and subsidies.  

Development of the City Gas Distribution (CGD) which aims to provide uninterrupted supply of gas to domestic, commercial and industrial customers in the form of piped natural gas (PNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) has also remained a key focus. To further develop the CGD network across the country, the government has given out CGD licences for 230 Geographical Areas (GAs) so far -which will cover around 71 percent of India’s population and 53 percent of the country’s geographical area. That is a huge progress considering the fact that only 34 GAs in the country had city gas networks till 2014 covering less than 20 percent of the population. India's downstream oil sector regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has also released a draft CGD policy, which will facilItate CGD infrastructure development further.   

IT-OT convergence is key to CGD networks transformation 

Technology can be a great enabler for the CGD players in this watershed moment. By embracing digital transformation and the IT-OT convergence they can make better and faster business decisions backed by the data at hand, automate business processes, increase their operational efficiency, better manage their assets, reduce downtimes, and enhance customer experience.   

“It’s true that with the government push towards adoption of digital technologies in the CGD sector through various subsidies and policies, we are seeing a gradual acceptance of these technologies among CGD networks. However, there is a need for a deeper understanding and realization of the benefits of digital transformation for CGD networks, which is currently at a nascent stage,” said Balaji G, Head- Energy Industries for Industrial Automation, ABB India.   

The increasing deployment of advanced IT-OT convergence solutions such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), terminal automation systems, smart metering, Geographic Information System (GIS), and satellite surveillance solutions is helping companies monitor their assets in real time.   

“Automation and digitalisation can help CGD networks transform operational processes by harnessing data to create opportunities, maximizing revenue and profitability. Furthermore, real-time monitoring of gas distribution equipment has helped CGD companies avoid challenging and hazardous situations such as leakage, enabling a safe environment for workers and ensuring operational efficiency,” explained he.    

The gas distribution hurdles for AGCL 

Assam Gas Company Limited (AGCL) has been working on one such transformational project. AGCL has been transporting, distributing and selling natural gas through its well established pipeline network and other infrastructure to the industrial, commercial, and the domestic consumers which included 399 tea estates and six large industrial customers spread across six districts of the upper Assam region of North East India.  

While working towards building a sustainable gas distribution system, one of the major issues the CGD operator faced was the optimization of gas flow along its extensive pipeline network ensuring gas availability as per the predefined limit even to the last-mile consumer.  

Explaining the problem further, Gokul Chandra Swargiyari, MD, Assam Gas Company said, “One of the major issues AGCL wanted to tackle was optimizing gas flow along its extensive gas pipeline network. When pipeline gas pressure falls below a certain limit in the gas distribution network, the first few centers of the AGCL distribution network would end up utilizing more gas and exhausting their quota beyond the pre-defined limit, while users at the end of the pipeline would not receive the required gas supply for their tea estates. This resulted in uneven distribution of gas amongst the consumers of the distribution network. The consumers which were at the starting of the distribution network did not fetch difficulties in withdrawing  gas and end up utilizing more gas beyond their predefined limit creating problems for the end consumers. There was no real-time visibility. Additionally, manual collection of gas consumption reading from on a monthly basis was a mammoth task as consumers are widely spread.” 

SCADA technology came to the rescue

AGCL, therefore, needed a modern digital solution to monitor, control and manage uniform distribution of natural gas supply to its customers. ABB undertook the project and delivered a state-of-the-art and customized SCADA and telecom solution for AGCL covering 74 tea estates and six big industrial consumers in the first phase of the project.   

ABB’s SCADA technology can help utilities detect gas leakages and pressure issues that could lead to accidents, environmental hazards and revenue loss. It also enables modernization of the management of gas transmission, distribution and scheduling and is designed to eliminate the challenges of complex pipeline networks and provide greater visibility of consumption for better demand and supply forecasting. 

The SCADAvantage system facilitates advanced control and real-time monitoring of gas flow from a remotely located control room and enables safe and reliable management of distributed assets, which was crucial for the AGCL project. An ERP solution integrated with SCADA shall also ensure accurate billing for AGCL without need for physical data collections over vast remotely located areas.  

Overcoming implementation challenges 

A robust network infrastructure was needed in order to shift from manual to digital and automated data collection for each of the 399 tea estates and that was a major hurdle considering the low network coverage there. The consumption data collected from each of the tea estates needed to be transferred over a wireless General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) network to the central monitoring location. This required a lot of bandwidth and thus restricted data flow.

“Collaborating with a telecom service provider, ABB engineers were able to develop a novel APN-based GPRS solution, to improve the network connection at scattered locations, which enabled the tea estates to transfer data over the wireless network. The team was successful in setting up a wireless communication network for AGCL on schedule, allowing for secure, real-time data acquisition through SMS, email, mobility, and data access,” said Balaji.  

“Another challenge we overcame was optimizing gas flow and optimal pressure, with ABB’s pressure regulation (metering, filtration and pressure-let-down) skids, ultrasonic based metering module solution and the advanced control system. With these solutions, we were able to ensure last mile connection and gas distribution while also maintaining optimum pressure along the length of the pipeline. Our control system is helping AGCL to regulate the gas flow according to the requirements of each tea estate,” added he. 

“Digital solutions for gas distribution are helping AGCL to monitor and control gas flow across the pipeline and get an immediate report on the consumption. With this enhanced visibility in consumption, AGCL is able to estimate the present demand and build consumption forecasts to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to our customers,” said Swargiyari. 

On the completion of the first phase, ABB will carry out similar transformation work in another 325 locations for AGCL over the course of next four years.