profiles 2015, volume 2

Perfect, safe connection of PE pipes

New challenges for gas quality analysis in industrial gas utilization

Measuring gas in power plants: High temperature TRZ

P r o f i l e sTHE ElSTER cuSToMER MaGaZ iNE 2/2015

2 EdiToRial Elster Profiles 2/2015

PublisherElster GmbH55252 Mainz-Kastel, Germanywww.elster-instromet.com

Editorial staff Gudrun Biedermann, Elster GermanyPaul Webster, Elster instromet uKK. c. Tan, Elster-instromet Singapore

Please write toEurope/africa/america/australia:Elster GmbHGudrun BiedermannSteinern Strasse 19–2155252 Mainz-Kastel, GermanyT +49 6134 6 05-2 18E [email protected]

asia:Elster-instromet Sdn. Bhd.K. c. Tan29 Tai Seng avenue#06-05a Natural cool lifestyle HubSingapore 534119T +65 62477728E [email protected]

England:Elster Metering ltd.Steve caseTollgate Business ParkBeaconside, StaffordStaffordshire ST16 3HS, EnglandT +44 1785 275306E [email protected]

authors addy Baksteen, Elster Belgium Eric Bras, Elster Belgium Gudrun Biedermann, Elster Germany andreas dirks, Elster Germany Roland Essmann, Elster GermanyMaika Haddad, Elster Francedr. Joachim Kastner, Elster Germany axel Kroeger, Elster Germany Thomas Kujadt, Elster Germany Rüdiger Pfeil, Elster Germany Hans-Peter Smid, Elster Belgium Bernhard Thomas, Elster Germany Jonathan a. Wells, Elster uSa articles signed by the author reflect their personal opinion.

customer magazine online:www.elster-instromet.com

Page 7 and 8: © Siemens Pressebild Page 12 and 13: © iStockphoto.com/FooTToo Page 16: © WorldSkills Germany/Frank Erpinar 4: © fotolia.com/sss78 dr. Feix Translation agency

Publishing dates:Three editions for the year 2015

competence – just a brand or actually much more?

Brands are a difficult topic. Why do we spend so much money on establishing a brand? Why do people spend money to sit on a branded chair or why buy expen-sive brand washing powder when the “no-name” product produces the same results for your washing? And ultimately, is it really the case that brand awareness is the same on both sides, in other words for manufacturers and customers alike? Ideally, that is exactly the case.

To determine the level of brand aware-ness, experts make a distinction between brand recall and brand recognition. As far as manufacturers are concerned, brand recall is reported as the main objective. Recognition means that the consumer does not simply link vague ideas with a brand but has an actual impression of what is known about the performance of the products, solutions and services or what can be expected from them. We are proud that our customers link Elster’s word and design mark with the range of competen-cies that also covers our ideas about our own performance.

high demands made by our trainers. It spurs us on to prepare great young apprentices for their future working lives.

We are also constantly working on the subject of Industry 4.0 and are delighted to report that we are now also one of the leaders in this field. This means that all the time and money have been worth-while, making competence more than just a brand.

Yours, Thomas KujadtMarketing Director Elster Gas

We took a close look at the business units involved in the gas value chain for brand-ing purposes. The use of “Elster Instromet”, “Elster Meter” and “Elster Thermal Solutions” is an attempt on our part to “brand” mar-ket-specific competencies (see page 23).

Not only is an image required to reflect competencies, they also have to be proven. This is why the permanent development of our competencies in all areas has such a high priority for us. That applies to re-search and development, product, system and production technologies, questions of procurement and logistics and for sales and service.

And it all starts with training. Elster is doing a great deal in this respect. One of our apprentices has won the German championship in mobile robotics at the Didacta in Hanover, thus qualifying for the “WorldSkills” World Championship in Brazil. An additional award was won in the com-petition at the World Gas Conference for our project on sustainable energy. This demonstrates the high level of commit-ment of our apprentices and the equally

+ + + News: Elster – Honeywell + + +At the end of July, Melrose plc announced an agreement for the sale of the Elster Group (Gas, Electricity, Water) to Honeywell International Inc. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and com-pletion of the sale is anticipated to occur in the first quarter of 2016.

Elster has an attractive portfolio of prod-ucts and technologies which comple-ments Honeywell’s portfolio well. This will give a good basis for further growth and enhance our global presence.

As President and CEO of Elster Gas and Electricity, I am confident that Elster’s future will be exciting and successful.

Martyn VaughanPresident and CEO, Elster Gas and Electricity

PRoducTS 3 Elster Profiles 2/2015

Mechanical pipe coupling systems Permasert® and tapping tees Permalock®

in use all over the world – perfect, safe connection of PE pipes

Elster Perfection is using new methods to develop solutions for connecting plastic pipes. Elster Perfection, a specialist and manufacturer, is now also launching the mechanical pipe coupling and tapping tee systems Permasert and PermaLock for pressure ratings of up to 10 bar for the European natural gas market. These com-prise a complete range of products for the mechanical connection of PE plastic distri-bution pipelines installed in underground trenches which have DVGW and Europe-an approvals and certificates.

Since the market launch in the USA more than 40 years ago, this system has proven successful. Today, it is among the safest and most commonly used systems for the mechanical connection of plastic, i.e. PE, pipes.

More than 50 million Permasert couplings and PermaLock tapping tees are currently in use, not just in America and Canada, but also in Europe, Asia as well as in Australia and the Near and Middle East in a very wide range of climatic and soil conditions.

Since 1995, more than two million mechani-cal connections have been made in gas distribution grids in Europe using Elster Perfection products. Gaz de France, E.ON and the then British Gas were the first gas supply companies in Europe to have installed Elster mechanical pipe couplings and tapping tees.

Extensive testing and certification work and experienceTo test the suitability of the gas-carrying components for everyday and long-term use, E.ON, Westnetz GmbH and Thüga AG conducted their own field and pilot tests in gas distribution grids and test laboratories which took 2 to 5 years.

Example 1 12 service lines were installed in December 2000 with two complete service connec-tions being removed again five years later for investigation purposes in DVGW accredited test laboratories.

The result of the subsequent tests by MPA Hanover could not have been more convincing. An endurance test was con-ducted in laboratory conditions: water at a temperature of 80°C and a pressure of 11 bar for a test duration of 2000 hours. No leaks or defects were found during the test.

In 2005, the mechanical couplings Permasert were tested on the basis of VP 600, now DVGW 5600 (Provisional test basis for material transition connectors for pipes made of PE 80 & PE 100, and of cross-linked polyethylene PE-X, for gas and drinking water pipelines – require-

These days, increasing competition is forcing natural gas suppliers to minimize their costs at all times. lots of supply companies are therefore subjecting their existing methods for connecting plastic pipes to a critical review. in contrast to the conventional fusion joining method, mecha - nical pipe coupling systems are establishing themselves in gas distribution systems as safe, cost-effective, easy-to-install alternatives to conventional fusion joining methods.

ments and tests) and in 2006 the tapping tees PermaLock were tested on the basis of VP 304 (Mechanically secured plastic tapping tees without operating shut-off for polyethylene pipelines) by the GWI Gas- und Wärme-Institut in Essen and were then certified by the DVGW.

At the start of 2010, the mechanical cou-plings and tapping tees were tested again in an independent, accredited test labora-tory on behalf of E.ON. On the basis of the regulations set out in VP 600 and VP 304 issued by the DVGW, no leaks or objec-tions relating to the systems and connec-tions were found.

Example 2 Around three years ago, Westnetz GmbH (RWE) started a study into Elster Perfection’s PermaLock & Permasert products using its own test methods in a laboratory. In addi-tion, the products were tested in operation using PE 80 gas pipes in dimensions and

nominal sizes of d 63 mm to d 225 mm which had been in the soil for over 30 years. All the inspection and test results were positive which means that Westnetz will now be using PermaLock tapping tees and Permasert couplings for installation on yellow PE 80 gas pipes with anomalies throughout its network.

The coupling system for everything from local gas distribution systems to service entry valvesThe mechanical pipe coupling system Permasert is an all-in system for gas dis-tribution outside buildings which can be used to make full connections from the main to the service entry valve. All mechanical pipe coupling systems featuring Permasert and PermaLock allow safe, fast pipe con-nection without the need to purchase spe-cial tools or expensive equipment. And it is all possible in almost any weather con-ditions. The mechanical coupling system Permasert must be installed or connected using SDR 11 or SDR 17 PE pipes in com-pliance with the relevant regulations.

Endurance pressure testsWater pressure tests for Permasert cou-plings were carried out at 11 bar and 80°C over a period of 165 hours in compliance with DVGW regulation VP 600. This product family includes easy-to-install couplings, ells, tees, reducing couplings, functional end caps and couplings with integrated excess flow valves in nominal sizes d 25 mm to d 63 mm.

Tapping tees with mechanical coupling connectionThe mechanically secured tapping tee PermaLock, with or without an integrated excess flow valve, provides the installer with an efficient combination of safety, reliability and speed when connecting a service line to the main.

Fig. 2: design of the Permasert coupling

1. Permasert coupling: moulded from PE 100, Permasert exceeds the requirements of EN 1555-3, iSo 1276, EN 682 and dG 7521 BS0052

2. Thrust washer: provides even distribution of force on the collet

3. Support ring: stainless steel ring moulded into the body of the coupling for added strength and support of the gripping collet

4. The zinc-plated steel stiffener guarantees proper alignment and added support

5. Moisture and dirt seal

6. collet: prevents the pipe being pulled out

7. Sealing elements: provide permanent leak-proof sealing

8. Spacer retainer ring: guarantees precise centring of the pipe and increases the locking force of the collet

1 2 3

4

5

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4 PRoducTS Elster Profiles 2/2015

PermaLock tapping tees have been approved under the requirements of EN 1555-3 (ISO 10838) and in compliance with VP 304 of the DVGW regulations. The tapping tee PermaLock can be installed in almost any weather conditions without having to shut-off the main.

Installation and operation of PermaLock tapping tees have been tested and approved for SDR 11 and also for PE pipes from the SDR 17 pipe series. They have been tested and approved in the Elster Perfection laboratory.

Endurance pressure testsThe PermaLock tapping tee proved itself in a 2000-hour internal pressure test at 80°C and 10.8 bar without suffering any leaks. This test was carried out in compliance with DVGW Cert GmbH using regulation VP 304 for mechanically secured tapping tees in combination with PE pipes for gas.

Temperature resistanceAll sizes of the mechanically secured tap-ping tee PermaLock demonstrated the ability to provide a durable seal in extreme temperatures of -29°C and 60°C at a pressure of 17 mbar to 10 bar.

Side and torsion stressesAll sizes have also passed the side and torsion stress test and other mechanical stress tests in compliance with the requirements of ISO 10838-3.

Repair couplings Permasert – unique in plastic pipe connection technologyThe wide range of the product family is completed by Permasert repair couplings. The unique nature of these components is that repairs can be made to damage on PE pipelines safely, quickly and without special tools. In addition, expensive, extensive excavation work is also mini-mized. The principle is based on the tele-scopic function of the repair coupling.

The installer only has to determine the pipeline length in which the damage has occurred, then cut out the damaged pipe section and connect the two pipe ends using the Permasert repair coupling.

Permasert repair couplings are available in various lengths, in other words in lengths of 300, 400, 600 and 900 mm in nominal sizes d 32, d 40, d 50 and d 63 mm.

The benefits of Permasert and Permalock• Safe, fast, simple connection of a

service line to the main• Low total costs for installation com-

pared to PE fusion joining, for example • Work with the complete system regard-

less of weather conditions

• Minimization of excavation costs • The mechanical couplings and tapping

tees can be installed by a single person• Low space requirement in the pipe

trench• No special tools or expensive equip-

ment such as fusion equipment, com-pressors or other devices required for the installation work

• Corrosion-resistant components• No electricity supply required at the site• Tested, certified and approved products• 40 years of experience, safe and

reliable• The safest and fastest repair methods

for PE gas pipelines

conclusionThe unique mechanical pipe coupling system Permasert and PermaLock is an all-in plastic pipe connection system for gas supplied by Elster Perfection. It allows connections to be made from the gas main to the service entry valve safely, quickly and easily – and of course it is DVGW approved and certified.

On the basis of 50 million successfully installed products around the world, the mechanical pipe coupling system is increasingly being established for energy suppliers as a cost-efficient alternative to conventional fusion joining methods or metallic compression systems without involving high costs for special tools.

This results in overall cost savings of up to 50% compared to other methods.

For Europe, sales of Elster Perfection prod-ucts are handled by the Sales Channels of Georg Fischer +GF+ with the technical support being located at Elster GmbH, Lotte (Germany).

Axel Kroeger [email protected]


dipl.-ing. (FH), dipl.-Wirtsch.-ing. (FH) dirk Grahl (Westnetz, left) and axel Kroeger (Elster) during the project planning phase

installation of the repair coupling Mechanical tapping tee with coupling


Trends in the gas industry Natural gas is a particularly attractive choice among primary fossil fuels. It is suitable for a wide range of usages, in cluding heating buildings, flexible, clean power generation in highly efficient gas power plants, a fuel for combined heat and power generation and mobility and also as a raw material for the chemical industry.

Industrial gas utlization involves using natural gas as a fuel for thermoprocessing with the geometry, flow mechanics and stoichiometry of the combustion often being critical for such processes.

The future potential of natural gas has increased dramatically over the last few years due the exploration of new gas sources and in particular thanks to uncon-ventional gas reserves being discovered such as shale gas.

The natural gas industry can also make a valuable contribution to the process of converting to regenerative energy sources (energy transition) with its technology and infrastructure. It provides security of sup-plies and flexibility in order to cope with the volatility of renewable energy types in this process. The power-to-gas concept [1] enables electrical energy to be stored by means of electrolysis in the form of hydro-gen or methane in the gas grid. And finally, the natural gas industry is also compatible with the regenerative primary energy of biogas.

These new fossil and regenerative gas sources, together with global gas trading, are producing a growing diversity and

dynamic development in gas quali-ty. This, in turn, means greater chal-lenges in the field of energy billing, residential gas utilization and in particular in industrial gas utilization. What is therefore needed is innova-tive measuring, control and regulat-ing equipment to ensure quality and safety for gas utilization in these new conditions.

challenges in gas utilizationIn general, gas utilization processes are dependent on gas quality, but they may also be designed and enhanced for a specific fixed gas quality. One of the chal-lenges, however, is the fact that gas quality is subject to dynamic variations.

Novel fossil and renewable gas sources, together with global trading, will influence the gas quality in the grids. This is a challenge for fiscal metering, but also for industrial gas utilization. Technical innovations in measurement and control technology are needed to manage the varying gas composition.

New challenges for gas quality analysis in industrial gas utilization

There is nothing as consistent as change

Fig. 2: Gas flame with electrode for flame control and burner control (ScoT)

Fig. 1: combustion system ScoT from Elster Thermal Solutions Pre-mixing burner, consisting of an electrode for the flame ionization current, gas and air mixer and electronic gas valve

air

PWM fan

PWM valve

ScoT control unitionization signal


Modern heating applications can optimize their operation using dynamic controls even if the gas quality varies. One such system, for example, is the SCOT combus-tion system from Elster-Kromschröder (Fig. 1) [2]. This system is suitable for pre-mixing burners and uses the ioni zation signal from an electrode in the gas flame to con-trol the gas/air mixture.

Other dynamic processes for controlling gas quality measure the composition of the flue gas to enable them to adjust the combustion process perfectly as the gas quality varies[3]. The majority of industrial gas applications do not have any dynamic controls, how-ever, which means that they must be opti-mally adapted to a specific gas quality which must assumed to be constant.

To date the quality of gas in Germany has remained in adequately close ranges in local terms which means that industrial gas users have been able to optimize their processes accordingly. In the future, however, it is expected that gas quality will fluctuate more sharply and more quickly within the scope of the current standards. Against the backdrop of increasing change, the objective now must be to uphold the aims of industrial gas utilization. First and foremost, these are safety, product quality, efficiency and the minimization of pollutant emissions. The wide variety of processes and re -quirements, some of which directly conflict with each other, makes this topic an extremely complex one.

Which gas parameters are actually decisive for gas utilization? The calorific value of the gas is the main variable used for energy billing purposes. The Wobbe index is significant for the majority of types of gas utilization, particu-larly for heating, since it correlates to the thermal capacity of the burner. Therefore, these two parameters should ideally be constant in the gas supply.

However, there are also processes and effects in industrial gas utilization where the calorific value and Wobbe index of the fuel are of lower or no significance. A detailed analysis of the possible effects of gas quality fluctuations on industrial applications is provided in [4]. These effects relate to safety and environmental aspects and must therefore undergo an analysis purely for legal reasons. Other effects

adversely influence energy efficiency and product quality which can mean actual cash.

These trends in the energy industry and their consequences for gas utilization therefore necessitate innovations in meas -uring, control and regulating equipment which enable the changed operating conditions to be managed fully.

Gas quality management in industrial gas utilizationThe trend towards greater variations in gas quality may result in significant prob -lems for gas utilization in the future. Know l-edge of the gas quality is important for dealing with these effects and this means that most of all, appropriate measuring techniques are required.

Fig. 3: Gas chromatograph Encal 3000 and Gaslab Q1 for real-time measurement of gas parameters

Gas power plant


Gas analysis techniques are mainly used in the gas industry for energy billing purposes but also for gas conditioning. Established technologies include gas chromatography as well as various sensor processes based on infrared absorption, thermal conductivity, paramagnetism, measuring the velocity of sound, density measurement, electrochemistry and other measured variables. The question is what should be done with the measurement information and how can it be used for successful gas quality management.

Safety aspects must be included in all the concepts. Gas quality management measures in gas utilization must not be allowed to endanger the safety of the pro-cess in any circumstances. This relates, for example, to ignition limits, temperature limits, emissions limits, etc. Suitable approaches include redundancy or inde-pendent systems which monitor each other. In the critical discussion of the safety of new processes in gas quality manage-ment, however, consideration must be given to ensuring that these new tech-niques also guarantee the safety of gas utilization in a future environment of fluc-tuating gas quality.

The following proposes two concepts for gas quality management:

Gas conditioningGas conditioning is an established con-cept to shield gas utilization processes from variations in gas quality. The operat-ing gas in this case is mixed with air, LPG or another natural gas to obtain the required gas parameters, generally the Wobbe index.

The main benefit of this is its universal application to practically all gas utilization processes without any major process- specific development costs. However, this process involves considerable material expense since large volumes of condition-ing gases must be added in proportion to the flow of operating gas.

The process would be suitable, at a corresponding cost, for conditioning the entire network at transport or distribution level, which is already happening in some countries. Instead of a global solution, the conditioning process can also be applied on a smaller scale directly upstream of a sensitive gas application.

In any event, gas conditioning requires process-capable measuring, control and regulating equipment with an efficient gas quality analysis system. Continuous meas-uring equipment such as calorimeters and sensor measuring systems are the preferred systems for this application. If the requirements for time resolution are

in the minute range, new low-cost, high-speed gas chromatographs may be used for this purpose in the future. A combina-tion of these two measuring concepts would combine highly detailed analysis with the high-speed trend display of the sensor processes.

Process conditioningInstead of conditioning the gas, it would also be possible to adjust the gas utiliza-tion processes themselves to the varying gas quality. This would eliminate the cost of the conditioning gases and the running costs would be lower. The main challenge for process conditioning, however, is that individual solutions must be developed for a wide variety of gas utilization processes. Process conditioning will require increased use of electronics in the gas utilization processes to enable complex measuring, control and regulation algorithms to be created.

A distinction is made between two approaches to control: on the one hand, ex-post control could be used, in other words using measurements obtained after the combustion process.Examples of this include flue gas composition (e.g. O2, CO), knocking sensors, in-process temperatures, properties of the process products, etc. On the other, the gas quality analysis may be conducted before the process so as to correct effects before they occur in the process. The cost of measurement is generally lower for ex- post control, but the reaction to rapid References

1 www.powertogas.info2 http://www.kromschroeder.de/Home.7.0.html?&l=1 3 Sensorische Verbrennungsoptimierung von Gasfeuerungsanlagen; Frank Hammer; gwf - Gas|Erdgas; 07-08/20144 Gasbeschaffenheitsschwankungen – Mögliche auswirkungen auf industrielle anwendungen; Giese, anne; GaSWÄRME international; 02/2013

Turbine of a gas power plant


Fun from the gas worldThank you very much for the imaginative photos on the topic of gas! all those who send in contributions will receive a small gift as a thank you.

Please send any amusing discoveries to: [email protected].

Gas meters in use: discovered by Hilario Fortuna (Elster Spain)

Elster at the European utility Week 2015

Elster Electricity and Elster Gas

will be presenting their solutions

at the European utility Week

(EuW), which will be held from

3 to 5 November 2015 at the

Messe Wien Exhibition & congress

center (Vienna, austria) We are

looking forward to the event

and to the opportunity of meeting

our customers and partners.

gas quality fluctuations is slower. It may be necessary to combine both the ex-post and ex-ante control concepts to satisfy the safety requirements of a gas utilization process in a situation with varying gas quality.

conclusionNew fossil and regenerative gas sources, together with global trading, will result in increased variations in gas quality in transport and distribution networks. To meet the safety, efficiency, environmental and quality requirements of gas utilization processes in this changed scenario, it will be necessary in the future to manage gas quality variations. Possible solutions may involve the gas itself or the gas utilization process. This requires knowledge of the gas quality and its dynamics.

Efficient gas quality analysis techniques such as gas chromatography and sensor systems are already used in the gas industry for billing purposes and for moni-toring and controlling gas parameters.

Elster's product portfolio includes efficient equipment and total solutions for gas quality analysis, both for billing purposes and for measuring, control and regulating equipment (Fig. 3). The ongoing develop-ment of our technologies, products and solutions will increasingly include fre-quently de manded gas quality manage-ment systems in the future. The next step will be the launch of the real-time gas analyzer GasLab Q2, which was unveiled at the World Gas Conference in Paris.

Dr. Joachim Kastner [email protected]


It offers advanced options which can be used to forward and monitor measure-ment information and diagnostics data easily within your plant using your IT systems.

Within the software, we have established an additional segregation between fiscal and non-fiscal parameters. Thanks to the extended user rights, specific access rights and permissions can be assigned to individuals or groups of users. This high level of flexibility means that it is easy to control the information flow to the different users (or groups of users) and to higher-level information systems.

Series production of the new firmware V2.8 for Elster ultrasonic flow meters (Series 6) started on 10 august 2015. With this version, Elster has created a dimension in terms of flexibility and functionality that is new to the uSM market.

New software for greater flexibility and enhanced programming capabilities

innovative firmware for ultrasonic flow meters

It is possible to assign specific permis-sions which information is accessible on the local touch screen display. In addition, you can configure the data you wish to visualize using drag and drop. If your meter is connected to your production LAN, you can even access these displays remotely via any web browser.

The same applies to information that is supplied via the serial and Ethernet com-munications links. By default, the meter will be supplied with a standard Modbus table which contains all vital information such as measurements, totals and diag-nostics data. If this standard list provides

too much or too little information, you have the possibility of modifying it or creating a new Modbus list. In this way, you can decide which information you want to share or which additional detailed infor-mation you wish to transfer from your meter to your plant information system.

With the enhanced communications possibilities, the gas composition, tem-perature and pressure can be fed into the meter. This allows the ultrasonic flow meter and the velocity of sound (VOS) to be monitored. The theoretical VOS can be determined on the basis of the gas data using AGA 10 and compared with the VOS measured by the ultrasonic flow meter. If the specified limit value is exceeded, an alarm will be triggered. It is thus possible to continuously check the entire measur-ing system.

This flexibility can be utilized on site using the standard software tools – without compromising the calibration.

If you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact our sales and service team.

Eric Bras [email protected]

Screenshots of the operator software

uSM display


Expansion of production facilities in Mainz-Kastel

New production line for ultrasonic gas meters

After the successful completion of the relocation, Mainz-Kastel has become the competence centre for the production of all upstream products by Elster Gas. This means that all expertise, resources and test equipment will be used centrally from now on. DVGW, ATEX and MID approvals have all been received.

The Mainz-Kastel site stands for high- quality series production. It is also where high-pressure turbine gas meters and gas chromatographs, for example, are manufactured. Extensive SAP-controlled processes ensure that the order process runs like clockwork – from material procure-ment, qualified incoming inspection and testing to the final acceptance process on

ultrasonic sensors and electronic heads, and the final assembly and testing under the same roof ensure a high level of efficiency.

The automatic “Dry Cal” test system developed by our Belgian colleagues are used for the final acceptance process. This system allows multiple ultrasonic gas meters to be tested automatically.

One of the main points for the new pro-duction line was the safety of the person-nel who work with heavy materials such

as meter housings and blind flanges and also with high test pressures. For example, every ultrasonic gas meter is subject to a tightness test with at least 1.1 times its design pressure. All “standard” but with top priority at Elster.

We will be delighted to give you a tour of our ultrasonic meter assembly line the next time you visit Mainz-Kastel so that you can experience our passion for meas-uring technology and ultrasonic gas meters for yourself.

Eric Bras [email protected]

at the end of March, an assembly line for ultrasonic gas meters was installed at the Elster site in Mainz-Kastel. The relocation from Essen in Belgium to Mainz-Kastel in Germany means that the whole of the company’s components for integrated metering solutions (e.g. ultrasonic gas meters, flow computers and gas quality analyzers) are now produced at a single site.

Preparation of the transducer assembly

Final assembly of the ultrasonic gas meter

a test rig, coupled with comprehensive logistics. The current qualified processes and improvements to the production pro-cess mean that quality can be enhanced even further.

The modified production process has boosted both the quality and quantity of ultrasonic sensors. Production of the

The use of renewable resources instead of fossil fuels is a trend that is influencing the entire energy sector, from exploration all the way down to domestic consumption. Policy makers are incentivizing energy producers as well as end users towards a more sustainable energy landscape. It is not easy to predict what the future of energy will look like, but there will most certainly be changes which have a con-siderable impact on the industry.

Power plants play a crucial role in electricity production all over the world. Electricity is produced from several primary resources using various technologies. Coal, gas and nuclear energy each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Gas-fired power plants are relatively cost-effective to build but operating costs are higher than for coal-fired plants. Their environ-mental impact is, however, much lower than that of coal-fired plants. After the Fukushima disaster, the whole world was confronted with the potential danger of nuclear technology which led to the clo-sure and even banning of nuclear power plants in several countries.

The role of gas-fired power plants in Europe is changing from base load elec-tricity production to flexible electricity pro-duction used to balance out fluctuations in production from renewable resources like wind and solar power. Natural gas has been identified as the transition fuel that could help reduce emissions from heavily polluting coal-fired plants. In the United States, it will most certainly play a central role. As a result of the large shale

Gas metering in power plants – high temperature turbine meter

Energy is hot!

Few industries are being discussed as much as the energy sector. The availability of energy is a crucial aspect of our day-to-day lives and most of us are used to having energy available for close to 100% of the time whereas developing countries are still striving to reach this level. Besides availability, the main drivers in the industry are safety, affordability and sustainability.

reserves there, use of natural gas is already increasing and is most likely to continue in the coming decades. For the rest of the world, however, we are still observing relatively strong growth in coal use, because of its relative low cost and large reserves. It still remains to be seen whether gas will be able to play the role of the transition fuel that it was envisioned to be. Nevertheless, with the ever growing need for energy due to the emergence of further newly industrialized countries, there will be an important role for both coal and gas – that much is clear.

The competition between gas and coal has a major impact on the success of gas as a resource for electricity production. Since this is the case, efficiency of conver-sion is a key parameter for gas turbine producers as well as power plant opera-tors. Enormous development budgets are spent on improving the efficiency of gas turbines in order to stay ahead of the competition. Improvements that seem marginal represent a large saving over the lifetime of the turbine and thus all aspects of the process are scrutinized. One of these aspects is the combustion process of natural gas in the turbine.

By pre-heating the gas for the turbines, the combustion process in the gas turbine achieves a more complete combustion resulting in lower emissions of toxic com-ponents and a slightly higher overall efficiency. This, however, places special requirements on the metering equipment required to accurately measure the vol-umes of gas used by the gas turbine. For

many years now, Elster has been supply-ing turbine flow meters that can operate in high temperatures. Special adjustments were required to make this possible. The SM-RI-X-HT and HTE versions are available with special frequency pick-ups based on optical sensors. The reason for using optical sensors was that the electronics of the available proximity sensors could not operate properly in the high temperature conditions in the meter. Many gas-fired power plants worldwide are equipped with this special meter.

Recently, we have further developed this meter by replacing the optical frequency pick-up with a special proximity sensor that is capable of handling gas tempera-tures up to 177°C. The advantage of this new sensor is that the design of the tur-bine meter is similar to that of the stan-dard meter. The use of fibre cable, optical feedthrough and optical signal converters is no longer required. Besides this, the new

Fig. 1: optical sensor vs. proximity sensor


old sensor

proximity sensor offers a high frequency output since it picks up the frequency directly on the turbine wheel blades, something that is not possible with the optical sensors (Fig. 1).

As a result of the high-frequency signal directly from the turbine wheel, it is now possible to use the TurbinScope diagnostic tool that Elster offers. With this tool, it is possible to check the meter condition while the meter is still operating and inline. This is an attractive feature for power plants since it enables the operator to predict what preventive maintenance measures are required. By performing a diagnosis some months before a scheduled outage, it will be clear upfront what the meter con-dition is and whether it requires revision or not.

The high temperature meter is not equipped with an index since the high temperatures do not allow this. Further-

In addition to this gas flow meter, Elster offers a complete package of products suitable for gas measurement in power plants. A short summary can be found below:• EnCal 3000: gas quality analyzer

including hydrocarbon dew point calculation

• GasLab Q1: fast correlative meter to track changing Cv’s for gas turbine protection

• FC1 flow computer• Total metering skids

Energy is hot! And for all we know, there could be more applications in which high temperature gas requires accurate meter-ing, so don’t get your fingers burned – give us a call or send us an e-mail instead!

Addy Baksteen [email protected]

more, lubri-cation of the meter is adjust-ed to the high temperatures by applying a more viscous oil and by placing the oil pump remotely from the meter on a pole stand.

The meter is not metrologically approved since there are no possibilities to validate it on a calibration facility at conditions that simulate the real application of the meter. The meter accuracy has been proven by field tests that included a standard meter, gas preheating, the new high temperature turbine meter and a gas quality analyzer. The data from this test made it possible to prove that meter accuracy is 0.5% for the range of 20% to 100% Qmax. The meter can be calibrated as any other meter whereby the influence of the viscous oil is only noticeable from 0 to 20% Qmax. Above these flow rates, the forces are so high that the viscosity of the oil plays no significant role. During operation at high temperatures, the oil will obviously become thinner meaning that the meter also operates accurately in the 0 to 20% Qmax range.

Fig. 1: optical sensor vs. proximity sensor

Neuer Sensor


New sensor

Fig. 2: The revised SM-Ri-X-170

14 aPPl icaTioNS Elster Profiles 2/2015

You can buy a very expensive performance car, which, on paper, is very fast and powerful. However, if you put the wrong fuel in the tank, its performance will deteriorate or it will not run at all. different engines need different fuels.

The same goes for your natural gas analyzer: no matter how expensive or accurate your chromatograph is, if you buy poor quality (low grade) calibration gas, the results provided by the analyzer will be equally poor.

In different racing classes, they use differ-ent fuels. Nowadays, there are even per-formance fuels for average consumers, such as V-Power and Energy Supreme, that promise to improve your car’s perfor-mance. For your analyzer, you can also design your own personal calibration gas to ensure it works to the best of its potential. Best performance means that minimum uncertainty in heating value measurement is as low as possible, which thus lowers uncertainties when calculating the energy throughput and for fiscal metering tasks.

There are several measures you can take to increase the performance of your gas chromatograph. The carrier gas is the driving force for separation and detection in your gas chromatograph. There are two major parameters of the carrier gas that influence separation of the sample and the signal of the detector: pressure and purity. Pressure has its influence on the retention times and thus the separation of the measured peaks while purity has an influence on detector signal stability and limits of detection.

The way in which the sample is delivered to the analyzer is also of great importance. If, for instance, the sample is not clean, this can cause all sorts of problems in the analyzer. Many of the sample handling issues have already been reviewed in Profiles 2 of 2013.

The calibration gas you choose for your analyzer will greatly influence the measurement results. When an EnCal is measuring natural gas from a constant source, the calibration gas is similar to that of this source. This will ensure the best performance.

When, however, the sample gas has a wider range, the choice of cali-bration gas is vital. The common pro-cedure for evaluat-ing performance is described in detail in ISO 10723. In short, this standard describes how to evaluate your gas chromatograph using several test gases. Measure-ment uncertainty can be evaluated based on the results of this test.

This data can also be used to calculate the range of compositions within which a defined level of uncertainty is not exceeded.

Most analyzers currently installed assume that responses to all components can be modelled by a straight line through the origin. This would justify a single-point calibration, as the ratio of response to concentration is constant over the range. However, sometimes a second or even third order response function may be needed.

64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 100Methane content / %mol/mol

Fig. 1E(cVSuP) / MJ/m3

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00

-0.05

-0.10

-0.15

64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 100

Fig. 2

Methane content / %mol/mol

E(cVSuP) / MJ/m3

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00

-0.05

-0.10

-0.15

Encal 3000 and Type 4 Mix: the optimal combination

a chromatograph can only be as good as the calibration gas it uses

aPPl icaTioNS 15 Elster Profiles 2/2015

Type 4 Mix – a magic potion? At EffecTech, a company specializing in the evaluation of gas measuring devices, they go a step further: with the data collected from the ISO 10723 evaluation, they are able to perform a Monte Carlo simulation of the response of the evaluat-ed analyzer. The simulation produces approximately ten thousand “virtual” sample compositions and calculates the error in the heating value of each combination. This can be seen in Fig. 1.

This graph shows the results of an ana-lyzer made by a competitor brand. The methane content is plotted against the error in the calculated heating value of the gas. The analyzer in question was calibrated with a standard calibration gas. The “step further” that EffecTech took was to design a special calibration gas with the aim of minimizing errors. This calibration gas is called “Type 4 Mix”.

The effect of this gas is shown in Fig. 2. As can be seen, the maximum error in the calculated heating value drops from 0.15 to 0.10 MJ/m³.

If we were to perform the same proce-dure on an EnCal 3000, this would give the result on the “standard” calibration gas shown in Fig. 3. This proves that the EnCal 3000 already performs very well with the standard gas. The maximum error in heating value is approx. 0.05 MJ/m³. One may think that things can’t get any better ...

However, that assumption would be wrong. In Fig. 4, the maximum error dropped to 0.025 MJ/m³. That is an increase in accuracy of 50%!

conclusionUsing a better designed calibration gas can in fact improve the accuracy of your analyzer. So next time you are about to fill up your car at the petrol station, ask your-self this question: Should I buy a perfor-mance-enhancing fuel? Will the engine really benefit from using it? Will the results

be as good as with the EnCal 3000 if I change fuels? Maybe I should ask to see the performance curves ...

Hans-Peter Smid [email protected]

64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 100Methane content / %mol/mol

Fig. 3E(cVSuP) / MJ/m3

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00

-0.05

-0.10

-0.15

64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 100

Fig. 4

Methane content / %mol/mol

E(cVSuP) / MJ/m3

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00

-0.05

-0.10

-0.15

16 EVENTS Elster Profiles 2/2015

Elster at the WorldSkills competition

Go for Gold, Steffen!

Among the 41 young people who will be representing Germany at the so-called “WorldSkills”, is 17-year-old Steffen Ellerbrake from Elster in Osnabrück. “Of course I want to be as far up the leaderboard as possible,” he told Elster Profiles in a telephone inter-view. “We will have to wait and see how I get on though. I certainly feel as though I have prepared well. But São Paulo will definitely be an unforgettable experience. You don’t get the chance to go to Brazil everyday.”

And what do his line managers at Elster think of his chances? “There’s no doubt that Steffen will be a great representative for Elster and Germany. He’s definitely got what it takes to be World Champion. But you also need a bit of luck to win the title. And, of course, what he has done has set the standard for our other apprentices, now and in the future. It goes without saying that we will be following the title race on the Internet.”

They are among the best in their profession in Germany, all are aged 22 or younger and have reached the event through stringent qualifiers, they have prepared thoroughly and are highly motivated for their trip to São Paulo, Brazil. in the year between football’s World cup and the olympic Games, in mid-august over 1200 of the top young skilled professionals from more than 60 countries will compete in 37 different categories to find out which one of them will be World champion.

Further information in text and picture form about the WorldSkills 2015 is available at www.worldskillsgermany.com and on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Why choose an apprenticeship at Elster? We enjoy investing in young talent, because our highly qualified young professionals represents our future potential!

Gudrun Biedermann [email protected]

an innovative contribution from rising professionals within the gas industry

Youth Event at the WGc 2015 away from the noise of the big exhibition hall where all the big names were represented as usual, the WGc Youth Event was held parallel to the World Gas conference (WGc). This year, andrej Miljevic , our youngest sales representative, took part in this event under the motto “local access to Sustainable Energy in africa”.

EVENTS 17 Elster Profiles 2/2015

Together with other motivated young pro-fessionals from companies such as Total, TIGF and Storenergy, he attended the intense 4-day workshop during which participants worked together in teams, competing against each other. The chal-lenge was for each team to contribute their own ideas on the topic “Local Access to Sustainable Energy in Africa” with the final goal being to convince the investor (i.e. the jury) to provide 10 million euros to finance their project. The result of the discussions in Andrej Miljevic ’s team was AFREEGAS, a project aimed at utilizing locally flared gas from offshore oil plat-

forms in Nigeria for a floating small-scale LNG plant (FLNG). The LNG could be utilized and distributed locally in West Africa via LNG terminals and gas turbine power plants. At the same time, this would reduce CO2 emissions significantly, thus creating added value for the oil platform operators. AFREEGAS was nominated by the jury as the best “Local Access to Sustainable Energy” project out of all the group proj-ects and Andrej Miljevic ’s team was given the possibility to present their project to all WGC delegates on the last day, which was a great success. Furthermore, all the members of the winning team were invit-

ed to join key speakers and CEOs for a VIP dinner. This was a great opportunity for them to meet their future colleagues and business partners.

The gas industry is a long-term growth sector and gas will be an essential part of the future energy mix. The industry is therefore counting on events such as the WGC Youth Event to spark the interest of rising professionals and inform them of the large number of career opportunities it has to offer. Given the success of this year’s Youth Event, the gas industry is well on the way to inspiring the next generation!

The idea came when mowing the lawn: Why was it not possible to use the energy contained in domestic green waste before it left home? This would also mean saving the energy required to transport the green waste to a central collection point. The generation of climate-neutral gas and the reduction in CO2 emissions would enable everybody to contribute to the energy transition.

Showing a great deal of expertise, skill and commitment, Moritz Leg and Patrick Schuster, who attend Saarburg Grammar School, turned their idea into reality and submitted the result to the German youth science and technology competition “Jugend forscht 2015”.

Their system shreds the waste using a grinder and ferments it for 30 days in water in the reactor. A lime wash removes the carbon dioxide from the biogas while steel wool and activated charcoal remove

the sulphur. What remains is methane and fertilizer consisting of fermentation residues. The process is monitored by a number of sensors and controlled by an electronic system developed by the boys themselves.

Elster met the two entrants and found out more about their idea at the Rhineland- Palatinate 2015 State Competition at which we were once again represented on the jury in the Technology Section. In talks about the state competition which the young researchers won in the Technology Section, it quickly became clear that a little support with the sensor system would be helpful with preparing for the forthcoming national competition. This was quickly taken up by Elster’s Development Department.

The efforts of the two young researchers were rewarded at the national competition when they won the special prize for bio-technology. We would like to take this

opportunity to add our congratulations to them.

Supporting young people with making creative ideas come true and encouraging their interest in research and technology so as to secure the pool of scientists and technicians for the future is both a duty and a concern for Elster.

If this article has aroused your curiosity and you would like to follow the “BioCubed” project, take a look at the website: www.biocubed.com. If you have any queries, please contact: [email protected]

Bernhard Thomas [email protected]

Why not use the energy contained in domestic green waste at home? This was the question two school students asked themselves before developing the idea for a decentralized, mobile biogas system. Elster provided the young researchers with active support in their preparations for the German youth science and technology competition “Jugend forscht”.

German youth science and technology competition “Jugend forscht” 2015: home-made biogas

a mobile biogas system as an alternative to the German green waste bin

18 SERVicE Elster Profiles 2/2015

After studying mechanical engineering, Joachim Emrich gathered his professional experience to date in the automotive supply industry. He worked for manufacturers of components in sales of standard parts to motor vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers. At the same time, Joachim Emrich completed a post-graduate course in business administration. After several years in sales, he moved to the after sales sector and specifically to the product management of spare parts.

Over the years, he took on additional after sales duties in addition to his responsibility for spare parts. These included technical after sales, as well as training, technical helpdesk and a workshop for repairs and upgrades. Most recently, he held the

position of Manager After Sales with a manufacturer of chassis components. Mr. Emrich is now bringing this broad experience in the field of after sales for technical products to his new position with Elster. His duties will include technical after sales services for IMS products in Germany and ordering spare parts and repairs at the Mainz-Kastel site. Joachim Emrich intends to bundle after sales activities and expand the range of available services. He plans to use his long experience in working with customers and service spe-cialists to focus completely on the needs of customers.

Strong performance in after sales service Elster can supply customers with an exten-sive range of products for measuring gas flow rates and qualities. This is supple-mented by a wide variety of after sales services. These extend from commission-ing and recalibration operations, training and helpdesk to the supply of spare parts and repair work.

Markets for technical products are characterized by three developments: Firstly, products are becoming more and more complex. The increasing use of elec-tronic components and their interlinking via the Internet are two examples of this. Secondly, the requirements of industrial and private customers for fast, competent support in general is on the rise. This is all the more the case due to the fact that products are becoming ever more com-plex. Thirdly, business is becoming more and more global.

Elster is countering these three develop-ments by bundling and coordinating its services in its new After Sales Service Department.

One aim of the new strategy is qualifica-tions. The high standard of training that service technicians in Germany have acquired comprises a great deal of exper-tise about products and systems. Most Elster technicians also hold a permit for completing calibration work, a rare addi-tional qualification in this market. All these qualifications mean that Elster technicians are ready to face any situation and can also react quickly to surprises. This high level of training will be used as a standard for other markets as well in the future.

Another challenge is to give more consid-eration to the regional peculiarities of markets and customers. Developing new service products and offering them to energy suppliers is another aspect for expanding the range of services. Examples of these include seminars held at customers’ prem -ises and shorter lead times for spare parts and repairs.

The aim of Elster Gas is to focus even more on customers and their needs after they have purchased products. This can only be achieved with people whose high level of qualifications and focus on service enable them to adjust to each customer’s situation and needs, and to create individual solutions for them.

Take a look at the new range of services and let Elster Service take the strain off you.

Andreas Dirks [email protected]

Joachim Emrich, after Sales director

Mr. Joachim Emrich has held the position of head of the new “after Sales Service integrated Metering Solutions” department since 1 July 2015. With him, Elster has gained an experienced manager for the after sales of technical products.

Joachim Emrich new director after Sales Services

Focus on service

EVENTS 19 Elster Profiles 2/2015

Around 400 exhibitors attended the accompanying trade fair to offer their products in this field. The organizer, IGU, recorded a total of around 3500 confer-ence delegates and over 10,000 visitors. It was a great opportunity for Elster to present the progress it has made and exhibit its new products and its product range that covers the main focal points of the conference:• Natural gas as a core pillar for a

sustainable future of the planet• Gas, renewables and electricity:

a perfect combination• Natural gas as a growth factor for

new economies• Human capital for the future of the

gas industry

Shale gas, biogas and biomethane, as well as gas as a resource for power gen-eration were general interest topics this year – and Elster is right up with the trends with its biomethane injection stations. New products such as Q.Sonicmax and GasLab Q2 supplemented the product series and attracted a great deal of interest from lots of visitors.

Elster presented a wide product portfolio on an open, informative stand with a modern design.

The wide-ranging uses of Elster products were impressively demonstrated on a large animated graphic system in the form of a complete added value chain. All the products were included under the slogan “From well head to flame”.

This slogan was also used by the global Elster stand team to exhibit devices from all sectors. This massive product range is what makes Elster unique. Running text displays on a large graphic system showed what Elster products can do to help reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

The event in Paris once again demonstrated that we are not alone in the world of gas meters, metering solutions and services.

But without competitors, we would lack a major motivating element to make constant improvements.

The exhibitors all agreed that the confer-ence delegates represented a highly qualified public. The conference topics were discussed in lots of conversations. Demand for gas and oil in the USA contin-ues to rise. However, the gas and oil price situation means that energy savings and reductions both in investments and in the total cost of ownership are necessary. Manufacturers of gas, measuring and control equipment must face up to these challenges.

The next WGC will be held in three years’ time in Washington, D.C. Until then Elster will keep a close eye on changes in the global gas market and will continue to make every effort to overcome the chal-lenges with its innovations.

Maika Haddad [email protected]

“Growing together towards a friendly planet” was the title of this year’s World Gas conference in Paris. one of the main statements of the World Gas conference, which has been staged since 1931, was that the increased use of gas is a fast, efficient route to reducing carbon emissions. This is also a message to the forthcoming uN climate conference which will also be held in Paris in autumn.

WGc 2015: Paris was worth the trip!

Growing together towards a friendly planet

20 EVENTS Elster Profiles 2/2015

SERiES: Products in figures

25 years of battery-operated volume conversion devices

Who could have dreamed that these measuring devices could supply their data to follow-up systems automatically and wirelessly – being powered by batteries and, where necessary, also in encrypted and signed form ...

... we have done some research and have come up with some interesting figures which have nothing to do with technical data sheets.

We have sold more than 220,000 battery-operated volume conversion devices globally since 1990.

We manufacture volume conversion devices at 4 sites around the world: at Arzamas (Russia), Seoul (South Korea), Chongqing (China) and Mainz-Kastel (Germany).

We have supplied volume conversion devices to 65 countries, including to countries that nobody would ever guess would be buying them, such as Cameroon and Vietnam.

The EK280 uses just 0.00015 A of current from its batteries between measuring cycles, in other words when you could say it is asleep. The current can briefly rise as high as 1.5 A, i.e. 10,000 times higher, when the integrated modem logs into the mobile network.

The EK280 “manages” more than 9100 parameters and measurements. The EK88 only had to deal with 68.

76% of delivered volume conversion devices EK280 feature a modem.

Over 27,500,000 Wh is the total capacity of the 650,000 batteries which we have fitted in volume conversion devices or supplied as spare parts. That would allow a Tesla to drive around the world four times.

The first battery-operated volume conversion device developed by Elster, the EK88, was launched in 1990. a great deal has happened since then. The most recent device, the EK280, now includes an optional modem and power supply unit.

1990: the pioneer EK88 and the current volume conversion device EK280 – with communications facilities as standard

25 years of battery-operated volume con-version devices from Elster – a genuine success story. Thank you for your custom.

Rüdiger Pfeil [email protected]

GRouP 21 Elster Profiles 2/2015

industry 4.0: the smart factory

Elster establishes innovative manufacturing technologies

To enable them to manufacture this vari-ance efficiently and safely, companies like Elster use concepts which generally come under the heading of “Industry 4.0”. These involve how the manufacturing equipment automatically adjusts to the required vari-ant and how high quality for every individ-ual product can be guaranteed through-out the entire production process, for example.

“We provide support for our personnel to enable them to complete even complex assembly procedures safely,” says Roland

Essmann, Department Man-ager Production Intelligence, which is responsible for the introduction of the Manufac-turing Execution System (MES) at Elster. “Every device is initially assigned a bar-code with a unique number. The MES knows all the infor-mation attached to this number and required for creating the variant, such as test limit values and work instruc-tions. On the basis of this number, we

show the personnel on a display which assembly steps are required for this pre-cise variant in this station.”

Elster has been studying the topic of Industry 4.0 for several years now. In a co-innovation project with SAP and FESTO, this led to the Open Integrated Factory exhibited at the Hanover Fair 2014, which impressively showed what production sites of the future could look like. This won Elster renown as an innovation partner well beyond the borders of Germany and in autumn 2014 the Chinese Minister for Industry and Information Technology, Miao Wei, came to Potsdam (near Berlin) where SAP has its own innovation centre. There he was shown the innovative pro-duction solutions Elster has up its sleeve in the field of smart metering.

“New products feature increasing variance,” says Thomas Kujadt, Marketing director Gas at Elster GmbH. one good example of this is our new actuator ic 50, which can be supplied in a range of versions relating to supply voltage, running time and accessories in the form of an individual product or as an assembled unit with different gas and air control elements.

Start of customized production

ic50

22 GRouP Elster Profiles 2/2015

“Good vertical and horizontal integration is important to implement Industry 4.0 effectively,” says Essmann, “We use estab-lished standards such as OPC UA and Web Services.”

What does this mean? When the customer places an order with Elster for a product, the process is started in the ERP system (SAP). This creates a production order which not only contains the material data for the product but also provides the personnel with information such as work instructions. Once it has been released, the order is sent to the MES which displays the data required for the specific work step on the line and sup-plies the test equipment with the parame-ters it requires such as torques or pres-sures via OPC UA. This route is known as vertical integration. The components of new products often not only supply the part itself, but also data such as batch information. At Elster, these are supple-mented with quality data during the assembly and testing processes so that ultimately a “CV” is created for the product. The various processes are locked by the MES which means that personnel cannot start the function check, for example, un-less the previous tightness test has been passed. At the end of a successful process chain, the type label is printed straight out of the MES. This constitutes the quality label which indicates to the personnel that everything is OK. Everything done by the supplier, the internal production process-es at Elster and even delivery to the cus-tomer is known as horizontal integration.

But Industry 4.0 is not restricted to single departments of a company. “Inter-disci-plinary, inter-departmental collaboration is crucial for success,” says Essmann. “At Elster, we benefit from the fact that our colleagues have given a personal commitment to actively support the intro-duction of new techniques and are always prepared to think out of the box.” In work-shops with colleagues from development, maintenance, IT and production, consid-eration is given at an early phase of the development process as to how products and manufacturing equipment can be launched successfully in the future.

So is industry 4.0 already firmly established throughout Elster? “We have made massive strides forward thanks to our teams,” says Essmann, “but there is still some way to go before we have implemented it in full. We assume that Industry 4.0 will definitely be occupy-ing German companies for another five to ten years. I am delighted to say that at Elster, we are already at the forefront!”

Roland Essmann [email protected]

Every device is identified by its unique barcode The version parts list is displayed locally

The electronic components are assembled with MES support


Meter Thermal Solutions

Be it in the high-pressure sector with inte-grated measuring equipment in stations for determining gas quality, consumption and/or gas volumes, or in the low-pressure sector with both classic and smart equip-ment for gas consumption measurement and gas pressure control, Elster has always been a competent, reliable partner for planners, suppliers and operators. Elster also possesses great expertise when it comes to designing heating equip ment for thermoprocessing systems and for heat generation and distribution solutions with-in the scope of our Residential Heating division. Elster is no different to every other manu-facturer of high-tech products: having a strong brand supports the sale of high- quality technology. The associations cus-tomers make with the Elster word and design mark are particularly important since this mark stands for trust in the

New word and design marks at Elster

Elster Meter – Elster instromet – Elster Thermal Solutions

Those of you who were at the World Gas conference in Paris this spring will have noticed that here at Elster, we can offer solutions for an extremely wide range of requirements across the entire gas value chain.

manufacturer’s performance, quality and, of course, above all for its expertise.

When relaunching our website, we selected recognizable trademarks identifying key technological competencies: “Instromet”, “Meter” and “Thermal Solutions”.

Thus, the word and design mark “Elster Instromet” stands for integrated measuring equipment and the key com-petencies linked to this. It refers to con-sulting, servicing and technology for the analysis and determination of gas quali-ties as well as for the measurement of consumption and gas volumes in the high-pressure sector.

The Elster word and design marks describe our key competencies across the entire value chain – from gas extraction to the transportation of gas and gas utilization.

Word and design marks

Elster-instromet“Elster-instromet”, the trademark representing expertise in the fields of gas volume measure-ment and gas quality analysis, and in gas metering stations in the high-pressure sector.

Gas metering stations

Gas quality

upstream

Production Transmission distribution

Storage Residential Heating

air heating

c & i Power generation

Process heat

Processing

Natural gasliquids

liquification

lNG terminal

Midstream downstream utilization

condensate

Ethane

Butane

Propane

Gas volume

24 GRouP Elster Profiles 2/2015

The “Elster Meter” trademark highlights expertise in metering equipment in the low-pressure sector. This also includes gas pressure control. “Elster Meter” com-

“Elster-Meter”, the word and design mark representing expertise in the fields of gas volume measurement and gas quality analysis, and in gas metering stations in the low-pressure sector.

Meter Water

Gas

ElectricityGSM base

station

Smart access

consumer access point

consumer display unit

Provider Firewall

SmartGateway

Elster-Meterprises classic, mechatronic solutions for precise measurement of gas consump-tion in addition to mono-directional (AMR) and bi-directional communications tech-nology (SMART) to determine consumption or to access software, parameters or consumption equipment remotely. “Elster Meter” guarantees precision, reliability and quality.

The “Elster Thermal Solutions” trademark stands for expertise in the field of safety, measuring and control technology where gas is used for heat generation and heat distribution in the heating market and for solutions in the field of industrial heating equipment for high and low temperature applications.

Important: none of these word and design marks replaces corporate names or legal forms. Elster GmbH remains Elster GmbH with head offices in Mainz-Kastel and Lotte/Büren.

Thank you for your loyalty to our brand!

Thomas Kujadt [email protected]

The Operations Conference and Exhibition is AGA’s largest forum with over 80 speakers and 100 technical presentations on topics such as gas measurement, gas operation advocacy, gas safety, environmental sus-tainability, gas storage, engineering, con-struction and maintenance, gas control, supplemental gas, corrosion control and much more.

This year, the AGA Operations Conference & Biennial Exhibition took place from 19 to 22 May at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, with more than 2000 registrants and over 200 exhibiting vendors attending.

A particular highlight was Elster Metering’s US market launch of its newest product, the BK-250 residential meter. Marketed as the world’s first global meter that com-bines proven Elster technology and next generation innovation, the BK-250 residen-tial meter reinforces Elster’s commitment to product innovation, superior design and quintessential quality, and paves the way as the groundbreaker in the advancement of products within the natu-ral gas industry.

Based on the adopted European BK meter design, the BK-250 was intended to meet US utility requirements and will complete

Elster Metering, americas continues era of innovation and is acknowledged as industry leader

Elster utilizes aGa platform

The aGa operations conference & Biennial Exhibition is North america’s premier event featuring natural gas utilities and transmission operational management companies from North america and across the globe.

Elster Gas cEo Martyn Vaughn presenting the 2015 distribution achievement award to alicia Farag of locusView Solutions at aGa 2015

that exhibited leadership excellence in one (or more) of 12 categories, including Big Data & Advanced Analytics, Customer Value, Innovation Process and Enterprise Technology.

On 4 June 2015, Jon Smith, President of Elster Metering, Americas, represented all employees of Elster Metering, Americas and accepted both awards during the 11th Annual Manufacturing Leadership Summit and Gala in Carlsbad, California.

“Elster Metering, Americas is honoured to accept these awards, which recognize our enduring commitment to our community, employees and customers,” said Jon Smith, President of Elster Metering, Americas. “Elster is the global leader in gas meas-urement and gas safety, and our dedi-cation to environmental measures and bringing value to our customers through forward looking supply chain strategies is second to none. Elster’s culture is centred on continuous improvement, constantly

challenging the status quo to exceed stakeholder expectations. Elster capitaliz-es on 179 years of proud and successful history in combination with new ideas, providing ‘best in class’ energy solutions for its customers and securing its global leadership position in the marketplace of the future.”

commitment to excellence The BK-250 meter and leadership awards are a testament to Elster Metering’s long-term commitment to quality assurance and operational conformity. With dedica-tion from each one of the North American certified ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, and OHSAS 18001:2007 facilities, Elster Metering, Americas will continue to syner-gize its quality management, environmen-tal awareness and occupational safety programs.

By matching employee pride with owner-ship of ensuring that accurate measure-ment devices are produced without any

sacrifice to quality and safety, Elster Meter-ing, Americas, embraces each opportunity to remind customers and users of their value and impact it has toward Elster’s vision to be the best gas measurement company in the world.

Jonathan A. Wells [email protected]


the residential product profile of Elster Metering, Americas. The BK-250 residen-tial meter will also serve alongside North America’s residential metering market leader, the AC-250 diaphragm meter.

“The BK-250 is a welcome addition to Elster’s line of residential meters. It gives our market leading position even more offerings for customers looking to Elster as a solutions provider in natural gas. Our global team has done a fantastic job of bringing this to life, on time and on bud-get,” said Jon Smith, President of Elster Metering, Americas.

The BK-250 was innovated by a global design team that includes members from Nebraska City, Mexico and Germany. Its official date of production readiness was 3 July 2015.

Elster Gas was also proud to present the Distribution Achievement Award at this year’s AGA Operations Conference & Biennial Exhibition. This award recognizes the individual who in the past five years has made a significant contribution to the science and art of gas distribution.

Martyn Vaughn, CEO of Elster Gas, and AGA presented Alicia Farag of LocusView Solutions with the 2015 Distribution Achieve -ment Award for her efforts in leading the development of gas technology. Alicia’s new technology enables the reading of gas pipeline material bar codes and utilizes GPS technology to create electronic maps for the recording of pipeline assets installed within the field.

Elster, the industry leaderUpon the heels of AGA 2015, Elster Meter-ing, Americas proudly accepted two Man-ufacturing Leadership awards for Supply Chain Leadership and Sustainability Lead-ership from the Frost & Sullivan Manufac-turing Leadership Council. The awards recognize Elster’s achievements in devel-oping and executing its strategic procure-ment structure and its sustainability strategy.

Since 2004, the Manufacturing Leadership Awards have celebrated individual manu-facturing leaders and companies that are shaping the future of global manufactur-ing. Each year, a distinguished panel of industry judges selects the winners based on the ability to set themselves apart from their competitors while delivering clear and compelling value, return on invest-ment and other tangible outcomes. This year, the Council honoured companies

Elster Gas, Metering americas President, Jon Smith accepting Manufacturing leadership awards for Supply chain leadership and Sustainability leadership from the Frost & Sullivan Manufacturing leadership council

Elster GmbHSteinern Strasse 19–2155252 Mainz-Kastel, Germanywww.elster-instromet.com

profiles 2015, volume 2

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