Gas Detection Technology Saves US Gas Supplier Time and Money

On October 19th 2017, a Field Ops Supervisor from a US gas supplier contacted his environmental department. He stated that they had excavated the area around a meter and there was no odour of gas or gas detected in the trench. However, when testing bore holes around the service line, the supervisor had measured readings between 5 - 10 % using his meter, which quickly dissipated. During the course of this effort, it was discovered that the gas line was positioned above a sewer line and it was assumed that the readings were sewer gas. At the time, they were unable to distinguish the type of gas identified.

The next day, a member of the environmental department met the Field Ops crew on site to determine the source of gas. Hermann Sewerin’s VARIOTEC® 460 EX was used to evaluate and determine the type of gas detected. This meter differentiates between CH4 (Methane), C2H6 (Ethane) and C3H8 (Propane). Using the meter, they differentiated the gas and determined it was attributable to the sewer gas (CH4).

By ruling out natural gas as a source, the company was able to avoid cuts in the driveway, trenching, leak investigations and paving. The amount of money saved on this one job easily paid for the cost of the instrument. The gas supplier’s environmental department has recommended that Field Ops purchase an additional ethane detector to be stored at an additional station. If the ethane detector was more readily available, the company could have avoided excavating around the meter and quickly completed the job.