Super smart gas meters:they deflate the bill and turn off leaks

The new era of 'metering', towards the ecological transition:it also allows you to read the propagation of earthquakes

BOLOGNA – The “smart meters”, known as meters or rather intelligent meters of electricity, gas and running water, allow you to obtain timely data on energy consumption, but not only that. For example, they can 'read' disasters better, for example by obtaining data on the propagation of an earthquake, or avoid dangers linked to gas leaks.In any case, they already allow savings for individual citizen users, limiting energy losses, as well as making a gift to the environment. We are talking about it today in Bologna at the 11th edition of the annual conference "Smart utilities open meter-Suom" promoted by the Smart metering group of Anie-Csi, Anie, Confindustria, Smg and Innovability, in collaboration with Hera.At the utility's headquarters, in particular, the emphasis is on the digital innovation introduced by "Smart metering", in terms of environmental sustainability.This is the testimony offered at the conference by Marcello Bondesan, head of energy asset development and measures of InRete energy distribution (Hera group), who points out that it all started a dozen years ago now.

“Our metering system was born - explains Bondesan - from the 2012 earthquake, in the phase in which our shareholders asked us to replace the old gas meters en masse. We realized that, with the additional addition of a few components, the technological framework in question would also allow us to obtain other functions“.On the basis of similar experiences carried out in Japan, for example, some 'accelerometers' have been studied that are capable of resonating with the typical waves of an earthquake, "thus managing to separate them - continues the head of InRete's Energy Asset Development and Measurements energy distribution - from traffic vibrations and accidental impacts".But not only that.“Moreover – Bondesan expands – we have identified, thanks to the tool, potentially dangerous actions such as the detachment or complete breakdown of the system downstream of the delivery point”.

THE 'METER' SHUTS OFF THE GAS FLOW IMMEDIATELY IN THE CASE OF ANOMALIES

These are "potentially dangerous situations, especially where the separation occurs in closed rooms and therefore dangers quickly arise".In this case, the 'smart' device of the meter "immediately closes the gas flow and sends the signal to our remote control centres, so that we can intervene on the specific user even earlier - Bondesan points out - even the same citizen who is registered person becomes aware of it, because perhaps he is away from home.When he comes back, as happened to us, he sees us all there and we are ready to explain what happened."Meanwhile, there is no limit to the applications, or almost no.

HELP AGAINST EARTHQUAKES?

For example, a municipality could use these tools to proceed with a seismic mapping of its territory.It is an option “that already exists in Japan:the capillarity of the meters that have this type of sensor allows us to understand how an earthquake propagates, in fact, according to the morphology in the depth of a specific territory“, continues the InRete manager.Which completes:“Another free service was the possibility of intercepting small continuous gas leaks downstream of the meter.These are leaks that the user pays for, among other things, but they also and above all represent serious environmental damage.It is not necessary for the meter to close, because these are small leaks, but the user is warned that there is work to be done at home.With your trusted plumber”, concludes Bondesan.