Fio 2.1 is a modular system that allows to remotely control a pressure reduction station of a natural gas distribution network.
The system Fio 2.1 is composed by a battery-operated Electronic Control Unit with 2G modem and antenna including two pressure sensors and one gas temperature sensor.
On request the system can be equipped with 2 auxiliary pressure sensors, displacement transducers and a pilot control system for pressure regulators.

[IFM] > Indirect Flow Measurement, performed in a 'non-intrusive mode', instead of conventional  measurement device, by correlating the pressure values  and  the relevant displacement of the plug.

[OPC] > Outlet Pressure Control of these gas pressure regulators, that is to say the control of the outlet pressure point, remotely or locally, in compliance with a daily/weekly program or compensated according to flow demand.

[FL] > Flow Rate Limitation, by acting on the outlet pressure in order to keep the delivered flow rate below a configurable limit; it replaces the mechanical limiting devices without any intrusive component and any pressure loss under standard operating conditions.

[RM] > Remote monitoring of meaningful parameters of the group functionally and safety (inlet and outlet pressure, safety valve, filters clogging, monitor takeover, SSV trip, intrusion, gas leakages).

[EUM] > End User Management, that means an interruption of supply to the users in case of emergency or in case of backlogs.

PRESSURE MODULATION

Increasing or decreasing the output pressure of a regulator is enough to decrease or to reduce the movement strength/intensity.
The increase or the reduction of the movement could be obtained by increasing or reducing the gas or the air pressure (motorization pressure) injected into the spring’s chamber.

The calibration spring must be set in order to obtain the minimum pressure value compatible with the system.

Changing the set point pressure of a regulator, without the intervention of an operator, is useful in all the cases in which the pressure in the grid is very variable during the day because the variable load conditions to ensure an appropriate supply to all the network users.

The aim to reduce the gas leakages of a grid can be obtained by keeping the pressure to a minimum value when it is possible.

The system is able to drive up to 10 lines of regulation, maintaining the specified intervention ΔP between lines. The “pressure profiling“ function carries out an automatic control to change the outlet pressure to a value specific to the period of the day. It is possible to configure up to 7 different pressure set points for each day of the week.

The ECU module stores a weekly active schedule and a further future schedule. If flow measurement is available (computed with indirect method or directly detected from a meter or corrector), the “Pressure compensation “ function can be activated as an alternative to “Pressure profiling “. This function allows to automatically correlate the inlet pressure with the instant flow. The modulation accuracy is better than 1% of the nominal full range pressure value.