Gas Pressure System Boundary Indicator

[EdwardBlair]

In ArcFM classic there is a field that may be present on multiple device classes, and always on the classes that hold regulators and valves, named GASPRESSURESYSTEMSTATUS which indicates whether the device acts as a pressure system boundary.  Some companies might have a field with another name (such as PARTITION) which is assigned a model name to indicate it serves this purpose.

I assume there is a field with a similar purpose in UPDM, but I can't seem to locate it.   Any guidance would be much appreciated.

Thx,

Ed

[RobertKrisher]

I believe that this is the purpose of an Emergency Controllable Valve. They are controllers in the isolation zone tier, but I've also seen them used to indicate the boundaries between pressure zones. As always, I defer to @TomDeWitte about all UPDM modelling questions.

[EdwardBlair]

Sounds plausible.   Thanks for the info @RobertKrisher!   Will await confirmation from @TomDeWitte before taking action on this.

[TomDeWitte]

Hi Ed,

In UPDM we do not use a user managed field such as "GASSYSTEMPRESSURESTATUS" to determine whether a regulator, valve or meter is the edge device to separate between subnetworks. For example, when looking at how to model pressure zones in a natural gas pipe network, there are two primary criteria we use to differentiate the pressure zone edge regulator from other inline regulators.  Those two criteria are its asset group/asset type classification as a potential subnetwork controller, and the specific device being designated as a subnetwork controller with defined terminals for flow direction. Only when both criteria are met is a device recognized as the edge device separating two pressure zones. Digging deeper, these pressure zone edge regulators must have the following attributes within the PipelineDevice featureclass;  AssetGroup = Regulator, Asset Type = Regulator. Within UPDM, this combo of assetgroup/assettype is designated with the category: Subnetwork Controller. The next step is to differentiate between controller and monitor regulators within a regulator station. The controller regulator is the primary pressure reducing device. The monitor regulator is the backup pressure reducing device. For this example, you would use the UN editing tools to designate the controller regulator as an actual subnetwork controller, and additionally define its terminal directions for inflow and outflow. Once this happens, the Controller Regulator will automatically have its "Is Subnetwork Controller" value populated with "True". Additionally, the attribute "Pressure Zone Subnetwork Name" will be populated with the name of the high side and low side pressure zones.

Tom

[EdwardBlair]

Hi Tom -

Thanks for the detailed response.   With this the path for regulator configuration is clear.

However, what of valves that sit between two pressure systems?  Are there expectations about asset group/asset type assignments for such valves?

Thanks again,

Ed

[TomDeWitte]

Hi Ed,

Controllable valves rarely sit on the edge between two pressure zones of different pressures.  To allow a technician to open a controllable valve on the edge of two differing pressure zones, puts the equipment and customers within the lower pressure zone at risk of over-pressurization and system failure.

Within the natural gas industry there are some who refer to Regulators as Pressure Reducing Valves.  Since these are two terms referring to the same type of device, within UPDM we refer to these devices only as Regulators.

Is it possible your legacy dataset, has generically classified a regulator as a valve? 

Tom DeWitte

Lead Solution Engineer - Natural Gas 

[EdwardBlair]

Hi Tom -

This is a really good point. I will need to check further into the legacy
data.

Thx,
Ed