Case study 5
Reducing Gas Emissions During Pipeline Commissioning
Project reference: NIA_NGN_476
Project partner: ROSEN
Project status: Closed
Project value: £87,333.75
Project timings: December 2024 – October 2025
Innovation theme: Optimised Assets and Practices
Back in 2019, we partnered with ROSEN to explore how to reduce our emissions and identified the commissioning of gas mains as one of our highest-emitting activities due to the need to purge gas through new pipework before reconnection.
It highlighted that by revising the purging calculation tables used by gas engineers, we could significantly reduce emissions. We worked with ROSEN to refine the calculations and developed updated tables with shorter purging times, which if implemented across our network could reduce methane emissions by 87,000 tonnes annually – all without any operational disruption or additional costs.
Over the past year, we have undertaken the next phase of the project, delivering 10 live field trials across different pipe diameters on the low-pressure network to test and validate the new calculations.
The trials proved successful and enabled us to calculate that by adopting the updated, shorter purging times, our gas emissions during commissioning could be reduced by 50%.
Over the next 12 months, we will continue to test the new purging calculations on a wider range of pipe diameters, and work with other gas distribution networks to share our findings and conduct further testing.
“We’ve previously focused on large-scale projects, including the use of hydrogen, to help reduce our carbon footprint, but this project demonstrates that simple operational changes can also play a big part in reducing our emissions.
By updating our procedures and shortening the amount of time our engineers purge gas while they’re commissioning pipes, we can reduce gas emissions by 50% without any operational disruption or additional costs.
It demonstrates our commitment to the continuous improvement of our day-to-day operations to reduce our impact on the environment.”
Lewis Kirkwood Innovation Manager at NGN
Key benefits:
- A 50% reduction in gas emissions during gas pipe commissioning
- Significant environmental impact without any operational disruption or additional costs
- Demonstrates how small day-to-day operational changes can have a positive impact.
