See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/283151219

AMR Gas meters system by radio -a new trends in natural gas metering
technology in romania

Conference Paper · September 2006

CITATION READS

1 538

1 author:

Monica Crainic
SC AEM SA TIMISOARA
51 PUBLICATIONS 45 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Monica Crainic on 25 October 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Buletinul Ştiinţific al Universităţii "Politehnica" din Timişoara
Seria ELECTRONICĂ şi TELECOMUNICAŢII
TRANSACTIONS on ELECTRONICS and COMMUNICATIONS

Tom 51(65), Fascicola 1-2, 2006

AMR Gas meters system by radio - a new trends in

natural gas metering technology in romania

Monica Sabina Crainic1

Abstract systems to remplace manual meter reading. Despite

Natural gas is a non-regenerable energy source. For this the fact that AMR does not fundamental change the
motive she must be managed properly to protect it for traditional way of collecting it does open up a
future generation. Proper management of natural gas communications channel between the utility and the
reserves requires submetering. Submetering of natural
consumer.
gas consumption and revenue collection is traditionally
accomplished using diaphragm gas meter. To resolve
some problem of revenue collection new technologies THE LEVELS OF AMR METERING SYSTEM
liken automatic meter reading is implemented. In this
context we at AEM Luxten Lighting Co produce a radio AMR systems operates on three level [1]. At the
module for automatic gas meters reading and the lowest level are the mechanical gas meters with pulse
readind system for this gas meters. output and an interface module, which allows data to
be transmitted from this remote device to a central
Keywords: flowmeters, diaphragm gas meter, natural location. This meters are installed at the consumer's
gas submetering, radio module for gas meters reading.
home. In many instances this communication interface
INTRODUCTION is bidirectional and allows central office signal to be
received by the remote unit as well. The next level is
Revenue collection is one of the core activities of the communications systems used for the transmission
any utility inclusive natural gas distribution company. or telemetry of data and control send signals between
This has traditionally been accomplished using the meter interface units and the central office. At the
conventional credit meters like diaphragm gas meter, top level is the central office system equipment
with regular meter reading, extension of credit to including receivers, data concentrators, controllers,
customers and normal credit collection mechanisms. host upload links and host or central computer with
This process is costly, with numerous inherent the data base for the collection of the metered gas
problems for both utility and customers. To solve consumption.
some of these problems new technologies like 2.1 MECHANICAL GAS METER WITH PULSE
automatic meter readimg (AMR) [1-4] is implemented OUTPUT
which offer benefits to both parties.
AMR was first tested 45 years ago when trials These are volumetric dry, diaphragms gas
were conducted by AT &T in cooperation with a meters [5-6] meant for measuring domestic natural
group of utilities and Westinghouse After those gases consumption. They have internal chambers
successful experiments AT & T offered to provide with rubber walls that alternately fill and empty with
phone system-based AMR services at $ 2 per meter. the flowing gas. The mechanical motion thus
The price was four times more than the montthly cost generated is linked to a gear mechanism that moves
of a person to read the meter-50 cents. Thus the the dials on the meter index (display) showing the
program was considered economically unfeasable. volume of gas that has passed through the meter.
The modern era of AMR began in 1985, when several Instantaneous flow rate is typically not measured. The
major full-scale projects were implemented. AMR diaphragm dry gas meters comply with OIML R6,
systems have been available to the utility industry for R31 and to SR 6681-98 provisions. Some technical
more than 20 years. However few natural gas utilities characteristics are presented in Table 1
[1, 4] have chosen to implemented large scale AMR

1
AEM – Luxten Lighting Company SA, Gas and Water Meter Research Department, 26 Calea Buziasului 300693 Timisoara,
Romania, Tel: +40-256-222200, Fax +40-256-490928, e-mail sales@aem.ro
Table 1 [11 a] central office. Typically such communications take
the form of telephone [1, 7-9], powerline carrier
G 1,6 G 2,5 G 4 (PLC) [1,10], radiofrequency (RF) [1, 11b-11c ,
Cyclic volume V (dm3) 1,2 1,2 1,2 12],or cable television [1]. The system components in
Maximum flow Qmax (m3/h) 2,5 4 6 the communications systems depend on the
Minimum flow Qmin (m3/h) 0,016 0,025 0,040 communication media used.
Maximum pressure Pm (bar) 0,5 Radio is used in 90 % of the AMR meters
Environmental and gas - 20 … +50  C installed around the world, making reading meters by
temperature range radio the fastest growing segment of the AMR
One pulse value (on request) 0,002 m3 industry. It involves retroffiting an existing
Counter range 99999,999 mechanical gas meter with pulse output with a radio
Connections G1 or G1 ¼” AMR module [11b] that contains a radio transmitter
Maximum admissible errors  3% for and some times also a radioreceiver. AMR modules
QminQQmax work by sensing the mechanical motion that drives the
 1,5% for mechanical register.
0,1QminQQmax Radio AMR meter modules operate by
Weight (kg) 2,5 transmitting periodically, or by responding to a radio
Overall dimensions (mm) 243  228  172 interrogation. Periodic transmitting relies on either a
fixed receiver being present nearby, or a mobile radio
Their cases are cupped steel bodies with in a handled computer or mounted in a vehicle coming
electrostatic spray paint with epoxipolyesteric with range when meter data is required.
powder. The rotation of gear is transferred via a The operation of radio AMR meter modules
magnetic coupling. falles within the regulatory agencies of each country.
The gas meter with pulse output converts the These regulations determine the radio frequency, the
data obtained from mechanical meter into an electrical transmission power levels and other technical
signal by means of a reed switch group that is characteristics (see table 2) of radio operation [11c].
activated by a permanent magnet. It makes a sensitive
reading and gives 2 pulses per one liter. Table 2 [11 b]

2.2 INTERFACE MODULE Communication channel frequency: 868 MHz;

Modulation: RF-FSK;
Volumetric dry, diaphragms gas meters with Radiated power: max. 3mW(5dBm);
pulse output has an interface module with power Transmission mode: bi-directional communication;
supply, meter sensors, controlling electronics and a The communication protocol: M-bus;
communications interface that allows data to be The communication distance in open field:
transmtted from this remote device to a central up to 200 m;
location. In many instances this communication Supply: Li battery - 3.6V (10 years life-time);
interface is bi-directional and allows central office Protection degree: IP 54;
signals to be received by the remote unit as well. Operating temperature: -40 C...+60 C;
Every gas meter must have such interface unit to be Standards: according to R&TTE Directive;
remotely read.
The radio module for gas meters reading (see
The AMR system starts at the meter. Some
fig.1) is an instrument intended for the remote reading
means of translating reading from rotating meter dials
of the consumption recorded by a gas meter.
intro digital form is necessary in order to send digital
The module attached to gas meter meters
metering data from the customer site to a central
pulses whose number is proportional to the gas
point.
volume measured by the meter. At the receipt of a
radio message following a reading request, the
2.3 COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
module transmits by radio the value of the pulse
counters.
Communications systems is used for the
transmission or telemetry of data and control send
signals between the meter interface units and the
 store the real-time run or operating system program.
The controller unit is used to process the signal
originating from the meter's electro-optical interface
devices. In effect, the controller unit converts the
meter's electromechanical interface device signals into
computer type converts key pad entries into numbers
appearing on the display. The controller's RAM
memory maintains an up-to-the-minute mirror image
of the meter's dials and as the dials increment, so do
the numerical representations stored in RAM.
The third functional building block is the
communication scheme and its associated electronics
transmit/receive electronics.

III REMOTE READING SYSTEM

Reading system is intended for the remote

data collection concerning the consumption registered
by gas meters equipped with radio module.
The system is made up of the following:
 gas meter equipped with radio module for remote
reading (see pct. 2.1 - 2.3);
 PSIONWorkabout hand-held terminal equipped
with radio interface;
 central computer with the database for the
collection of the metered gas consumption (see
Fig. 1 Radio module for gas meter reading
pct 2.4).
The radio module is made up of the On site data collection concerning gas
following: consumption is carried out by means of PSION hand-
held terminal provided with radio communication
 a pulse generator which takes over the pulses
interface, and data storage is achieved on a PC. For
from the gas meter (the pulse has the weight of a
these functions carrying out GazRadio_PSION
certain gas volume);
software application is used. This application is made
 the printed board which contai ns a
up of two modules:
microcontroller with metering and
 GazMP, for hand-held terminals of
communication functions, the radio circuit and
PsionWorkabout type
the
and
 radio aerial;
 Gaz MBD, for Purchase.
 the battery for the electronic circuits supply;
The GazMP module communicates with the
 the case fixed on the gas meter, which contains gas meter through RS232 serial interface of Psion
the printed board and the battery. Workabout hand-held terminal by means of the radio
module, and the communication with the PC is made
2.4 CENTRAL OFFICE SYSTEMS EQUIPMENT by means of a RS232 cable. The application user
interface is represented by a menus and dialog boxes
At the top level is the central office system system. The application starts working only after
equipment including receivers, data concentrators, entering the user password. After the password
controllers, host upload links and host or central checking, the user can use a menu comprising the
computer. following:
There are three major building block
 configuration operations in the communication
functions that the meter interface and related
mode,
electronics must perform.
 addresses list loading,
First, an electro-optical interface according to
EN61107 (IEC 62056-21);must be incorporated into  operations of current data reading and
or attached to the meter. This converts informations  operations of current data transfer on a PC.
conveyed by the meter's mechanical register indexes, The configuration operations in the
into electronic signals which may be processed, communication mode consist of the following:
manipulated, stored and transmitted. a) Communication mode,
The second functional building block is a The program allows the use of the following
controller unit consisting of a low-voltage power external devices for the communication processes:
supply, signal processing electronics, microcomputer, 1. RS232;
random access memory and program memory used to 2. Dock-Station;
b) The choice of the address list,
 There can be loaded addresses lists, which  current time
contain information about the gas consumers (name,  current date
domicile and meter series). GazMBDsoftware module has been intended
These lists can be subsequently used in turn to run under Windows 95, 98 and carry out the
for the gas meters reading. following:
The lists are created by means of The transfer of the current data stored in
GazMBDprogram. PSION hand-held terminal, and the deleting of the
The selected list can be viewed entirely or records from PSION hand-held terminal can be
there can be viewed only the consumers those have carried out by operating the controls of menu:
not been read.  Current data
c) List deleting  PSION data deleting
Consumer's lists can be deleted, as needed. These functions are correlated with the
The reading operations consist of the following: similar functions of GazMBDprogram on
a) Current data reading PsionWorkabout hand-held terminal.
The program allows current data reading Data display in the view zone and their
through the radio module. By operating this control, deleting by operating the controls of menu:
the following dialog box is displayed:  View zone deleting
**********************************  Current data view
Gas meter reading Viewing certain information from the data
Address: <-Manual-> base by operating the controls of menu
All meters: <-No->
 Search
GIVE UP GO ON
 The first
ESC ENTER
 The preceding one
**********************************
After pressing "Tab" key, the options for the  The following
address selection will displayed:  The last
********************************** The users, passwords and consumers lists
Manual configuration by operating the controls of menu:
Name 1 l Domicile 1 l Address 1 l  Consumers
Name 2 l Domicile 2 l Address 2 l  PSION password
............  Consumers list
********************************** The database can also be used by other
In case there is no current list, only “Manual” specific applications: analysis, forecasting, billing etc.
option is displayed. Technical characteristics of remote reading
The meter can be read in turn, by selecting an address system for gas meters are:
from the list or by entering the address with the  The maximum number of consumers stored by
keyboard, if <manual> option is selected. the HHU (2M memory): 10,000 consumers;
If "All meters" is set up on "Yes", there will  HHU autonomy: 24h;
be read all the previously loaded meters, or only the  Data about the radio interface:
meters that have not been read, as function of the  it uses the free frequency band (no license
chosen option. required);
******************************************  communication channel frequency: 868
Multiple readings MHz;
Select: <-All meters-> <-Unread meters->  radiated power: max.3mW(5 dBm);
 the antenna: internally executed;
GO ON  DB9 connector for RS232;
ENTER  supply: Li battery, 3.6V (25 000 readings).
*******************************************
 One meter reading time length: 5 seconds.
The data thus read are grouped in a directory,
and the file names are created on the basis of the serial
I CONCLUSIONS
information (identifier). The hand-held terminal will
display the following data:
Submetering of natural gas consumption after a
 the identifier (address) long time of relative stagnation is moving ahead
 the measured volume (m3) rapidly to day based on new technologies: electronics
 current time based meters and advances in communications.
 current date AMR metering remplace not only the classical
b) Manual data entering meters but also:
The program also enables the manual entering of  the billing system,
the following data:  the reading of the meters and
 the identifier (address)  the administration of revenue collection.
 the measured volume (m3)
 The AMR capability could subsequently be
an added in an evolutionary manner, in order to offer
advantages over and above the simple payment
function like added
 value service,
 fraud control,
 tariffs incentives and
 unattended dwelling

REFERENCES

[1] Tom P Tomarkin "Automatic meter reading" Public Power

Magazine 50 (5) 1992
[2] *** "Automatic meter reading " Cognyst Consulting LLC
Publications www.cognyst.com/amr/
[3] Glenn Carlson "Metering reading decisions AMR systems offer
economic solutions" Pipeline & Gas Journal July 2000
[4] Carl Poter "Automation advantages AMR technology proves out
in Semco Energy's growth" Pipeline & Gas Journal July 2000
[5] *** Omega Transactions: Technical Reference Series vol. 4
Flow & Level Measurement 2001
[6] Dane Enrich “A guide to metering technologies” ASHRAE
Journal October 2001 p.33
[7] Robert Wilkinson "Using modems in remote meter reading"
Metering International Issue 1, 1998,
[8] *** "Wireless AMR overwiev" Metering International Issue 1,
2002,
[9] *** "Telephone network and modem technology options for
remote meter reading"
[10] *** "Low voltage pover line carrier automatic meter reading
systems" Archnet Technology Ltd 2001,
[11] *** Catalogue AEM Luxten Lighting company SA
www.aem.ro:
(a) Gas meters G 1,6; G 2,5; G4 and Gas meters G4T
(b) Radio module for gas meter reading
(c) Remote reading system for gas meters
[12] Richard G Geiger "Reading meters by radio" Metering
International Issue 2, 1998,

View publication stats