Gas Distribution Pipeline Systems

A natural gas distribution system involves all pipelines in their various materials, diameters, and operating pressure, all piping components, gas odorization and chromatography system, gas heating system, pressure regulation and gas metering equipment, block valves, and among many other miscellanies and belonging to a utility company responsible for the safe operation of this entire system. All this infrastructure is built within cities following strict parameters of specifications of international standards ASME, ANSI, API, ASTM, NACE, and among others, with careful inspection and certification processes of all materials and tests applied as well as the executive assembly procedures carried out during construction. All this aims to ensure maximum operational safety for the supply of natural gas to all customer users in the various market segments: residential, commercial, industrial, CNG stations for the supply of light and heavy vehicles, thermoelectric plants, and cogeneration. In this chapter, the main disciplines of a natural gas distribution system will be presented, having as a reference the largest natural gas distribution company in Latin America, located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil—“Companhia de Gás de São Paulo – COMGÁS,” with more than 21,000 kilometers of pipelines to serve more than 2.5 million consumer customers in 95 cities (December 2023).