Sustainable, digitalised grids for gas distribution

Pietro Fiorentini has been actively researching and developing new solutions that can be used in smart grids for years now, especially the natural gas grids.

Current gas distribution networks have a significant limitation: they are subject to expected leakage, particularly at the junction points between pipes and valves, when accidental damage is caused by excavation work or vehicles that block a connection, or due to the corrosion of insufficiently cathodically protected pipes.

The leaks are directly proportional to the pressure at which the gas is maintained to ensure proper service standards at the delivery points and are particularly harmful from an environmental perspective. In fact, when burnt, natural gas is the fossil fuel with the lowest environmental impact among those that are currently available. However, if it is released into the atmosphere without being burnt, it is much more harmful than CO2.

Distributing natural gas through sustainable, smart grids therefore means designing systems which feature:

  • flexibility in managing flows coming from different resources located at multiple injection points and with different properties;
  • the ability to maintain balance within decentralised grids with bidirectional flows;
  • resilience.

Focus

Smart gas grids
Smart Grids, which integrate different types of energy and make autonomous decisions to optimise energy distribution, are an ambitious project that will, in the very near future, manage energy through networks capable of instantaneously regulating multiple, discontinuous and bidirectional flows.
Decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitalisation

Smart Grids can greatly contribute to achieving the European objectives of the Green Deal. Smart Grids implementation allows to optimise flows, transforming the final consumer in producer of energy, and maximise the safety and eliminating leakage and waste.

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Pietro Fiorentini’s systemic approach

Pietro Fiorentini’s systemic approach aims to pursue simple connections that interact with each other to create resilient systems. The achievement of the maximum level of Smart Gas Grids implementation is to achieve full integration between gas distribution networks.

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