New European Research Projects From The Field Of Flow Metrology Of Energy Gases At UL FME

Laboratory for Measurements in Process Engineering (LMPS) has acquired two 3-year Joint Research Projects focused on flow metrology of energy gases:

• Metrology for reliable liquefied energy gases measurement (CryoMet, 2025-2028; project’s budget 2.6 MEUR, coordinator: Dr. Menne Schakel, VSL National Metrology Institute, Netherlands; coordinator at UL FME: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jože Kutin).
• Metrology for smart metering in gas networks (SmartGasNet, 2025-2028; project’s budget 1.9 MEUR, coordinator: Dr. Adriaan van der Veen, VSL National Metrology Institute; coordinator at UL FME: Assist. Prof. Dr. Gregor Bobovnik).

The projects are funded within EPM European Partnership on Metrology research funding programme (Horizon Europe – EURAMET). Their focus is on managing the metrological traceability and uncertainty of measurements of renewable energy gases, such as hydrogen, biogas, biomethane, both in gaseous and liquified state. Appropriate metrological infrastructure is key to integrating renewable gases into existing energy systems and consequently achieving the goals of the Green Deal.

The overall objective of the CryoMet project is to establish measurement systems for liquified hydrogen and biogas and to manage their uncertainty under in field custody transfer conditions. The main contributions of UL FME to this project are in work packages that focus on the reliability of liquefied gas flow measurement and on the metrological traceability of temperature measurement under these conditions. Key research results and scientific contributions are expected in connection with the evaluation of influence factors, the development of advanced methods for their correction and the reduction of measurement uncertainty. Special emphasis will be placed on research and development of Coriolis mass flow meters for use in the dispensing of cryogenic fuels and temperature measurement systems for use under static and dynamic conditions of cryogenic fluid flow.

The overall objective of the SmartGasNet project is to establish a metrological infrastructure for the uptake of gases from renewable sources (biomethane, hydrogen) into existing gas networks. The main contributions of UL FME to this project are in work packages that focus on establishing data sets of time-dependent variations of gas flow in various realistic scenarios in gas networks and on development of analytical and numerical methods for identifying and evaluating different contributions to the uncertainty of gas quantity and energy measurements. Key research results and scientific contributions are expected in the field of developing advanced methods for the evaluation of measurement uncertainty, including a component related to the integration or averaging of time-sampled data. Special emphasis will be placed on the evaluation of dynamic and correlation effects and on the verification of the developed methods using synthetic and empirical data sets.