PIPELINE LINE PACK CALCULATION

The natural gas line pack (inventory) in the high pressure pipeline of the National Natural
Gas Transmission System (NNGTS) is calculated by the PipelineStudio software, created by
the company Energy Solutions International (ESI) Ltd. and installed in the Gas Control &
Dispatching Center, located in the premises of the Operation and Maintenance Center of the
Southern Greece at Patima Magoulas near Athens.

By using this software a hydraulic simulation model of the NNGTS network is created and
contains all the network pipelines and their equipment in detail (i.e. diameter, length, wall
thickness, positions, metering and/or regulating stations, line valve stations, scraper
stations, etc.).

The high pressure network pipeline is divided into smaller pipes based on the data entered
by the user of the software. Then the qualitative and quantitative elements of the natural
gas are imported in the model (for example, pressure, temperature, gas analysis, etc.) so
that the model converges to the operating parameters that the user needs. Finally, after
solving a variety of equations, the software calculates the natural gas line pack in each
divided part of the high pressure network pipeline. The total line pack is the sum of the line
packs of all the divided pipes.

References:

1. PipelineStudio, Energy Solutions International, http://www.energy-

solutions.com/products/pipeline_studio.php
2. M. Luskin , Siam Journal on Numerical Analysis, "An Approximate Procedure for Non-
symmetric, Nonlinear Hyperbolic Systems with Integral Boundary Conditions",
Volume 16, No. 1, February, 1979.

3. E. Shashi Menon, Gas Pipeline Hydraulics, Academic division of T&F Informa plc.,
Boca Raton, Florida-USA 2005