Illegal gas consumption – general characteristics

Abstract

Gas billing is always accompanied by unaccounted-for gas loss (UAG) which must be taken into account by gas operators. Gas theft is one of the sources of UAG in the gas distribution area and can be as high as several percent of revenues from gas supplies. The operator should have effective tools to prevent theft, both by detecting and combatting it. Gas companies try to prevent and detect gas theft using various methods. One of them is the continuous control of gas consumption at individual gas consumption points. The gas operator can thus minimize gas losses due to the use of faulty gas meters and gas losses due to leaks caused by third parties. The use of wireless communication technology in measuring devices and the connection of gas meters in smart networks enables the monitoring of gas meters and dynamic data transfer from the measuring devices. Any unauthorized interference with the gas network, gas installation or measurement system may pose a threat to human life and health, and illegal consumption of gaseous fuel is prohibited and is subject to criminal enforcement. The issues of illegal gas consumption have been defined in Polish law, first of all in the Energy Law, and in regulations concerning inspections by energy companies, on determining the scope and amount of fees for illegal consumption of gaseous fuels, and on detailed conditions for the operation of the gas system. The most widely used gas meter for measuring the volume of gas consumed in households is the diaphragm gas meter, which is usually equipped with a mechanical index, but in recent times the use of an electronic index has become more and more popular. The publication specifies several basic types of interference with household diaphragm gas meters, including the measurement system, the index, through the interaction with neodymium magnets, as well as by bypassing the measuring device. The most common are interventions by damaging the security seals and disassembling the gas meter index, followed by a change of indication or tampering resulting in false readings. It has been pointed out that the basic factor for limiting illegal gas consumption as a result of manipulation with the measuring device is ensuring the proper construction of gas meters, including equipping the gas meters with an electronic index with remote communication.