DNV GL's customer NiSource owns and operates a portfolio of regulated energy businesses that included natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, as well as electric generation, transmission and distribution, where they use our Synergi Gas software.
NiSource
The company has a total of nearly 4 million customers located throughout a high-demand energy corridor stretching from the United States Gulf Coast through the Midwest to New England. That includes over 15,000 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines with over 1.3 trillion cubic feet of annual throughput.
In April, a team of 20 DNV GL engineers and software developers from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania – world-class experts in modelling natural gas facilities – visited NiSource’s Artemas compressor station.
Pipes and compressor modelling
It takes a lot of compression and piping to move the vast amounts of gas in the networks, so NiSource uses DNV GL’s hydraulic circuit design software Synergi Gas to model the pipes and compressors in their system. The Artemas compressor station is just one of many compressor stations in NiSource’s Columbia Gas Transmission system. Artemas has both reciprocating and centrifugal compressors along with extensive gas cooling facilities. There is also a natural gas storage facility nearby so the station is valved to move natural gas in multiple directions. All of these factors make it interesting to operate, to model and to visit.
Industry collaboration
The visit itself is a good example of industry collaboration. Our experts know how to take real-life facilities and hydraulic phenomena, then apply scientific and engineering principals to accurately represent them in virtual form – Synergi Gas. However, most of them rarely or never get to see the equipment they spend their working days modelling. Synergi Gas has extensive compressor modelling features that companies like NiSource rely on daily to make important decisions. The software developers and engineers at DNV GL gain additional insight and build relationships with valuable site visits such as this.
Knowledge sharing
It was also a chance for our customer to share suggestions on how we can improve the software and give feedback on how important it is to their successful daily operations. At NiSource, they took the time from their busy work day to show us their facilities and answer questions, and we valued the learning opportunity.
