2012 Distribution Best Practices Benchmarking

System Regulation and

Valve Inspection & Maintenance Data Packet

BEST PRACTICES

BENCHMARKING

SYSTEM REGULATION

AND VALVE INSPECTION & MAINTENANCE

2012 Data Sheets

Deadline for data submittal in BESS: March 23, 2012

American Gas Association January 2012

2012 Distribution Best Practices Benchmarking

System Regulation and

Valve Inspection & Maintenance Data Packet

General Definition

Operations and maintenance activities associated with the inspection and maintenance of valves on distribution systems. This includes inspection and maintenance activities required by 192.747 Valve Maintenance-Distribution systems, as well as voluntary company valve inspection programs. Transmission valves or service valves are not part of this study with the exception of Question 9 on automatic shutoff valves and remote control valves.

All field activities associated with the operations and maintenance of pressure control stations requiring periodic inspections as per DOT Part 192. (Excludes Gas Control Personnel)

NOTE: All work within the pressure control station would be included in the labor costs. This would include all regulators, filters, valves, piping, heating equipment, any system metering in the station, any electronic equipment for monitoring, calibration of chart equipment, maintenance of odorization equipment, chart changing and data downloading, , and building and property maintenance.

Service Level Measures

· Number of valves maintained per 100 miles of main

· Percentage of maintained valves found inoperable

· Number of customers per maintained valve

· Percent of Unscheduled visits per pressure control station and city gate station

· Unscheduled visits per pressure control station and city gate station

Productivity Measures

· Labor cost per total valve inspected

· Total cost per total valve inspected

· Labor cost per city gate station

· Labor cost per pressure control station

· Total cost per city gate station

· Total cost per pressure control station

Activities

· Verify valve operation by turning or partial opening or closing

· Any recommended work applied to service valve operation such as lubrication or flushing and cleaning

· Work associated with repairing inoperable valves, or uncovering when paved over

· Cleaning debris from around the valve stem to ensure operation

· Management of valve maintenance records

· Validate valve location

· Station pressure adjustments

· Operations and maintenance/adjustment of electronic monitoring equipment

· Retrofit of regulators or other equipment in existing stations

· Periodic testing, inspection, maintenance of regulators, over-pressurization devices, gate gas metering equipment, all associated valves and all other associated equipment

· Investigation and correction of pressure problems or outages

· Leak testing of all station equipment and piping

· Operations and maintenance of station heating equipment

· Record keeping to support above activities

· Supervision of personnel performing the above activities

· Operations and maintenance of odorization equipment

· Operations and maintenance of liquid removal equipment and filtration

· Chart changing / electronic data downloading

· Building and property maintenance (grass cutting, etc)

· Painting of regulator and station piping

Non-Controllable/Controllable Factors

Non-Controllable

/ Controllable

Weather

Additional local regulations
Valve Pressure
Governmental regulations
Environmental considerations
Heating requirements
Gas Quality
Valve Accessibility/Encroachment / Number of valves maintained
Work quality during installation of valve
Effective coordination with city paving programs
Maintenance of non-192.747 valves
Valve location
Type, size, and age of equipment in the field
Valve buried or in an enclosure (pit or vault)
Type of routine maintenance or inspection performed
Frequency of maintenance and inspections
Above or below ground installations
Type of over-pressure protection
Number of stations in the field
System pressures (pressure control stations)

Workload Drivers

Number of valves to be maintained

Number of pressure control stations in the field

Definitions

City Gate Station

/ All pressure control stations requiring a periodic inspection under Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations (Part 192). A pressure control station that is also considered a point of delivery where ownership of the gas within the pipeline is transferred to the local distribution company. In many cases, it may also include measurement, telemetry and odorization equipment. (Does not include service farm taps.)
Curtailment (Pressure) Zone / Network of main shut off by closing a set of emergency/critical valves.
District Regulation Station / All pressure control stations (other than City Gate Stations) requiring a periodic inspection under Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations (Part 192) (Does not include service farm taps.)
Equipment / All equipment within the city gate/system regulation stations, including regulators, filters, odorizers, liquid removal equipment, meters if present, control piping and equipment, valves, pilots, piping, electronic monitoring or metering equipment, and heating equipment
Emergency/Critical Valve / A valve, the use of which is necessary for the safe operation of a distribution system, and covered by D.O.T. 192.747.

Heating Equipment Maintenance

/ Includes operating and maintenance costs associated with heating equipment used in the heating of gas at regulator stations, including boilers, heat exchangers, water and glycol lines and pumps, as well as the associated controls.
Labor Costs / The cost of all employee labor, overtime, and contractor labor dollars associated with Pressure Control Station or valve activities. Be sure to include all supervisory labor, secretarial labor, clerical labor, stores labor and all other direct support labor. Note that supervisory labor is defined as the cost of the first level non-working supervisor who directs the activities of hourly workers. Be sure to include only labor dollars in the above. Fringe benefits and overheads are not included.
Record Keeping / Recording and maintenance of all pressure control stations, facility inspection, and maintenance information or the management of valve maintenance records.
Scheduled Visit / All inspections\maintenance required by DOT or company procedures for equipment in the pressure control station
Supervision / Direct oversight of all tasks associated with maintenance of pressure control stations or valves.
Total Costs / All costs associated with Pressure Control Station activities including but not limited to labor, overtime, supervision, fringe benefits, travel, supplies, equipment, overheads, etc.
Unscheduled Visit / Any visit that is the result of a suspected malfunction at a pressure control station.

*Add definitions of ASVs/RCVs:

A Remote Control Valve (RCV) is a valve equipped with electric or gas powered actuators to operate (open or close) the valve based on an order (signal) from a remote location, such as a gas control room.

An Automatic Shut-Off Valve (ASV) is a valve that has electric or gas powered actuators to operate the valve automatically based on data sent to the actuator from pipeline sensors.

Data Collection

Company Name: ______

DOT Operating ID: ______

Person Completing Form: ______

Phone Number: ______

Fax Number: ______

Email Address: ______

Data Collection: USE DATA FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2011 or your 2011 fiscal year (from ______to ______)

Estimated

Put an “X”

1. Number of emergency/critical (192.747) valves in system ______

2. Number of non-emergency valves maintained in system ______

3. Total number of valves maintained in system (1 + 2) ______

4. Total number of valves inspected in year surveyed ______

5. Number of curtailment/pressure zones ______

6. Number of city gate stations ______

7. Number of District Regulation stations ______

8. Total Stations ______

9. Total number of Automatic Shut-off and Remote Control Valves

in the system for both distribution and transmission ______

Estimated

Put an “X”

10. Number of total valves found inoperable (requiring remedial work) ______

11. Number of unscheduled city gate station visits ______

12. Number of unscheduled District Regulation station visits ______

13. Number of unscheduled Visits ______

Total Visits (11 + 12) ______

14. Number of scheduled city gate station visits ______

15. Number of scheduled District Regulation station visits ______

16. Number of Scheduled Visits ______

Total Visits (14 + 15) ______

17. Cost for fuel gas for line heating equipment ______

18. Cost for Odorant (Annualized) ______

ALL COSTS ARE BASED ON CALENDAR YEAR 2011 OR YOUR 2011 FISCAL YEAR (FROM ______TO ______)

19. LABOR COST for System Regulation (Required) ______

All other Routine System Regulation costs in 2011 ______

(Equipment, supplies, transportation, overhead, etc.)

20. TOTAL COST for System Regulation (Required ______

21. LABOR COST for Valve Inspection & Maintenance ______

All other Routine Valve Inspection & Maintenance costs in 2011(Required

(Equipment, supplies, transportation, overhead, etc.) ______

22. TOTAL COST for Valve Inspection & Maintenance (Required ______

23. TOTAL LABOR COST for System Regulation and Valve Inspection & Maintenance 19 + 21 (Required ______

24. GRAND TOTAL COSTS for System Regulation and Valve Inspection & Maintenance 20 + 22 (Required ______

Please use the space below to enter any questions you would like to see discussed at the System Regulation and Valve Inspection & Maintenance Roundtable:

1. ______

______

2. ______

______

3. ______

______