1. Thermal Mass Metering Technology AERIUS Gas Meter
International Congress and Exhibition on Smart Grids
Istanbul 2013
Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,
since about 2 years Diehl Metering offers a domestic gas meter, the so called AERIUS, which is based on a new measuring principle, using mas flow microthermal sensor devices.
New for gas meters but well known e.g.in the medical or automotive industry, everybody in this room has a mass flow sensor in the motor of his car.

2. Agenda Diehl-Group & Corporate Division Diehl Metering
Diehl Gas Metering
Thermal Mass Meter AERIUS: Principle & Technical Details
AERIUS: Added Value
The agenda of my presentation
I will give a short overview of the Diehl group and its corporate divisions
then in more detail presenting Diehl Metering and especially Diehl Gas Metering
Then explaining the principles & technical details of the AERIUS, the microthermal mass meter
and finally talking the added value of this new gas meter
Diehl Metering

3. Diehl: Corporate Profile
Sales: ,9 Billion € *
Employees: *
Head office: Nürnberg
Family-owned company since 1902
* Trends 2012
Corporate Divisions:
family owned since 1902
about 3 billion euro turn over
14500 employees
head office Nüremberg, about 200 km north of Munic
organized in 5 corporate division
Diehl Metering

4. Diehl Group: Corporate Divisions
Semi-finished products and forged parts of copper and copper alloys
Controls for domestic appliances
Systems for defence and homeland security
Systems to equip cabins and avionics
Water & Energy Metering as well as Smart Metering solutions
Defence: e.g. smart missiles
Aerospace: interior lighting for both the bid ones BOING and Airbus
Diehl Metering

5. Corporate Division: Diehl Metering
11 companies in 9 counties
Diehl Metering

6. Corporate Division Diehl Metering: Key Figures
Sales: Million Euro
Employees: 2,000
6.5 Mio Measuring Units p. a.
4.1 Mio Radio Modules p. a.
Diehl Metering

7. Corporate Division Diehl Metering: Locations
Wangen
Milan
Production and Sales
Ansbach
Velbert
Saint-Louis
Cieszyn
Mátészalka
Jinan
Recife
Vienna
Production Plant
Nuremberg
Apolda
Sales Company/Office
12 companies in 9 countries
additional sales offices in 5 countries
parent company is hydrometer in Ansbach about 40 km west of Nuremberg
Hydrometer produces all kind of water meters since 150 years
since about 30 years also heat meters
Dubai
Esbjerg
Lyon
Paris
Madrid
Manchester
Diehl Metering

8. Corporate Division Diehl Metering
Product examples
Water meters
HYDRUS ultrasonic meter
Heat meters
SHARKY ultrasonic energy meter
Gas meters
AERIUS microthermal gas meter
Electricity meters
Echelon electricity meter
Systems and software
IZAR RDC (data concentrator)
Smart Metering solutions
Services and communications
Diehl Metering

9. Diehl Smart Metering System
A short overview of the Diehl smart metering system for remote read out
all kind of meters are supported our own meters but also meters of other suppliers
the meters have either direct radio interfaces or can be equipped with adapters to provide the radio interfaces
wired M-bus is also supported
walk-by/drive-by solutions as well as fixed network solutions via concentrators can be provided
finally at the top level workstation based software for data aggregation and presentation is available
Diehl Metering

10. Center of Competence for Gas Measurement
Diehl Gas Metering
Center of Competence for Gas Measurement
Diehl Gas Metering GmbH
Industriestraße 13
91522 Ansbach
Tel.:
Fax:
Static Gas Meter
- Pressure independence
- Temperature conversion
Integrated Communication
- Radio
- M-Bus
Product Portfolio Gas
Diehl gas metering is center of competence for gas measurement within Diehl metering
located in Ansbach at the same location as the mother company Hydrometer
and has therefore access to profound metering knowledge and know-how
Diehl Metering

11. Modern Gas Test Lab Unique real gas and endurance test benches
all kind of gases
-25 C° to +55 C°
wide range of flow rates
Approved as national authorized test lab for gas meters
Unique real gas and endurance test benches
all kind of gases
-25 C° to +55 C°
wide range of flow rates
Approved as national authorized test lab for gas meters
Diehl Metering

12. AERIUS
Domestic gas meter based on the microthermal measurement principle
For pressure independent and temperature converting standard volume measurements
Diehl Metering

13. Cross Section AERIUS Gas inlet Gas outlet Distributing chamber
Cover plate
Fire protection valve
the picture shows the cross section of a 2-pipe Aerius
Following parts are shown
metal housing with the cover plate
gas inlet and gas outlet
Fire protection valve (closes the gas inlet in case of fire)
gas is entering through the distribution chamber which is separated here from the gas leaving the meter
gas flows through the cyclone filter to the feed and to the measuring unit
the cyclone filter separates dirt and particles from the gas stream
the measuring unit is shown in more detail in the next slide
Measuring Unit
Body
Cyclone filter
Feed
Particle rest area
Diehl Metering

14. By-pass Principle Measuring Unit sensor measuring channel
pressure dropper
main channel
in the measuring unit the by-pass principle is used
the pressure dropper produces a pressure difference between the gas inlet here and the gas outlet here so that a fraction of the gas (few percent) is let through the measuring channel in which the sensor is located
Diehl Metering

15. Microthermal measuring principle
the microthermal mass flow measuring principle is shown in this diagram
here we have the silicon chip with the membrane the heater and 2 temperature sensors
one in each direction of the gas flow
the membrane is necessary to reduce heat capacity of the silicon
The colors represent areas with the same temperature (schematically)
If no gas flows through the measuring channel there is a uniform temperature distribution above the heater
the temperature difference between the 2 sensors is zero
in case of a gas flow the temperature distribution is shifted into the downstream direction
and the result is a temperature difference between these two sensors
Diehl Metering

16. Animation Measuring Principle
Here we see an animation of the measuring principle
gas is fed through the measuring channel and passes the sensor
In case of no gas flow there is a uniform temperature distribution
which is shifted downwards when gas flows
resulting in temperature difference
Diehl Metering

17. Microthermal Mass Flow Measuring PrincipleQ
Sensor
Heater Temperature
max. 20 K
Temperature Sensor 1
Temperature Sensor 2
ΔT max. 2 K
Gas molecules act as «heat-carriers»
The heat transport of the gas stream is measured, which is corresponding to the mass flow
No volume measurement
Mass flow is a measure for the number of molecules (per time interval)
Molecules are carriers of the thermal energy of the gas
Heating power: 2 mW
Duration of measurement: 50 msec
Measurement interval: 2 s
Thermal energy = c . # molecules . calorific value
Here some of the parameters of the measurement are shown
heating power : roundabout 2 mW
duration of measurement: 50 msec
measurement interval: 2 sec
to save battery power the heater and the electronics on the chip are not always on
Ideal situation
gas molecules are heated by heater
higher gas flow means higher number of molecules per time unit
higher number of molecules per time unit means higher ΔT
AERIUS measures number of molecules
molecules are the carrier of the thermal energy of the gas
thermal energy = constant x # of molecules x calorific value
thermal energy = standard volume x calorific value
Result of measurement is
Standard Volume
Diehl Metering

18. Microthermal Mass Flow Sensor
Thermopile 1
Thermopile 2
Heating Element
Sensor
Absolute Temperature Sensor
here you see the measuring channel with the carrier of the chip which is mounted here
and the sensor chip itself
with the heater
the thermopiles
and the related electronics
with analog front end
and A/D converter.
The output is a digital signal on a SPI interface
Electronics
(A/D-Converter)
Diehl Metering

19. AERIUS Measurement Results4 - 25 C 20 10 30 40 50 55 3 2 1
Fehler / %
0,01
0,1 1 10
ISO H3 -25°C
N2 -25°C
CH4 -25°C
ISO H2 -25°C -1 -2
The diagram shows some measurement results
for different temperatures from +55 to – 25 °C
and different gases
N2 Nitrogen
CH4 Methane
ISO H2 H gas with composition acc. ISO Appendix C Example Gas 2 (90,7 % Methane)
ISO H3 H gas with composition acc. ISO Appendix C Example Gas 3 (85,9 % Methane) -3 -4
40 l/h
600 l/h
6000 l/h
Diehl Metering

20. Built-in Communication Interfaces
Wired M-Bus (EN 13757)
Wireless M-Bus (EN 13757)
Integrated radio interface
868 MHz
434 MHz
OMS® protocol
AES-key (individually possible)
The AERIUS has the following built-in communication interfaces.
Wired M-Bus
Wireless M-Bus
with OMS protocol
and 2 different radio frequencies
868 MHz
434 MHz
and different transmission intervals
from 10 sec to 1 hour
A combination of both wired and wireless M-Bus is also possible
(only one activated)
Diehl Metering

21. Domestic Gas Billing Diaphragm gas meter AERIUS T-correction
(example Germany DVGW G685)
Bill
kWh
Diaphragm gas meter
Assumptions:
Temperature 15°C
Air pressure 1016mbar
Pressure in supply pipe 22mbar
Calorific value
kWh/m3
relative to
K and mbar
Multiplication with the count and the condition number
T-correction
/ =
p-correction
1016 – (0.12 * m.ü.M.) + 22
condition number
= * p-correction
AERIUS
Display in relation to:
Temperature 0 °C
Air pressure mbar
= 1
Diehl Metering

22. AERIUS: Added Value
Transparent gas billing for end customers through standard volume indication
Energy consumption: Standard volume output multiplied by calorific value
Independent of
Atmospheric Pressure
Temperature
Gas types
Natural gases of type H and biogas (methane CH4)
Air
Fraud Detection
Air detection
Power Budget
Battery life time up to 20 years
Repetitious, long-term stable and high accuracy of measurements
No moving parts
Wear-free
Small gas flows
Overload resistant
Fraud detection: discrimination between natural gases and air
wear-free : verschleißfrei
measurement of very low gas flows with high accuracy possible
Anlaufgrenze:
BGZ 5 l/h
AERIUS 9 l/h
US 12 l/h
Advantage: BGZ needs 2 hours to fill completely, AERIUS hat flow at once
Overload proof: no moving parts, Aerius can withstand high overloads without damage
Diehl Metering

23.
Diehl Metering