Regional Gas Company (RGC) in 2022 examined about 20,000 km of gas distribution networks using mobile laboratories, which made it possible to prevent gas volume losses worth more than UAH 1 billion.

"In 2022, the mobile laboratories of RGC conducted a survey of 19,780 km of gas distribution networks and found 2,638 leaks. This made it possible to prevent gas volume losses worth more than UAH 1 billion," the company's press release said.

They specified that six modern mobile laboratories of RGC with Gazomat equipment examined 11,694 km of medium pressure networks, 6,960 km of low pressure networks, and 1,126 km of high pressure networks. This represents approximately 8% of gas networks served by 20 gas distribution operators under the RGC brand.

The company said the advantage of mobile laboratories is their speed and high sensitivity of sensors.

"A car with a gas detector moves at a speed of 40 km/h and at the same time can capture the smallest concentration of gas on the surface of the earth," they described the principle of operation of mobile laboratories in RGC, while pointing out the quick payback of modern diagnostic tools, since thanks to them it is possible to quickly detect gas leaks.

It is noted that gas leaks in the networks became more frequent in 2022: if in 2021 this figure was one damage per 8.8 km, then in 2022 it was one damage per 7.5 km of gas pipelines.

According to the company, this indicates not only an increase in the efficiency of examinations through the use of mobile laboratories, but also a deterioration in the condition of networks.

At the same time, RGC emphasized that the tariff of operators does not allow upgrading networks at a sufficient level, and as an example, they pointed to Chernivtsigaz, which, during a survey, in particular of gas networks in one of the villages of the Kitsman district, discovered 32 leaks gas on 17 km of gas pipelines.

All places of gas leaks were immediately entered into the geographic information system RGC GIS, which contains the most complete data on the location of gas pipelines, diameters, as well as the service life of networks and equipment on them, which facilitates the work of repairmen who were sent to the places of leaks immediately after they were discovered. At the same time, according to the technical director of Chernivtsigaz, Maksym Ladyha, the damage was temporarily eliminated.

"Most of the networks in this locality have been in operation for more than 30 years, but the company is limited in its ability to modernize gas networks," he stressed.

According to RGC, the volume of investments in the gas networks of Chernivtsigaz, which serves 8,854 km of networks, is UAH 14 million per year, that is, UAH 1,500 per 1 km of the gas pipeline.