Over Half a Million Measurements and No Measurable Drift – How Swiss Sensor Precision Sustainably Reduces Operating Costs (OPEX) for Energy Suppliers.
In the modern gas industry, precision and reliability are not negotiable – they are the foundation for safe processes and accurate billing. Once installed in the field, measuring devices must withstand external influences for years, ideally without extensive maintenance or constant recalibration.
That our technology delivers on this promise not just on paper, but also under real, demanding conditions, has been impressively demonstrated by a recently completed long-term field test conducted by Mems AG.
The Toughest Jury: 6 Years of Uninterrupted Field Operation
In the summer of 2020, three gasQS™ flonic measuring devices were sent directly into long-term field testing following initial laboratory calibration. In collaboration with Regionalwerke Baden (RWB), the devices were installed in a 5-bar gas distribution station under real network conditions. All three devices ran in continuous operation through to 2026.
The figures following disassembly and detailed analysis in our laboratories speak for themselves:
- Over 508,000 accumulated individual measurements per device
- 6 years of continuous operating time
- A mean annual drift of well below 0.2%
The international approval standard OIML R140 defines a maximum drift rate of 0.25% per year as a central approval criterion for Class A measuring devices. With a measured mean annual drift of under 0.25%, all three test devices would have passed this demanding Class A drift test with flying colours – a remarkable result for series production devices after six years of hard field deployment in a natural gas network.
"Absolutely Rock-Solid After Leaving Our Factory"
The most striking finding for our development team: comparing the calibration records from 27.07.2020 directly with the current measurement results from 2026, statistically almost no drift is detectable. For the determination of the calorific value (Hs) with pure methane, the deviations were in the minimal per-mille range – a drift of just 0.02% to 0.03% compared to the original value.
Even after more than five years of uninterrupted field operation, all devices remain absolutely stable within the strict statutory measurement error limits. As one of our Senior Development Engineers aptly put it after evaluating the results: "These devices seem to be absolutely rock-solid after leaving our factory – superb!"
What Does This Mean for You? Drastic Reduction in OPEX
For gas network operators, biogas plant operators, and industry, this test result is a compelling economic argument. Conventional analysis technologies require regular adjustment with expensive reference and calibration gases, generating ongoing maintenance costs.
The gasQS™ technology from Mems AG eliminates these cost drivers:
- No complex calibration gas required: The periodically prescribed calibration is carried out using pure methane – no expensive multi-component gas mixture needed. And field experience confirms: after years of operation, you will find that virtually nothing has shifted.
- Low-maintenance operation: With minimal mechanical components, no sensor wear, and proven long-term stability, the gasQS™ flonic reduces maintenance requirements to an absolute minimum.
- Precision across the entire lifecycle: The gasQS™ flonic delivers reliable real-time data for all key gas quality parameters over many years – calorific value, heating value, Wobbe Index, density, and H₂ content – without any loss of quality even after hundreds of thousands of measurement cycles.
Ready for the Future
This long-term test demonstrates that our plug-and-play solutions are perfectly equipped for the coming challenges of the hydrogen economy (H₂-Ready). Those who invest in gasQS™ today are investing in a future-proof, long-lasting infrastructure.
Would you like to find out how you can reduce OPEX in your facilities through low-maintenance gas analytics? Contact our experts for a no-obligation consultation.