I spent the day out in the field at a natural gas pressure metering and regulating station. These metering stations are placed periodically along natural gas transmission pipelines. The stations allow gas utility companies to monitor, manage, and account for the gas in the pipes as it is transmitted over long distances. Compared to a gas compressor station (with big noisy gas turbines for pressuring the natural gas for transmission), the types equipment found at a metering station are simple and not too complicated.
Natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines are made of steel in diameters of 6 inches to up to 48 inches. Across the United States, there are more than 210 gas pipeline systems that total more than 305,000 miles of interstate and intrastate pipelines.
