Peakload Shaving, PeakShaving, and PeakShave are terms used by utility companies. As outlined in the article Overview of Products, Concepts and Technology used by Alternate Energy Systems, Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) purchase a certain amount of gas over a fixed period of time (per day, per week, per month, per year, or sometimes even per hour). However, even the best laid plans cannot take into consideration unexpected cold spells, a burst pipeline, or other events that could happen to disrupt the planned quota.

If the LDC should need more gas than it has contracted, they pay a premium price – if the gas is available, to begin with. So, to insure extra gas and avoid paying a premium price for any gas above the contracted amount, many utility companies use LP, mixed with air, to duplicate the properties of NatGas. This mixed gas is then injected directly into the NatGas grid to supplement the LDC's gas supply, removing peak NatGas flow rates, and thereby allowing a more consistent fuel rate from their supplier while still meeting peak demand loads.

PeakShaving Plants have been around for a long time, and a large number were installed in the 1970's. Unfortunately, many of them show their age with respect to automation, remote monitoring, gas properties control, maintenance intensity, safety, reliability, ease of operation, etc.

The PeakShaving Plants manufactured by Alternate Energy Systems are typically designed and manufactured to meet the specific needs of a particular customer. However, they all have a number of features in common:

• WB-Series Water Bath Vaporizer go to WB Web Page
• POM Blender (POM30, POM-40, POM-60, POM-80, POM-100) go to POM Web Page
• GraviBlend™ Gravitometer go to GraviBlend™-3 Web Page
• AccuBlend™ Automatic Gas Properties Control  go to AccuBlend™ Web Page
• Electronic Flow Control Valve, pneumatically actuated
• SNG Flow Transmitter (SNG = Synthetic Natural Gas)
• PANG Flow Transmitter (PANG = Propane-Air-Natural-Gas) or NatGas Flwo Transmitter
• Selectable Operating Modes
  • Inject SNG at fixed volumetric flow rate (SCFM - SCFH - Nm³/h - ...)
  • Inject SNG at fixed energy flow rate (MMBTU/h - MJ/h - kcal/h - ...)
  • Maintain NatGas/SNG Ratio
  • Maintain Minimum Pressure in Distribution Network
  • Manual Mode or Fully Automatic Mode
• System Protection
  • Limit flow to maximum vaporizer capacity
  • Limit flow to keep Specific Gravity of PANG below 0.9