The AVE system allows communication with smart gas meters!

A smart gas meter is an electronic device that can record the consumption of gas and automatically send the meter readings to your energy supplier for monitoring and billing.

Smart gas meters enable two-way communication between the central system (the AVE metering system) and the meter. Gas meter readings are transferred to the central system via GPRS or NB-IoT. The outstanding features of these technologies are excellent coverage and sufficient signal strength in enclosed spaces, which are some of the key requirements for smart metering projects.

Smart gas meters and their advantages

While traditional meters only measure total consumption, smart gas meters allow recording gas consumption data in time and analyzing this data. Smart meters are part of the concept of the so-called smart grid.

Smart gas meters have a great advantage over traditional meters. It is their integrated valve in the body of the gas meter. This valve can be remotely controlled (closed) from the central system. Thanks to this feature, gas meters can be installed for customers who have problems with regular payments or in rental apartments with a high tenant turnover.

During communication, a large number of values are transferred from the smart gas meter to the control system, such as the expected meter-reading values or the state of the gas-meter battery (which is important for the device to run properly). The gas meter's diagnostic and service parameters, including information on tampering with the device (seal damage, cover removal, etc.), are also transferred.

AVE and smart gas meters

The AVE metering system has full support for secure two-way communication with smart gas meters, including the possibility to remotely close the valve, process the meter's diagnostic and service parameters, based on which an alarm may occur (the battery capacity is below the specified limit, the device has been tampered with, etc.).

AVE also allows you to remotely configure the meter's basic properties, such as time synchronization and changes to the communication properties.

To make the installation process easier, you can use our Android-based application. It allows service technicians, via USB or a Bluetooth optical head, to configure the meter, control the valve, and read data from the meter. Another important feature is that communication between the smart gas meter and the AVE system can be verified directly in the field. This simplifies the installation process very much and minimizes the necessity to repeatedly perform service work at the customer site.

The AVE system can operate in the automatic mode, in which it communicates with smart gas meters, performs meter reading, and closes the gas meter valve at the operator's command. In addition, AVE can communicate with a CRM system, from which it receives commands for closing the gas meter valve at a particular customer site. After that, information on the actions taken and the gas meter readings are passed to the CRM system. In this case, AVE runs automatically with almost no need for manual interventions.