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Safety Is Operational: Gas Distribution Systems Require Proven Meter Designs

Engineered end-to-end by Landis+Gyr, the G480 ultrasonic gas meter is a proven technology with billions of operating hours of continuous field usage since the mid-1990s

Gas meter engineers understand something rarely addressed in marketing brochures: once a meter is installed, it becomes part of the gas system for decades. It operates unattended in basements, utility rooms, and meter sets, under conditions that evolve slowly but continuously over time. In that environment, safety is not theoretical. It is operational.

Engineered as a Complete System

The G480 was not assembled from independent subsystems. It was engineered as a complete meter platform. All of the key components of the meter, including the ultrasonic flow tube, ultrasonic sensors, metrology algorithms, electronics, firmware, communications architecture, and integrated shutoff valve—were engineered by Landis+Gyr as part of a single, cohesive design focused on safety and reliability.

Proven Behavior Over Time

Innovation in gas metering is necessary. At the same time, unproven behavior introduces risk. For engineers responsible for approving equipment that may remain in service for twenty years or more, the primary concern is not feature density. It is predictable performance over time.

Questions about how the flow tube will behave after years of operation, how ultrasonic sensors age, how electronics respond to environmental stress, and how control logic performs under abnormal conditions cannot be fully answered in a lab; they are answered through time in operation.

The Role of the Integrated Shutoff Valve

In residential applications, the ability to intentionally and safely isolate gas flow is a critical part of overall system design. The G480 incorporates an integrated shutoff valve that is engineered as part of the meter, not added as a separate device. Valve mechanics, actuation, sensing, and control logic were designed together with the flow measurement system.

This integrated approach supports controlled, predictable valve operation without introducing additional interfaces or dependencies.

Operational Experience at Scale

Landis+Gyr’s ultrasonic gas meters have accumulated billions of operating hours in live utility environments. These deployments provide ongoing validation of flow measurement stability, sensor performance, electronics reliability, valve behavior, and battery life.

The Bottom Line

Predictable flow measurement. Predictable sensor behavior. Predictable valve operation. That is why we engineer and validate the complete system—because once a meter is installed in a home, that approach is proven to ensure safe and reliable behavior over time.

Learn More

If you’re planning on attending DISTRIBUTECH 2026 and would like to learn more about Landis+Gyr’s intelligent gas solutions, visit the Landis+Gyr booth #2213 on Wednesday, February 4 at 10:30 a.m. for an in-booth presentation, “You Can’t Enable the Grid Edge Future if Gas is Left Behind.” 

Author

  • Jeffrey Provine
    Author
    Jeffrey Provine
    Practice Director, Gas

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