18
Gas
news
Talking gas
with South
Korea’s KGS
By Paul Bonsak, Executive Manager
Gas Installation and Appliance Safety
In late November a delegation from
South Korea’s Gas Safety Corporation
(KGS) met with members of the AGA
and ESV to promote consultation and
benchmarking between world gas
technical and safety regulators.
Paul Bonsak, Executive Manager Gas
Installation and Appliance Safety, presented an
overview of the Victorian gas industry to the South
Koreans. He explained Victoria’s training regime
for gas workers and gasfitters and highlighted the
significant growth in apprentice training courses
and ESV’s involvement in their establishment.
Available energy for Australia and South Korea
could not be more divergent. Whereas Australia
has an abundance of natural energy supplies,
South Korea has insufficient domestic resources
and is required to import 97 per cent of its needs.
Some interesting facts that have shaped
South Korea’s energy needs include:
»» South Korea is one of the world’s leading
energy importers and in 2014 was the
world’s ninth-largest energy consumer
»» South Korea ranks among the world’s top
five importers of liquefied natural gas, coal,
crude oil, and refined products
»» South Korea has no international oil or natural
Worldview: ESV’s Paul Bonsak (third from left) and representatives from AGA met with senior gas industry
executives from South Korea to discuss trends and best practice in the gas industry.
gas pipelines and relies exclusively on tanker
shipments of LNG and crude oil.
Despite its lack of domestic energy resources,
South Korea is home to some of the largest
and most advanced oil refineries in the world.
In an effort to improve the nation’s energy
security, oil and natural gas companies are
aggressively seeking overseas exploration
and production opportunities.
Following Japan’s Fukushima nuclear
disaster, the South Korean Government scaled
back its long-term reliance on nuclear power
and is developing renewable energy resources
as well as expanding the use of gas.
Service gas
appliances
regularly
By Tyler Mason, Gas Engineer
ESV recommends gas appliances are
serviced regularly to continue their safe
operation and to avoid danger to users.
Servicing not only identifies problems
but allows gasfitters to pre-empt
future failures.
Gasfitters are expected to verify the
safety, the operation and the performance
of the appliance being serviced.
Servicing can include, but is not limited to:
»» cleaning pilots, air inlets, internal
components and fans
»» inspecting fans, heat exchangers or other
components for damage or obstruction
»» checking the operation of controls
»» fault finding and fixing.
For internal flued appliances, such as
space heaters, central (ducted) heaters
and internal water heaters, servicing will
Beware the silent killer: ESV still recommends
servicing gas heaters at least every two years
as the best way to help prevent CO poisoning.
include checking for the leakage of combustion
products (e.g. carbon monoxide).
Appliance servicing is a separate class of
plumbing; Type A appliance servicing (generally
for domestic appliances) and Type B appliance
servicing (mainly industrial appliances) are both
specialised and separate types of gasfitting work.
Some appliances require specialist
knowledge. Gasfitters should never work
KGS provides gas training and has a large
training facility in Chungnam, South Korea.
In attendance was Chris Wealthy, AGA
CEO, Chris Devlin, AGA Chairman,
Paul Bonsak representing ESV and two
senior KGS executives, Sang-Moo Lee,
Director of the Institute of Gas Safety
Technology Training and Kim Eungho,
Deputy General Manager – Faculty Division.
Continuing consultation and benchmarking
meetings between Australian and world gas
technical and safety regulators is regularly
undertaken to ensure ESV stays abreast
of global industry trends.
on an appliance they do not understand.
Contact the manufacturer, component
supplier or ESV if you are in any doubt
about the operation and safety performance
of any appliance or component.
Recently ESV came across serviced
appliances where a gasfitter had adjusted
the test point pressure away from that
specified by the manufacturer. This is an
unsafe practice, and in recent cases has
masked a minor problem that the gasfitter
failed to identify.
When servicing requires replacing
components, due to damage or fault, the
replacement components must be selected
on a like-for-like basis. If a component is
no longer available, it is recommended
the appliance manufacturer is contacted
for guidance.
Replacing a component with a
non-equivalent component is a modification
to the appliance and, if the safety of the
appliance is compromised, it is an offence
under the Gas Safety Act 1997.
ESV recommends consumers service
their gas appliances every two years.
And with winter only a few months away,
now is the time to do it.