Consumption Meter Research Articles

Improving energy efficiency while preserving historic buildings with digital twins and artificial intelligence

This study proposes a digitalization framework for historic buildings. In this framework, advanced techniques, like Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI), are utilized to create digital twins for historic buildings. A digital twin is a software representation of a physical object. This study uses digital twins to protect, predict, and optimize through analytics of real-time and historical data of selected features. Heterogeneous data of historic buildings, such as indoor environment, energy consumption metering, and outdoor climate, are collected with proper sensors or retrieved from other data sources. Then, these data are periodically uploaded and stored in the database of the cloud platform. Based on these data, AI models are trained through appropriate machine learning algorithms to monitor historic buildings, predict energy consumption, and control energy-consuming equipment autonomously to reach the balance of energy efficiency, building conservation, and human comfort. The cloud-based characteristic of our digitalization framework makes the digital twins developed in this study easy to be transplanted to many other historic buildings in Sweden and other countries.

The Internet of Things in Agriculture - the advantages and opportunities

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become increasingly popular in the recent decade. The Internet of Things helps people live and work smarter, as well as gain complete control over their lives. The concept of the IoT went widely into practice in different fields – Infrastructure, Production, Healthcare, Banks, Smart cities, Insurance, Media, Retail, Connected homes / Smart buildings, Agriculture, and many more. Modern agriculture can show its potential and importance by using these innovative technologies. The measuring devices, ensuring the transformation of data for the external environment into machine-readable data, at the same time filling the computing environment with significant information are very important. A wide range of measuring devices is used, from elementary sensors (e.g. temperature, pressure, illumination), consumption meters (e.g. smart meters) to complex integrated measuring systems. Satellites, drones, wireless sensor networks, analytical farming devices systems, farm management systems, big data applied to the farm are very useful and applicable in smart farming. The Internet of Things is a huge opportunity for farmers to monitor their crops and increase productivity, to monitor their livestock, to manage all the processes in their work and to take decisions at the right time. The article analyzes issues related to the modern IoT methods and their usage in general and in the area of agriculture. The main goal is to analyze the current state of IoT and its potential in areas of rural development and agriculture in the Republic of Bulgaria.

Mobile Application for the Monitoring and Control of Electrical Energy Consumption through a Meter Made with Arduino

Abstract— This year, citizens were complaining that the power companies were overcharging their bills because of the pandemic, but investigations in previous years also showed claims in Peru and internationally. In this work, the Scrum Methodology was used for the development of the mobile application and the Balsamiq tool was used for the design of the prototype. In addition, the Arduino tool was used for the electricity consumption meter. As for the case study, we developed the prototypes of the application with its functions and the methodology of how it is elaborated, at the same time we described the way in which the meter will be implemented with Arduino. The results obtained from the research are that people can compare the consumption of the bill issued by the electricity company and the consumption shown by the Arduino meter, in addition to the union of the mobile application with the meter will allow them to consult the consumption and also issue reports having a better control of electricity. This work can be implemented not only in the cities, but also in remote places where traditional meters have not been implemented. Keywords— Arduino; Mobile applications; Power consumption; Scrum methodology

Research and Development of Energy Consumption Monitoring and Operation System for Campus Training Equipment

With the vigorous development of education in China, the energy consumption of campus training equipment, as a microcosm of social energy consumption, has attracted more and more social attention. The traditional energy consumption meter reading measurement method has been difficult to meet the requirements of energy-saving campus construction in colleges and universities because of its low efficiency and poor accuracy. Taking the energy consumption monitoring construction project of training equipment in a school as an example, this paper studies the system architecture and scheme design of energy consumption monitoring platform construction based on Internet of things technology and cloud platform technology. The scheme realizes the functions of real-time monitoring, statistical analysis, energy consumption early warning, quota management and so on, so as to realize the cloud management of electrical safety hazards.

Electricity consumption meter for the White Tariff and feasibility study of tariff migration to residence

Until the end of 2019, only consumers who had a monthly average above 250 kWh/- month could join the White Tariff in Brazil, however, since January 1, 2020, there is no minimum consumption limitation required. This modality has different tariff values according to the consumption time range, which can bring savings of up to 14.17% in the electric bill at the end of the month if the consumer uses the energy service only during off-peak hours, and due to this possible economy, an increase in the number of customers is expected. However, it is common to question whether it is worth migrating, which depends on each consumption profile, since this modality can also increase the value of the monthly bill by up to 82.14%, if the consumer consumes energy only at peak hours, comparing the tariff values applied by Copel in June 2019. Using a typical residential energy consumption profile, the average is that the White Tariff is around 1.20% more expensive than the Conventional Tariff at the end of the month. Then, an electric energy meter was developed for the White Tariff, whose main objective is to indicate, at the end of a period, which method is more economically advantageous, the White Tariff or the Conventional Tariff, in a residence. The meter was developed based on the IC ADE7753, in which it performs several measurements, among them the active power. ESP82266 NodeMCU was also used to communicate with the IC, carry out the necessary calculations, and send the data to the IoT ThingSpeak platform, where it is possible to remotely monitor the results. The meter was developed to perform the analysis in a home serviced by a single-phase voltage of 127 V, where it was calibrated based on the PZEM-022 meter. In addition to the meter measuring active power, for the calculation of consumption, it also measures the power factor. The meter was on for 7 days in this residence, where residents maintained their common consumption routines. At the end of this period, the result was that the value of the White Tariff was about 0.81% above the value of the Conventional Tariff, indicating that for this residential unit, the migration is not economically worthwhile.

Construction and experimental research of multifunctional hybrid powertrain test bench

With the development of hybrid electric vehicles, the demand for test benches is becoming more and more vigorous. Based on the traditional engine test bench, this paper builds a multifunctional hybrid powertrain test bench by matching appropriate equipment such as battery simulators, power analyzers, fuel consumption meters, and air flow meters. The test bench has the characteristics of modularization, flexibility, and multi-function. It can be used for testing single engine, single generator and hybrid power system. Finally, the range extender produced by a domestic manufacturer was used as the test object, and the endurance test was carried out on the modified test bench. The test further verified the reliability and feasibility of the multifunctional hybrid powertrain test bench.

An Investigation of Thermoelectric Generators Used as Energy Harvesters in a Water Consumption Meter Application

In this study, we present the results of measuring the performance of selected Peltier cells such as thermoelectric Peltier cooler modules (TEC), thermoelectric micro-Peltier cooler modules (TES), and thermoelectric Seebeck generator modules (TEG). The achieved results are presented in the form of graphs of powering system output voltage or power efficiency functions of the load impedance. Moreover, a technical solution is also presented that consists of designing a water consumption power supply system, using a renewable energy source in the form of a Peltier cell. The developed measuring system does not require additional batteries or an external power source. The energy needed to power the system was obtained from the temperature difference between two sides of a thermoelectric cell, caused by the measured medium which was flowing in a copper water pipe. All achieved results were investigated for the temperature difference from 1 to 10 K in relation to the ambient temperature.

Examining the Level of Illegal Water Consumption in High- and Low-Density Estates of Kisumu City, Kenya

Water utilities around the world experience varying degrees of water loss and although there has been significant steps towards reducing it, water losses still occur often as a result of poor infrastructure which cause pipe bursts/leakages, lack of proper planning, water theft, illegal consumption and water meter irregularities. Illegal water consumption is rampant where the consumers have a negative attitude towards the water service providers mainly because of the belief that they are paying for a resource that is abundant and free in nature. The International Water Association classifies illegal consumption under commercial or apparent losses because the water is beilieved to have reached the consumer but it can not be accounted for and hence does not contribute to the water utilities’ revenue. Cross-sectional survey was used to investigate the level of non-revenue water in Kisumu city’s high and low density estates using Manyatta and Milimani as a represenation of each estate respectively. The survey targetted 384 households out of which 362 were interviewed.Primary data was also collected through Focused Group and supplemented with secondary of desk review from KIWASCO’s reports. The data collected was subjected to descriptive analysis and presented using frequencies and percentages.An Analysis of the data collected revealed that 31.7% and 26.8% of households in Manyatta and Milimani consumed water illegally through unmettered connections respectively, a further 28.9% of the respondents in Manyatta consumed water illegally through illegal reconnection after their water had been disconnected while this was represented by 30% in Milimani estate which is a clear indication that consumers in low desnity estates also consume water illegally contrary to what most people believe. 4 out of the 5 illegal water consumption determinants used by the researcher however indicated that the level of illegal consumption is higher in high density areas than low density areas by an average of 4.9% but also, it is evident the percentage is higher in the two estates than the recommended 25%. The paper therefore recommends that assumptions should not be made that there are no cases of illegal water use in low density areas if the water utility is to realize its goal of reducing non-revenue water loss to acceptable levels because these areas contribute to non-revenue water loss just as much as the high-density areas and even though the number of illegal use maybe low but the intensity may surpass that of high density neighborhoods.

Improving the Performance of Photovoltaic by Using Artificial Intelligence Optimization Techniques

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are taking a leading role as a solar-based renewable energy source (RES) because of their unique advantages. This trend is being increased in the field of Seawater desalination. This paper presents a study on the Seawater Desalination Plant (SWDP) located in Egypt feeding from the utility network. The main challenge in such a non-linear system with a high level of variability is the optimum sizing of the SWDP with the proposed whole solar-powered while keeping good dynamic performance. In this article, a solid electrical load analysis is presented to assess the optimal design of SWDP fed by the PV system. Moreover, optimal maximum power point tracking controllers (MPPTCs) are developed to enhance the dynamic performance of SWDP fed by the PV system. To accomplish this study, a real grid connected seawater desalination plant located in Egypt is implemented. The selected SWDP is producing 700 m3/day. The real experimental data of the plant were extracted through daily readings of electricity consumption and water production meters. This experimental data is then introduced to the HOMER program to suggest the optimal components of the PV system based on the minimum net present cost. The developed power plant consists of a Photovoltaic (PV) array, DC/AC converter, load and grid. Also, to tackle the challenge of the low conversion efficiency of the PV system, three MPPTCs are investigated to improve the dynamic performance of the proposed SWDP fed by the PV system. Incremental Conductance in conjunction with three artificial intelligence (AI) optimization techniques (Particle Swarm Optimization, Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) and Harris Hawks Optimization) is developed for the assessment of the dynamic performance of the presented SWDP fed by PV. The system was constructed, modeled and simulated through MATLAB/SIMULINK. The attained results of the three methods are promising in extracting the maximum power with minimum error from the PV system while improving the performance of SWDP. The obtained simulation, as well as experimental results, proves the efficacy of the suggested optimal design strategy.

DEVELIPING THE VUSUALIZATION PROGRAM OF MEASURING SMALL NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION:CONTROL OF ENERGY RESOURCES: CER2 - MAIN PIPE

Statement of the problem. The algorithm of the program “Control of Energy Resources: CER 1-gas” designed to quickly calculate the maximum permissible error of measurement by the gas meter in relative units (%) and in absolute value (m3/h) at the current set gas flow rate for various types of meters needs to be improved.Results. The major issues of programming physical processes for measuring low gas flow rates are discussed. A description of the program for measuring low gas flow rates is shown. A computer software and an operation algorithm “Energy Resources Control: CER2-main” have been developed that automate the calculation of the maximum permissible measurement error by the gas meter in relative units (%) and in absolute value (m3/h) at the current specified gas flow rate, diameter, pressure for various types of counters taking into account the linear velocity of particles in the gas flow.Conclusions. For the first time, the EMV software “Energy Resources Control: CER 2-main” has been designed aimed at quickly calculating the maximum permissible measurement error of the gas meter in relative units (%) and in absolute value (m3/h) for the current specified gas flow rate, pipeline diameter, pressure for different types of meters, which makes it easier to check their performance during periodic verification. The results obtained meet the objectives set in the “Energy Strategy of Russia for the Period up to 2030” (No. 1715-r dated October 13, 2009) and are intended for use in the modernization of gas consumption systems and accounting for low energy costs. The studies assume the adaptation of the basic methods for assessing the reliability, risks and safety of systems in the theory of gas supply and regulation of gas consumption metering employed by regional enterprises of the gas industry.

The electrical energy impact of small-scale onsite generation: A case study of a 75 kWp grid-tied PV system

This study presents an analysis of a 75 kWp grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) system with a grid tie limiter to provide energy requirements for an aquaculture centre in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. A data acquisition system, comprising power and energy consumption meters, was deployed to measure solar PV generation, demand for the facility, and energy drawn from the utility grid. Statistical analysis was conducted on the data to determine the impact of the solar PV plant in reducing demand from the utility grid throughout the day, and this was extrapolated into monthly and annual contributions by the PV system to meeting the energy requirements. Findings reveal that the annual energy yield for the system was 1 864.29 kWh/kWp. The solar contribution to the total load requirement on a 24 hour cycle was 28% (139.82 MWh) from July 2018 to June 2019. Summer and winter average contributions by the PV system were 62% and 57% respectively for the period of 05:30–18:30. The mean monthly solar fraction for operating the farm between sunrise and sunset was 0.44. Furthermore, a total of 141.07 tCO2 has been avoided due to the operation of the PV system.

Эксплуатационная проверка эффективности применения газового лучистого отопления в локомотивном депо

Gas-powered radiant heaters are a highly effective energy efficient solution that provides spot heating for spacious industrial facilities. The authors analyze efficiency of gas-powered radiant heating in a railroad motive power depot as the result of an experimental radiant heating implementation. An algorithm of efficiency estimation has been developed taking into account a lack of power consumption metering. Natural gas consumption has been compared between two heat supply options before and after modernization.

Erratum to: Engineering Servicing for Modern Energy Consumption Metering Systems

Erratum to: Engineering Servicing for Modern Energy Consumption Metering Systems

Indicative and preventive measures against tampering of water consumption meters

La manipulación fraudulenta de medidores de agua potable es un problema de importancia creciente en muchos países, lo cual provoca pérdidas económicas para las entidades prestadoras. En el presente artículo se analizan las formas de manipulación de medidores, señalando sus puntos vulnerables. Luego se procede a analizar y comparar las medidas indicativas y preventivas existentes para proteger los medidores, llegando a la conclusión de que acorde con cada situación legal, hay medidas que de manera eficaz permiten evitar su manipulación, vandalización y robo. Por último, se recomienda para cada situación legal cuáles son las medidas a tomar.

Smart Metering Systems Optimization for Non-Technical Losses Reduction and Consumption Recording Operation Improvement in Electricity Sector.

One of the keys of enhancing the quality of electric power supply resides in the accuracy of the consumption metering. Nowadays development of the sensors, devices and systems for electricity metering offers the basis for this service. Nevertheless, this achievement in many situations is altered such that appropriate measures must be adopted even if already significant costs have been registered. In this paper is proposed and discussed an optimal solution based on the identification and minimizing the measurement errors for increasing the electricity readings accuracy and lowering the electricity losses and related costs. In this regard, a mathematical model was developed and a particular algorithm for the mentioned problem is proposed and tested in the case of a power distribution company where an enhancement on average of the own technological consumption with 4% was recorded.

Design and reliability analysis on internet-based real-time fuel consumption reporting system

The objectives of this study are (i) to design and fabricate the internet-based real-time fuel consumption reporting system and (ii) to evaluate reliability of the reporting system. Real-time fuel consumption rate of the testing vehicle which was measured from fuel injector control signal by the real-time fuel consumption meter proposed in the previously research was used to be the data for reporting by the internet-based real-time fuel consumption reporting system fabricated in this study. A universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) protocol which is a computer hardware device for synchronous serial communication was used to communicate and transmit data between devices and operation of the system was controlled by the Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller. Then, the Quectel BC95-B8 module was used to transmit data for recording on virtual database through narrow band internet of thing (NB-IoT) technology which operates in the 900-MHz frequency band. The results could be concluded that (i) the average fuel consumption rate shown on the ThingsBoard application was less than the calculated fuel consumption for about 11.6% due to number and duration of disconnection of the NB-IoT module. (ii) When data is remotely observed via internet connection, it was found that the data displayed in the database has a lag time for less than 9 seconds due to latency of data transmission system. From these points, the system proposed in this study was acceptably to be installed onto truck fleet in private or small-scale carriers for real-time monitoring and internal data collecting applications. However, reliability in data communication and additional feature to reduce data losing were strongly recommended to be applied on the system before it could be extended to be used in larger scale carriers.

Towards cloud energy metering system with 32 bit FPGA device architecture

Cloud based Advanced Metering Infrastructure (CAMI) is the next digital future for energy management (EM). Various efforts on EM capabilities are mainly skewed towards embedded device architectures that support non-concurrent execution. This paper presents cloud energy metering system (CEMS) using high speed 32 bit field programmable gate array (FPGA) device. The architectural framework for energy tracking and profile measurement in CEMS is presented. This aims at accurate metering with demand side management (DSM). An application context that supports an EM architecture is highlighted. The contextual CEMS features energy monitoring in distributed energy utilities such as solar generators, wind and energy storage sources. Process integration with Cloud based Internet for real-time energy reading is achieved through the FPGA synthesis to provide end-to-end energy analytics. CEM prototype (Xilinx FPGA) running on a wireless open-access research platform supports management of large historical data-sets from the current data up to the last granular interval, hourly, daily, monthly and yearly dataset captures. The system provides the low latency datasets in both tabular and graphical forms for end-user visualization of energy consumption patterns. In the experimental setup, three case scenarios demonstrate how the metering system executes fast edge computing profiling, thereby providing data-visualization services to end-users. The results show the Avg. Latency time for CAMI household 1, 2 and 3 respectively. In case 1, the average latencies for actual and measured (proposed CAMI) are 75% and 25% respectively. In case 2 and case 3, this gave 66.67% and 33.33% respectively. Clearly, the proposed CAMI offers lower latency for all scenarios of energy consumption metering usage.Keywords: Advanced Metering, Energy management, Cyber-physical systems, Cloud Computing, IoT, Fog. 1.0 INTRODUCTION

The effect of hydrogen on the physical properties of natural gas and the metrological characteristics of its metering systems

Given the promise of the concept of using a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas as an energy source, studies were conducted in the following areas:
 
 determination of the effect of hydrogen impurities on the physical properties of natural gas;
 study of the effect of adding hydrogen to natural gas on the metrological characteristics of its consumption metering systems.
 
 To solve these problems, the following was carried out:
 
 determination of the dependence of the physical parameters of natural gas on the percentage of hydrogen in its composition:
 determination of the permissible fraction (permissible concentration) of hydrogen in natural gas in modern gas transmission and gas consuming systems.
 study of the effect of hydrogen additions on the metrological characteristics of measuring instruments and gas commercial metering systems.
 
 To conduct objective research and modeling, natural gas samples having different component composition were prepared. An analysis of the physical properties of these gases was carried out — their physical parameters were calculated: adiabatic index and sound velocity, density, compressibility factor, higher calorific value and Wobbe number. Based on these samples, modeling was performed — the physical parameters of the gases were calculated by adding hydrogen at different concentrations (from 2 to 23 %).
 Based on the research results, the following conclusions are made:
 
 When hydrogen is added to natural gas in an amount of from 2 to 10 %, the physical parameters of the resulting mixture change slightly (within acceptable limits), therefore, the addition of hydrogen to natural gas in an amount of up to 10 % allows the use of existing gas transmission and gas-consuming systems without any reconstructions, improvements, changes in algorithms for calculating the physical parameters of the gas mixture and calculating (volume) volumetric flow for commercial accounting. The impact on gas meters of consumers will be within the acceptable ranges of accuracy and repeatability and, therefore, will not require the cost of updating the meters.
 The addition of up to 25 % hydrogen by volume does not require a radical new technology of burners and gas transmission systems. Safety will not be compromised by adding 25 % hydrogen by volume to the natural gas network. Changes in the physical properties in the gas mixture have a number of disadvantages, but, in the aggregate, they do not pose any additional safety risk.
 The addition of hydrogen in a volume of more than 25 %, as well as the use of the mixture at high pressures, requires additional research and the development of new algorithms.

Fuel consumption and emission evaluation of a rapid bus transport system at different operating conditions

The real driving emissions of vehicles have attracted great interest in recent years due to the increased environmental awareness. Public transport systems using internal combustion engines contributes greenhouse gases and harmful pollutants significantly. The routes of public transport mainly include urban areas with high population density. From this perspective, analyzing of the public transport systems real driving emissions is important for creating environmentally friendly cities. The economy of fossil fueled public transportation is another major concern that should be optimized. There are few studies focusing on the emission characteristics of public transport buses currently working on dedicated routes. In this context one of the biggest transport axle of the world, Metrobus Rapid Bus Transport system is analyzed. The Metrobus equipped with portable emission measurement systems and portable fuel consumption meter is used for measurement activities. Then the results are analyzed in terms of emissions and fuel consumption regarding to the operating parameters. The results showed that the driving behavior has great effect on both emissions and fuel consumption. It was shown that the accumulated emissions near bus stop can strongly affect the public health. The emissions and fuel consumption are both analyzed regarding to the acceleration and speed. The emissions and fuel factors are developed and compared with the values indicated in the literature. It was also analyzed that it is possible to lower emissions with operating the vehicle some certain regions.

Development of an Open-Source Water Consumption Meter for Housing

This article reports on the project "Design and development of water and gas P.L. measurement devices in the housing: an approach to sustainable consumption in Mexico", prepared at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in the Department of the Environment, whose objective was to develop a device to measure water consumption in the housing, which allows users to know their spending and can make decisions in favor of efficiency through the reduction of water use in household activities. The meter is made up of open source, programmable or reconfigurable software, which receives the signal from a water flow sensor and a casing designed to contain the hardware and facilitate the user's installation. Both the hardware and the casing can be purchased, downloaded, manufactured and assembled at home (Do It Yourself). As specific results were obtained: hardware programming and housing design and as a final result: the assembly of the functional prototype with which measurements of water consumption were made in a housing in Mexico. With this work we conclude that through the development of new accessible and common measurement technologies for the users of a house, it will be possible to promote efficiency in the use of natural resources in cities, increasing availability and promoting a more sustainable urban development.