Fuel submetering using firing rate signals

A method for determining disaggregated consumption, comprising:

• connecting individual lines respectively to a plurality of appliances, each appliance of the plurality of appliances having a firing rate indicator;
• connecting a main fuel line to the individual fuel lines;
• connecting a meter to the main fuel line;
• and
• connecting a processor to the meter and to the firing rate indicator of each appliance of the plurality of appliances;
• and
• wherein:
• the meter provides a measurement signal to the processor indicating total fuel consumption by the plurality of appliances;
• and
• the firing rate indicator of each appliance of the plurality of appliances provides a firing rate signal to the processor;
• a firing signal commands an amount of fuel in a connecting individual line;
• and
• the processor provides a sub-metering estimate of fuel consumed by each appliance, the sub-metering estimate of fuel consumed by each appliance by the processor incorporates an approach comprising:
• selecting one or more input variables;
• selecting a model type to determine a structure of a model;
• initializing parameters of the model with data;
• updating the parameters of the model with input variables and the total fuel consumption data;
• using updated parameters of the model and input variables data to disaggregate total fuel consumption;
• and
• normalizing the disaggregation having a total sum of disaggregated consumptions equal to overall fuel consumption to obtain a disaggregated consumption in a sub-metering estimate of fuel consumed by each appliance.

A fuel sub-metering mechanism for two or more appliances, each appliance of the two or more appliances having a firing rate indicator and an individual fuel line, each individual fuel line is connected to a main fuel line having a meter configured to provide signals indicating total fuel consumption by the two or more appliances, the mechanism comprising:

• a processor connected to the firing rate indicators and to the meter;
• a controller at each appliance that is configured to:
• control an amount of fuel in the individual fuel line connected to the appliance via a firing rate signal;
• provide to the processor a series of firing rate signals that commands the amount of fuel to the appliance by controlling the amount of fuel in the individual fuel line connected to the appliance via the firing rate signal;
• and
• wherein the processor is configured to provide an estimate of an amount of fuel consumed by each of the two or more appliances derived from the series of firing rate signals from and the signals from the meter indicating total fuel consumption by the two or more appliances, the estimate of the amount of fuel consumed by each of the two or more appliances incorporates an approach comprising:
• selecting one or more input variables;
• selecting a model type to determine a structure of a model;
• initializing parameters of the model with data;
• updating the parameters of the model with input variables and the total fuel consumption data;
• using updated parameters of the model and input variables data to disaggregate total fuel consumption;
• and
• normalizing the disaggregation having a total sum of disaggregated consumptions equal to overall fuel consumption to obtain a disaggregated consumption in a sub-metering estimate of fuel consumed by each appliance.