Abstract
The field of Measurement & Verification (M&V) is well developed in South Africa, especially with respect to its theoretical base, processes and procedures, and regulations, and is mature to the point of commercial viability. The hope with this study is that its contributions, and in anticipation along with the contributions of a follow-up study, will provide additional options for enhancements that could generally be described in terms of the current understanding of M&V 2.0, which is the name given to notions of increasing levels of automation in the M&V process, accompanied by increased complexities in the algorithms used in the M&V process. The procedural and regulatory environment within which M&V is practiced in South Africa has led to many developments in the field, and with specific reference to the metering aspects associated with M&V, Quality Control Path (QCP) processes have been developed in order to meet a variety of requirements that are placed on the data value chain, right from the actual point of measurement and along data communications paths up to (and beyond) the point where the data is delivered onto the M&V server, from which point onwards further operations are performed of which some may or may not already be akin to the broader idea of M&V 2.0. Performing the QCP processes requires amongst other things personnel-hours and calibrated portable equipment. The volumes of data that are transferred for M&V purposes are usually large, as are the storage requirements of M&V data storage servers, which generally store data for relatively large numbers of projects. The objective of this study is to develop a basic theoretical framework for an M&V meter, and to support this framework with the development of Simulink models that perform the basic functions that such a meter would need to perform, namely to keep civil time in the time zone of application, to sample and render measurement signals into digital representations, and to perform a suite of savings- and reporting calculations. Looking to future developments, the purpose of such a meter would be to automate the M&V process right up to the point of generating and issuing reports that are kilobytes in size. Data storage would be done locally on the meter in onboard memory, and so part of the development of the theoretical framework in this dissertation is to define small sized data structures and to quantify the storage requirement. The foreseen potential impact of local onboard data storage is that reductions could be had in the volumes of data transferred for M&V purposes, as well as reductions in the size requirements of M&V data storage servers. Another foreseen potential benefit of local onboard data storage is that the requirements of the QCP could be reduced, because unprocessed data which would be meant for M&V purposes would not be flowing outside M&V equipment or infrastructure. Further to the above, the framework presented in this dissertation also provides for the application of contractual remedies, and for the re-generation of reports due to the application of such remedies or as might otherwise be required from time to time. Although not developed in this dissertation, the framework presented in the text makes provision for user interaction through a web server with login and authentication services, and it is foreseen that contractual remedies would typically be applied through this route during communal participation and consultation. As an additional consideration, having the framework and associated algorithms documented, and having the Simulink models documented, subscribes to the ideas of transparency that are fairly pertinent in M&V 2.0. In a wider sense, thorough documentation would also facilitate any potential future developments toward accreditation by the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS).
M.Eng. (Engineering Management)