Modeling for gas flow measurement consumed by a boiler. Towards a low-cost sensor for energy efficiency

This paper deals with the modeling of the gas flow supplied to a boiler in order to implement a soft sensor. This study is a part of ANR CHIC project which has an aim to minimize the measuring chain cost in the energy efficiency improvement programs. This implementation requires the estimation of a mathematical model that expresses the flow rate from the control signal of the solenoid valve and the gas pressure and temperature measurements. Two types of models are studied : LPV (Linear Parameter Varying) model with pressure and temperature as scheduling variables and a non-parametric model based on Gaussian processes.