METHODIQA - Development of a Quality Assurance Methodology for Renewable Heat Systems Based on Intelligent Operational Monitoring

The continuous monitoring and analysis of renewable heat installations is the key for successful long-term plant operation. Since an ongoing detailed monitoring process requires high efforts regarding time and human resources, it is too costly and thus not feasible for smaller plants. The METHODIQA project aims at developing the technical and scientific methodology for a quality assurance system based on intelligent operational monitoring which is cost-effective, meets high quality standards and exhibits a high degree of automation. The core parts of the methodology comprise the data acquisition and data pre-processing, the analysis and diagnostics based on mathematical algorithms as well as an automated reporting and notification system. METHOTHIQA is not fully automated yet, since the required plant modeling and internal data structure are currently still under development. Nevertheless, the system is functional and a proof-of-concept could be achieved: a broad range of algorithms have already been implemented, and each algorithm is assigned to several graphical outputs (charts), aiming at a straightforward, intuitive interpretation of the algorithms’ results. Example algorithms include the calculation of basic key figures and several complex algorithms which e.g. calculate the collector field efficiency based on intervals with stationary operating conditions. First results generated from the METHODIQA system are promising and indicate the high potential of the methodology. This paper focuses on the methodic approach chosen in the data pre-processing and on the algorithm based analyses.