A procedure for evaluating uncertainty associated with averaging or totalisation calculations on time-sampled data in gas energy measurements

The measurement uncertainty attributed to gas energy measurements includes, among others, a contribution for
the calculation of the average/total from time-sampled data. The aim of this study is to establish and verify a
procedure for the evaluation of this component of uncertainty, which considers contributions related to the
deterministic and random variations of the measured data. The first step of the proposed procedure is a separation
of deterministic and random components via time-domain filtering, followed by the evaluation of the
uncertainty associated to the deterministic component by means of a decimation method and of the uncertainty
associated to the random component by statistical analysis. The procedure concludes with the calculation of the
combined uncertainty due to these effects. Basic guidelines for the optimal selection of procedure parameters
related to filtering and decimation are discussed. Demonstration and verification of the proposed procedure on
experimental time-sampled data for the superior calorific value and on artificially generated data confirms that
the proposed procedure enables reliable and robust evaluation of the uncertainty.