Patent ID: 8306884

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for generating billing data for a supply contract in a monitored industrial network, comprising: identifying one or more volumetric accumulation groups for a process flow device at a customer site, wherein each volumetric accumulation group corresponds to a range of instantaneous flow rates, and wherein the customer site receives product delivered through the monitored industrial network pursuant to the supply contract; transmitting the volumetric accumulation groups to the process flow device, wherein the process flow device is configured to: receive, from a flow meter, flow data associated with of a product delivered to the customer site, relative to a sampling frequency specified for the flow meter, select one or more of the volumetric accumulation groups by correlating the range of instantaneous flow rates to a flow rate determined based on the flow data, and store a volumetric amount of the product in the selected one or more volumetric accumulation groups, the volumetric amount determined based on the flow data; and receiving, from the process flow device, the accumulated volume for each of the volumetric accumulation groups.