Oct 5, 2008

Combined heat and power (CHP) Cogeneration Solutions

Percentage of energy produced by cogeneration

Cogeneration plants proliferated, soon producing about 8 percent of all energy in the U.S.[8] However, the bill left implementation and enforcement up to individual states, resulting in little or nothing being done in many parts of the country.

In 2008 Tom Casten, chairman of the company Recycled Energy Development, said that "We think we could make about 19 to 20 percent of U.S. electricity with heat that is currently thrown away by industry."[9]

Outside the U.S., energy recycling is more common. Denmark is probably the most active energy recycler, obtaining about 55% of its energy from cogeneration and waste heat recovery. Other large countries, including Germany, Russia, and India, also obtain a much higher share of their energy from decentralized sources.[8][9]

CHP

Combined heat and power (CHP), also known as cogeneration, is an efficient, clean, and reliable approach to generating power and thermal energy from a single fuel source. By installing a CHP system designed to meet the thermal and electrical base loads of a facility, CHP can greatly increase the facility's operational efficiency and decrease energy costs. At the same time, CHP reduces the emission of greenhouse gases, which contribute to global climate change. Read more basic information regarding CHP.

The CHP Partnership is a voluntary program seeking to reduce the environmental impact of power generation by promoting the use of CHP. The Partnership works closely with energy users, the CHP industry, state and local governments, and other clean energy stakeholders to facilitate the development of new projects and to promote their environmental and economic benefits.

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Basic Information

CHP is not a single technology, but an integrated energy system that can be modified depending upon the needs of the energy end user.

CHP provides:

  • Onsite generation of electrical and/or mechanical power.
  • Waste-heat recovery for heating, cooling, dehumidification, or process applications.
  • Seamless system integration for a variety of technologies, thermal applications, and fuel types into existing building infrastructure.

The two most common CHP system configurations are:

  • Gas turbine or engine with heat recovery unit
  • Steam boiler with steam turbine

Gas Turbine or Engine With Heat Recovery Unit

This graphic shows a gas turbine- or internal combustion engine-based CHP system. Fuel is combusted to generate electricity for onsite use or to be exported to the power grid. Simultaneously, heat is recovered using a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) that produces steam or hot water for process applications or space heating.


Gas turbine or reciprocating engine CHP systems generate electricity by burning fuel (natural gas or biogas) to generate electricity and then use a heat recovery unit to capture heat from the combustion system's exhaust stream. This heat is converted into useful thermal energy, usually in the form of steam or hot water. Gas turbines/engines are ideally suited for large industrial or commercial CHP applications requiring ample amounts of electricity and heat.

Steam Boiler With Steam Turbine

This graphic shows a steam boiler- or steam turbine-based CHP system. Fuel is first combusted to heat water in a boiler to produce high-pressure steam, which is then sent to a steam turbine to power a generator, producing electricity. The electricity may be used onsite or exported to the grid and the waste steam can be used for process applications.


Steam turbines normally generate electricity as a byproduct of heat (steam) generation, unlike gas turbine and reciprocating engine CHP systems, where heat is a byproduct of power generation. Steam turbine-based CHP systems are typically used in industrial processes, where solid fuels (biomass or coal) or waste products are readily available to fuel the boiler unit.

[PDF] 

Microsoft PowerPoint - Riddoch - COGEN Europe 2007.ppt

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Changing the way Europe provides heat. and electricity for a sustainable future. III - European CHP market overview. 2003 cogeneration statistics ...

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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousOctober 05, 2008

    Great post on CHP. I'm associated with Recycled Energy Development, a company that's chaired by Tom Casten, the guy you quote near the beginning of the post. And yes, according to DoE and EPA studies, the U.S. could slash global warming pollution by 20% by recycling energy. At the same time, we'd save billions and billions of dollars a year as increased efficiency lowers power costs. So why isn't more being done? Simple: government regulations protect monopoly utilities, making it hard for more efficient options to emerge. Change the rules, and CHP (also called cogeneration) will explode.

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