Abstract: ABSTRACT Cogeneration facilities, also called combined heat and power (CHP), typically achieve thermal efficiencies of 80–85 percent. The most efficient conventional electric generation plants typically do not exceed thermal efficiencies of 50 percent. The key to cogeneration's efficiency is the availability of a sizable “heat load.” A heat load is the requirement for heat, usually in the form of steam, used in the manufacture of a product, such as in the refining of oil, production of chemicals, or the processing of food. Although electric power equipment is available to anyone with sufficient capital, sizable heat loads are relatively scarce. Therefore, the availability of a heat load is the determining factor for achieving the superior efficiencies and resulting superior economics of cogeneration facilities. All economically viable cogeneration projects typically must satisfy heat loads of sufficient size, so that all engine exhaust can be absorbed by the facility's processes. Succinctly, efficient and economically cogenerated electric power production is a slave to its heat load. A large heat load that is not being used also to produce electric power is a valuable, but wasted, asset that can pay its owners substantial dividends. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how heat load owners can extract the wasted value of a heat load without contributing capital, or assuming risk in the construction of a cogeneration facility.
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Date: 2003-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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