Cogeneration

Source: Energy Efficiency and Management for Engineers, 1st Edition
ISBN: 9781260459098
Authors: Mehmet Kanoğlu, Yunus A. Çengel
4. Cogeneration
4-1. WHY COGENERATION?

Many systems or devices require energy input in the form of heat, called process heat. Some industries that rely heavily on
process heat are chemical, pulp and paper, oil production and refining, steel making, food processing, and textile industries.
Process heat in these industries is usually supplied by steam at 5 to 7 atm and 150 to 200°C (300 to 400°F). Energy is usually
transferred to the steam by burning coal, oil, natural gas, or another fuel in a furnace.
Now let us examine the operation of a process-heating plant closely. Disregarding any heat losses in the piping, all the heat
transferred to the steam in the boiler is used in the process-heating units, as shown in Fig. 4-1. Therefore, process heating
seems like a perfect operation with practically no waste of energy. From the second-law point of view, however, things do not
look so perfect. The temperature in furnaces is typically very high (around 1400°C), and thus the energy in the furnace is of very
high quality. This high-quality energy is transferred to water to produce steam at about 200°C or below (a highly irreversible
process). Associated with this irreversibility is, of course, a loss in work potential. It is simply not wise to use high-quality energy
to accomplish a task that could be accomplished with low-quality energy.
Figure 4-1 A simple process-heating plant.
Industries that use large amounts of process heat also consume a large amount of electric power. Therefore, it makes
economical as well as engineering sense to use the already-existing work potential to produce power instead of letting it go to
waste. The result is a plant that produces electricity while meeting the process-heat requirements of certain industrial
processes. Such a plant is called a cogeneration plant. In general, cogeneration is the production of more than one useful form
of energy (such as process heat and electric power) from the same energy source. It is also referred to as combined heat and
power (CHP). A combination of power production and cooling can also be used in a cogeneration scheme. It is called
trigeneration if three useful forms of energy (such as electric power, process heat, and cooling) are produced from the same
energy source. A steam-turbine (Rankine) cycle, a gas-turbine (Brayton) cycle, a combined cycle (combination of Rankine and
Brayton cycles), an internal combustion engine, or any other power producing plant (such as a geothermal power plant) can be
used as the power cycle in a cogeneration plant. The power cycle is also called theprime mover. Cogeneration systems utilizing
gas turbines and internal combustion engines are the most utilized technologies worldwide.
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The "cascading" of energy use from high- to low-temperature uses often distinguishes cogeneration systems from conventional
separate electrical and thermal energy systems (e.g., a power plant and an industrial boiler), and from simple heat recovery
strategies. The principal technical advantage of cogeneration systems is their ability to improve the efficiency of fuel use in the
production of electrical and thermal energy. Less fuel is required to produce a given amount of electrical and thermal energy in
a single cogeneration unit than is needed to generate the same quantities of both types of energy with separate, conventional
technologies. This is because heat from the turbine-generator set, which uses a substantial quantity of fuel to fire the turbine,
becomes useful thermal energy (e.g., process steam) in a cogeneration system rather than waste heat (Benelmir and Feidt,
1998; Wilkinson and Barnes, 1980).
The technical advantages of cogeneration lead to significant energy savings and corresponding environmental advantages.
That is, the increase in efficiency and corresponding decrease in fuel use by a cogeneration system, compared to other
conventional processes for thermal and electrical energy production, normally yield large reductions in energy use and
greenhouse gas emissions. These reductions can be as large as 50 percent in some situations, while the same thermal and
electrical services are provided.
The use of cogeneration dates to the beginning of the 20th century when power plants were integrated to a community to
provide district heating, that is, space, hot water, and process heating for residential and commercial buildings. The district
heating systems lost their popularity in the 1940s owing to low fuel prices. However, the rapid rise in fuel prices in the 1970s
brought about renewed interest in district heating. Cogeneration plants have proved to be economically very attractive.
Consequently, more and more such plants have been installed in recent years, and more are being installed.
4-1-1. Cogeneration Schemes

Cogeneration systems can generally be arranged as topping cycles and bottoming cycles, as shown in Fig. 4-2. In a topping
cycle, the fuel is burned in a power cycle and power is generated first. The waste heat output from the power cycle is then used
to produce a useful heat output. This scheme of cogeneration is the one most commonly used. It is particularly suitable when
the electric demand of the facility is greater than the thermal demand and the process heat temperature requirements are not
high. In a bottoming cycle, heat is produced first in a boiler, and electricity is generated by using the waste heat of the fluid
stream leaving the process heat equipment and/or the boiler. This scheme of cogeneration is less common than the topping
cycle. It is particularly suitable when the plant needs process heat at a high temperature. Some examples include steel reheat
furnaces, clay and glass kilns, and aluminum remelt furnaces (Thumann and Mehta, 2008).
Figure 4-2 Topping and bottoming cycles.
4-2. STEAM-TURBINE COGENERATION
The schematic of an ideal steam-turbine cogeneration plant is shown in Fig. 4-3. Let us say this plant is to supply process heat
Q̇process at 500 kPa at a rate of 100 kW. To meet this demand, steam is expanded in the turbine to a pressure of 500 kPa,
producing power at a rate of, say, 20 kW. The flow rate of the steam can be adjusted such that steam leaves the process
heating section as a saturated liquid at 500 kPa. Steam is then pumped to the boiler pressure and is heated in the boiler to state
3. The pump work is usually very small and can be neglected. Disregarding any heat losses, the rate of heat input in the boiler is
determined from an energy balance to be 120 kW.
Figure 4-3 An ideal cogeneration plant.
Probably the most striking feature of the ideal steam-turbine cogeneration plant shown in Fig. 4-3 is the absence of a
condenser. Thus no heat is rejected from this plant as waste heat. In other words, all the energy transferred to the steam in the
boiler is utilized as either process heat or electric power. Thus it is appropriate to define a utilization factor εu (or utilization
efficiency) for a cogeneration plant as
Net power output + Process heat delivered Ẇ net + Q̇process

εu = =
Total heat input Q̇ in
(4-1)
or
Q̇out
εu = 1 −
Q̇in
(4-2)
˙ ˙
where Q̇ out represents the heat rejected in the condenser. Strictly speaking, Q̇ out also includes all the undesirable heat losses
from the piping and other components, but they are usually small and thus neglected. It also includes combustion
inefficiencies such as incomplete combustion and stack losses when the utilization factor is defined on the basis of the heating
value of the fuel. The utilization factor of the ideal steam-turbine cogeneration plant is obviously 100 percent. Actual
cogeneration plants have utilization factors as high as 80 percent. Some recent cogeneration plants have even higher utilization
factors.
In the absence of process heat output, the cogeneration plant shown inFig. 4-3 is reduced to a steam power plant. The first-law
efficiency of a steam power plant (or any other power plant) is expressed by a thermal efficiency as
Net power output Ẇ net

ηth = =
Total heat input Q̇in
(4-3)
or
Q̇out
ηth = 1 −
Q̇in
(4-4)
where Q̇ out represents the heat rejected in the condenser. Thermal efficiencies of steam power plants are about 30–40
percent, while combined cycles can achieve 60 percent thermal efficiency. A combined cycle integrates a steam turbine into a
gas turbine. The energy of hot exhaust gases leaving the gas turbine is transferred to a steam turbine plant by a waste heat
steam generator. The generated steam expands in a turbine producing power, adding the power produced by the gas turbine. A
combined cycle has the highest fuel utilization efficiency with about 60 percent, but this is still considerably lower than typical
fuel utilization efficiencies (utilization factors) of cogeneration plants, which are typically between 70 and 80 percent. This is a
strong argument for the effectiveness of cogeneration applications compared to single power generation systems.
Different types of cogenerators have different fuel-use characteristics and produce different proportions of electricity and
steam. Sometimes an "electricity-to-heat ratio" is used to characterize cogeneration applications, and it refers to the relative
proportions of electrical and process heat produced by a cogeneration plant (Wilkinson and Barnes, 1980):
Ẇ net
Electricity-to-heat ratio =
Q̇process
(4-5)
Notice that without the turbine, we would need to supply heat to the steam in the boiler at a rate of only 100 kW instead of at
120 kW. The additional 20 kW of heat supplied is converted to work. Therefore, a cogeneration power plant is equivalent to a
process-heating plant combined with a power plant that has a thermal efficiency of 100 percent.
The ideal steam-turbine cogeneration plant described above is not practical because it cannot adjust to the variations in power
and process-heat loads. The schematic of a more practical (but more complex) cogeneration plant is shown in Fig. 4-4. Under
normal operation, some steam is extracted from the turbine at some predetermined intermediate pressure P6 . The rest of the
steam expands to the condenser pressure P7 and is then cooled at constant pressure. The heat rejected from the condenser
represents the waste heat for the cycle.
Figure 4-4 A cogeneration plant with adjustable loads.
At times of high demand for process heat, all the steam is routed to the process-heating units and none to the condenser (
ṁ7 = 0). The waste heat is zero in this mode. If this is not sufficient, some steam leaving the boiler is throttled by an expansion
or pressure-reducing valve (PRV) to the extraction pressure P6 and is directed to the process-heating unit. Maximum process
heating is realized when all the steam leaving the boiler passes through the PRV (ṁ5 = ṁ4). No power is produced in this
mode. When there is no demand for process heat, all the steam passes through the turbine and the condenser (ṁ5 = ṁ6), and
the cogeneration plant operates as an ordinary steam power plant. The rates of heat input, heat rejected, and process heat
supply as well as the power produced for this cogeneration plant can be expressed as follows:
Q̇in = ṁ3(h4 − h3)
(4-6)
Q̇out = ṁ7(h7 − h1)
(4-7)
Q̇process = ṁ5h5 + ṁ6h6 − ṁ8h8
(4-8)
Ẇ turbine = (ṁ4 − ṁ5)(h4 − h6) + ṁ7(h6 − h7)
(4-9)
Under optimum conditions, a cogeneration plant simulates the ideal cogeneration plant discussed earlier. That is, all the steam
expands in the turbine to the extraction pressure and continues to the process-heating unit. No steam passes through the PRV
or the condenser; thus, no waste heat is rejected (ṁ4 = ṁ6 and ṁ5 = ṁ7 = 0). This condition may be difficult to achieve in
practice because of the constant variations in the process heat and power loads. But the plant should be designed so that the
optimum operating conditions are approximated most of the time.
Example
EXAMPLE 4-1 A Steam Power Plant with Process Heating
A textile plant requires 4 kg/s of saturated steam at 2 MPa, which is extracted from the turbine of a cogeneration plant Fig. (
4-5). Steam enters the turbine at 8 MPa and 500°C at a rate of 11 kg/s and leaves at 20 kPa. The extracted steam leaves the
process heater as a saturated liquid and mixes with the feedwater at constant pressure. The mixture is pumped to the boiler
pressure. Assuming an isentropic efficiency of 88 percent for both the turbine and the pumps, determine (a) the rate of
process heat supply, (b) the net power output, and (c) the utilization factor of the plant and the electricity-to-heat ratio.
Figure 4-5 The cogeneration plant considered in Example 4-1.
SOLUTION
a. We obtain properties of steam from the steam tables in the Appendix. The enthalpy and specific volume at state 1 are:
h1 = hf@ 20kPa = 251.42 kJ/kg

(Table A-8)
v1 = vf@ 20kPa = 0.001017 m3/kg
The work input to pump 1 is obtained from the isentropic work of a pump divided by the pump efficiency:
v1(P2 − P1) (0.001017 m3/kg)(2000 − 20 kPa) 1 kJ

wpump I,in = = ( ) = 2.29 kJ/kg
ηpump 0.88 1 kPa ⋅ m3
The enthalpies at states 2 and 3 are
h2 = h1 + wpump I,in = 251.42 + 2.29 = 253.71 kJ/kg

h3 = hf@ 2 MPa = 908.47 kJ/kg
An energy balance on the mixing chamber where the streams at states 3 and 2 mix to produce state 4 gives the
enthalpy at state 4:
ṁ3h3 + ṁ2h2 = ṁ4h4

(4 kg/s)(908.47 kJ/kg) + (11 − 4 kg/s)(253.71 kJ/kg)) = (11 kg/s)h4 −−
→ h4 = 491.81 kJ/kg
Then, the enthalpy at state 5 is obtained:
v4 ≅ vf@ hf= 491.81kJ/kg = 0.001058 m3/kg

v4(P5 − P4) (0.001058 m3/kg)(8000 − 2000 kPa) 1 kJ
wpump II,in = = ( ) = 7.21 kJ/kg
ηpump 0.88 1 kPa ⋅ m3
h5 = h4 + wpump II,in = 491.81 + 7.21 = 499.02 kJ/kg
The enthalpy and entropy at state 6 are
P6 = 8 MPa h6 = 3399.5 kJ/kg

} (Table A-10)
T6 = 500°C s 6 = 6.7266 kJ/kg ⋅ K
The enthalpy at state 7 for the isentropic expansion process is
P7 = 2 MPa
} h7s = 3000.4 kJ/kg (Table A-10)
s7 = s6
The definition for isentropic efficiency gives the enthalpies at states 7 and 8:
h6 − h7
ηturb = −−→ h7 = h6 − ηturb(h6 − h7s) = 3399.5 − (0.88)(3399.5 − 3000.4) = 3048.3 kJ/kg
h6 − h7s
P8 = 20 kPa
} h8s = 2215.5 kJ/kg (Table A-9)
s8 = s6
h6 − h8
ηT = −−
→ h8 = h6 − ηT (h6 − h8s) = 3399.5 − (0.88)(3399.5 − 2215.5) = 2357.6 kJ/kg
h6 − h8s
Now, we obtained all enthalpies at all states. Then, the rate of process heat supplied by this plant is determined to be
Q̇process = ṁ7(h7 − h3) = (4 kg/s)(3048.3 − 908.47) kJ/kg = 8559 kW
b. The net power output from the plant is the difference between turbine power output and the pump power input:
Ẇ turb,out = ṁ7(h6 − h7) + ṁ8(h6 − h8)

= (4 kg/s)(3399.5 − 3048.3) kJ/kg + (7 kg/s)(3399.5 − 2357.6) kJ/kg
= 8698 kW
Ẇ pump,in = ṁ1wpump I,in + ṁ4wpump II,in = (7 kg/s)(2.29 kJ/kg) + (11 kg/s)(7.21 kJ/kg) = 95 kW
Ẇ net = Ẇ turb,out − Ẇ pump,in = 8698 − 95 = 8603 kW
c. The rate of heat input in the boiler and the utilization efficiency of the plant are
Q̇in = ṁ5(h6 − h5) = (11 kg/s)(3399.5 − 499.02)kJ/kg = 31,905 kW

Ẇ net + Q̇process 8603 + 8559
εu = = = 0.538 = 53.8%
Q̇in 31,905
The plant produces 8603 kW of power and 8559 kW of process heat. The electricity-to-heat ratio is then,
Ẇ net 8603 kW
Electricity-to-heat ratio = = = 1.005
Q̇process 8559 kW
What happens if the process heater is removed and only steam is used to produce power?
The net power in this case is determined from
Ẇ turb,out = ṁ6(h6 − h8) = (11 kg/s)(3399.5 − 2357.6) kJ/kg = 11,461 kW

ṁ6v1(P5 − P1) (11 kg/s)(0.001017 m3/kg)(8000 − 20 kPa) 1 kJ
Ẇ pump,in = = ( ) = 101 kW
ηp ump 0.88 1 kPa ⋅ m3
Ẇ net = Ẇ turb,out − Ẇ pump,in = 11,461 − 101 = 11,360 kW
The thermal efficiency of the plant without process heating would be 35.6 percent (11,360/31,905 = 0.356). It appears
that if the steam stream entering the turbine is expanded to the condenser pressure without any process heat output
from the plant, an additional 2757 kW (11,360 − 8603 = 2757 kW) power could be produced in place of 8559 kW of
process heat output. This process heat represents 3.1 times (8559/2757 = 3.1) the additional power output. An
economic comparison of 2757 kW electricity and 8559 kW process heat can be performed for selection of the best
option for this plant. The relative price of electricity and fuel will be the most important factor. If the plant needs process
heating, it would be better to meet this demand by this cogeneration system instead of using a separate boiler (involves
additional investment) to supply the process heat.
4-3. GAS-TURBINE COGENERATION

In steam power plants, the heat is rejected in the condenser at a temperature of about 40°C to 60°C corresponding to
condenser pressures of 7.5 kPa to 20 kPa. This is a relatively low temperature and is not suitable for most process heating
requirements. For this reason, steam is usually taken at an intermediate stage in the turbine or from the outlet of the boiler so
that the temperature is sufficiently high for process heating.
In a gas turbine power plant, the heat is rejected to the atmosphere at a high temperature, which makes this plant very suitable
for cogeneration applications. In a typical gas-turbine engine, fresh air at ambient conditions is drawn into the compressor,
where its temperature and pressure are raised. The high-pressure air proceeds into the combustion chamber, where the fuel is
burned at constant pressure. The resulting high-temperature combustion gases then enter the turbine, where they expand to the
atmospheric pressure while producing power. The exhaust gases leaving the turbine are thrown out to the atmosphere (Fig. 4-
6).
Figure 4-6 A gas-turbine engine.
In this system, the exhaust gases are discharged to the atmosphere at a relatively high temperature (about 300–400°C), which
represent a significant waste of energy. This otherwise wasted energy can be recovered if it is used for process heating, space
heating, and even a cooling application before being discharged to the atmosphere. The resulting system is a gas turbine
cogeneration plant, and it is commonly installed in industrial facilities. Other advantages of gas turbine cogeneration are that it
is simpler, easier and quicker to install and operate, and cheaper compared to steam power–based cogeneration.
Example
EXAMPLE 4-2 A Gas-Turbine Cogeneration Plant
A gas-turbine power plant in a facility operates on a pressure ratio of 9. Air enters the compressor at 90 kPa and 15°C and
the combustion gases enter the turbine at 750°C. The plant produces net power of 7000 kW. Taking the isentropic
efficiencies of the compressor and turbine to be 90 percent, determine (a) the mass flow rate of air through the compressor
(neglect the mass flow rate of fuel entering the combustion chamber, that is, assume the same mass flow rate at the inlet
and exit of the combustion chamber), and (b) the thermal efficiency. Use the air properties at room temperature for air and
combustion gases: cp = 1.005 kJ/kg⋅K and k = 1.4.
Now, the combustion gases leaving the turbine are to be used to produce saturated steam at 200°C in a heat exchanger, as
shown in Fig. 4-7. Steam is used for process heating in this facility and returns to the heat exchanger at 150°C as a
saturated liquid. Combustion gases are discharged from the heat exchanger at 210°C. Determine (c) the rate at which
steam is produced from the heat exchanger and (d) the utilization efficiency of this cogeneration plant.
Figure 4-7 The gas-turbine cogeneration plant considered in Example 4-2.
This plant uses natural gas as the fuel, and the price of natural gas is $1.20/therm (1 therm = 100,000 Btu = 105,500 kJ). e)
(
What is the cost of producing 1 kWh of electricity when the plant produces electricity only (no steam production)? (f) Before
the incorporation of the heat exchanger to the plant, the facility was using a natural gas boiler with an efficiency of 90
percent to produce the steam. How much does the facility save in a year as a result of using the combustion gases from the
turbine outlet for steam production? What is the ratio of this savings to the cost of natural gas consumed in the combustion
chamber of the plant? Assume this plant operates 40 weeks a year, 7 days a week, and 16 hours a day.
SOLUTION
a. The temperature at the compressor exit for an isentropic compression process is determined to be
( − 1)/k
P2 k
T2s = T1( ) = (288 K)(9)0.4/1.4 = 539.6 K
P1
The actual temperature at the compressor exit is determined by using the isentropic efficiency of the compressor:
h2s − h1 cp (T2s − T1) T − T1

ηcomp = = → T2 = T1 + 2s
h2 − h1 cp (T2 − T1) ηcomp
539.6 − 288
= 288 + = 567.6 K
0.90
Using the same procedure for the expansion process in the turbine,
( − )/
P4 k 1 k 1 0.4/1.4
T4s = T3( ) = (1023 K)( ) = 546.1 K
P3 9
h3 − h4 cp (T3 − T4)
ηturb = = →T = T3 − ηturb(T3 − T4s)
h3 − h4s cp (T3 − T4s)
= 1023 − (0.90)(1023 − 546.1)
= 593.8 K
The work output from the turbine and work input to the compressor, and the net work output are
wcomp = cp (T2 − T1) = (1.005 kJ/kg×K)(567.6 − 288)K = 281.0 kJ/kg
wturb = cp (T3 − T4) = (1.005 kJ/kg×K)(1023 − 593.8)K = 431.3 kJ/kg
wnet = wturb − wcomp = 431.3 − 281.0 = 150.3 kJ/kg
The mass flow rate through the cycle is
Ẇ net 7000 kJ/s

ṁ = = = 46.57 kg/s
wnet 150.3 kJ/kg
b. The rate heat input in the combustion chamber is
Q̇in = ṁcp (T3 − T2) = (46.57 kg/s)(1.005 kJ/kg ⋅ K)(1023 − 567.6)K = 21,314 kW
The thermal efficiency is
Ẇ net 7000 kW
ηth = = = 0.328 = 32.8%
Q̇in 21,314 kW
That is, this plant converts 32.8 percent of heat input in the combustion chamber into net work output.
c. The rate of heat given up by the exhaust gases in the heat exchanger is
Q̇process = ṁcp (T4 − T5) = (46.57 kg/s)(1.005 kJ/kg ⋅ K)(593.8 − 483)K = 5186 kW
Noting that steam is saturated liquid at 150°C at the heat exchanger inlet and saturated vapor at 200°C at the exit, the
enthalpies of steam at the inlet and exit of the heat exchanger are obtained from steam tables to be
h6 = 632.18 kJ/kg and h7 = 2792.0 kJ/kg
The rate at which steam is produced in this heat exchanger is
Q̇process = ṁsteam(h7 − h6)

5186 kJ/s = ṁsteam(2792.0 − 632.18)kJ/kg → ṁsteam = 2.401 kg/s = 8644 kg/h
d. The utilization efficiency of this cogeneration plant is
Ẇ net + Q̇process 7000 kW + 5186 kW

εu = = = 0.572 = 57.2%
Q̇in 21,314 kW
That is, this cogeneration plant converts 57.2 percent of heat input in the combustion chamber into power and process
heat.
e. The rate of fuel (natural gas) consumed in the combustion chamber, in therm/s, is
1 therm
Rate of fuel consumed = Q̇in = (21,314 kJ/s) ( ) = 0.2020 therm/s
105,500 kJ
Its cost per unit time is
Cost rate of fuel consumed = Rate of fuel consumed × Unit price of fuel
= (0.2020 therm/s)($1.20/therm)
= $0.2424/s
Then the cost of producing 1 kWh of electricity becomes
Cost rate of fuel consumed $0.2424/s 3600 kJ

Cost of electricity = = ( ) = $0.1247/kWh
Electricity production rate 7000 kJ/s 1 kWh
That is, the plant spends $0.1247 for fuel cost for the production of 1 kWh electricity.
f. When the process heating (steam production) is done by a natural gas boiler with an efficiency of 90%, the annual fuel
consumption (thus the fuel savings due to using exhaust gases) will be
Q̇process × Operating hours

Fuel savings =
ηboiler
(5186 kW)(4480 h/yr) 3600 kJ 1 therm
= ( )( )
0.90 1 kWh 105,500 kJ
= 880,883 therm/yr
where the annual operating hours are
Operating hours = 40 weeks/yr × 7 days/week × 16 h/day = 4480 h/yr
The corresponding annual cost savings due to using combustion gases for steam production are
Cost savings = Fuel savings × Unit price of natural gas

= (880,883 therm/yr)($1.20/therm)
= $1,057,000/yr
The amount of natural gas consumption in the combustion chamber is
Fuel consumption = Q̇in × Operating hours
3600 kJ 1 therm
= (21,314 kW)(4480 h/yr) ( )( )
1 kWh 105,500 kJ
= 3,258,315 therms/yr
The corresponding cost of this natural gas consumption is
Cost of natural gas = Fuel consumption × Unit price of natural gas

= (3,258,315 therm/yr)($1.20/therm)
= $3,910,000/yr
Then the ratio of the savings due to process heating by exhaust gases to the natural gas consumption in the combustion
chamber becomes
Cost savings $1,057,000/yr

Ratio = = = 0.270
Cost of natural gas $3,910,000/yr
Using otherwise wasted combustion gases at the turbine exit for steam production saves the facility about $1.1 million
per year. This represents 27 percent of the total fuel cost in the plant.
4-4. DIESEL-ENGINE COGENERATION

Many cogeneration systems use an internal combustion engine for the power producing unit. The preferred system is usually a
reciprocating compression ignition engine (diesel engine) as these engines are more efficient than spark ignition engines
(gasoline engine). Also, diesel engine power plants run on relatively inexpensive heavy fuel oil, a low-grade product of oil
refineries. This fuel needs some heating in the plant to decrease its viscosity to acceptable levels. It would be very problematic,
if not impossible, to use this low-quality fuel in automobile engines. Diesel engine power plants can be set up quickly, normally
in less than 12 months, to generate hundreds of megawatts of energy. Large diesel-engine cogeneration systems are
particularly well suited to applications requiring a relatively high proportion of electrical power compared to thermal products.
That is, they usually have much higher electricity-to-heat ratios than cogeneration units powered by steam engines and gas
turbine engines. Some cogeneration units are powered by internal combustion engines using natural gas as the fuel (Kartano,
2002).
Reciprocating engines are mostly employed in low- and medium-power generation units. The lower and upper limits for power
production are 50 kW to 10 MW for natural gas, 50 kW to 50 MW for light diesel fuel, and 2.5 MW to 50 MW for heavy fuel oil.
There are four sources of usable waste heat from a reciprocating engine: exhaust gas, engine jacket cooling water, lube oil
cooling water, and turbocharger intercooling. The exhaust gases from diesel cogeneration plants represent a significant
amount of thermal energy that can be used for various process heat applications (Agnew et al., 1999).
Recovered heat is generally in the form of hot water or low-pressure steam (about 2 bar). The high-temperature exhaust gas
can generate medium-pressure steam (about 10 bar), but the hot exhaust gas contains only about a third of the available
thermal energy from a reciprocating engine. Generally the hot water and low-pressure steam produced by reciprocating engine
cogeneration systems is appropriate for low-temperature process needs, space heating, potable water heating, and to drive
absorption chillers providing cold power, air conditioning, or refrigeration.
Compression ignition diesel engines are among the most efficient simple cycle power generation options on the market.
Efficiency levels increase with engine size and range from about 30 percent for small high-speed diesels up to 42 to 48 percent
for the large-bore, slow-speed engines. It is expected that efficiencies will improve to as much as 52 percent in the near future
(Energy Nexus Group, 2002). According to the studies presented, diesel engines are more efficient than the equivalent ones with
gas turbines, since they have better electrical performance (Renedo et al., 2006). A serious problem of the diesel fuel and heavy
fuel used in diesel cogeneration is the high percentage of sulfur they contain. This problem is worsened because of the high
cost of sulfur elimination in these systems (Silveira et al., 2007).
As an illustrative example, we provide information on an existing diesel-engine cogeneration plant (Abuşoğlu and Kanoğlu,
2008). The plant has total installed electricity and steam generation capacities of 25.32 MW and 8.1 tons/h at 8 bar and 170°C,
respectively. The electricity is generated by three diesel engine-actuated generator sets each having two turbochargers. The
schematic diagram of this plant for one engine set is shown in Fig. 4-8, where only one turbocharger is demonstrated. The
engine is four-stroke compression ignition engine with 18 cylinders in a V configuration. Heavy fuel oil is used to power the
engines. The average annual electricity production is 217 GWh, and the annual fuel consumption is nearly 45,000 tons.
Figure 4-8 Schematic of the diesel engine powered cogeneration plant. (Abuşoğlu and Kanoğlu,
2008.) C: Compressor, T: Turbine, WHB: Waste Heat Boiler, DeSOx: Desulphurization, AWR: Air-
Water Radiator, IC: Intercooler, LOC: Lubrication Oil Cooler, LOT: Lubrication Oil Tank, SD: Steam
Drum, FWT: Feed Water Tank, FDT: Fuel Oil Day Tank, CON: Condenser, FFM: Fuel Forwarding
Module, P: Pump.
In the process, as shown in Fig. 4-8, electricity is generated by a diesel engine–actuated generator set. The shaft power
obtained by the operation of the diesel engine is transferred to the generator for electricity production. When the engine starts,
air is charged to the compressor of the turbocharger unit. The turbocharger consists of two machines, a turbine and a
compressor, which are mounted on a common shaft. The exhaust gases leaving the engine flow through the turbine of the
turbocharger unit to produce the necessary shaft work for the compressor. The air leaving the compressor is cooled by water in
an intercooler before air enters the engine cylinders. The exhaust gases leaving the turbine enter the exhaust gas boiler unit to
transfer heat to the feedwater to produce steam for manufacturing facilities in the factory and for preheating streams in the
auxiliary equipment, such as the fuel forwarding module (FFM) and the fuel oil in daily usage tank (FDT). This is to decrease the
viscosity of the fuel. The exhaust gas leaving the boiler is sent to the DeSOx (desulphurization) unit in which the SOx emission is
lowered to the acceptable legal values. After the DeSO x unit, the exhaust gases are released to the atmosphere.
The water used in the plant is distributed by the collectors to the exhaust gas boiler, the air-water radiator (AWR), and the flue
gas treatment unit. High-temperature water (HT) from the AWR with the low-temperature water (LT) first enters through the
intercooler (IC) for the cooling of compressed air before entering the engine. High-temperature water from the intercooler
enters through the diesel engine for cooling the engine jacket, while low-temperature water from the intercooler enters the
lubrication oil cooler (LOC) to cool lubrication oil from the engine, and then both unmixed water supplies return to the AWR unit.
Oil is used for lubrication and cooling of the engine components. The fuel used in the cogeneration system is stored in daily
usage tanks and is preheated by steam before entering the fuel forwarding module. Finally, it is injected in to the engine
cylinders through the nozzle in the fuel forwarding module. Table 4-1 lists the properties of the fluid streams in the
cogeneration plant according to the nomenclature shown in Fig. 4-8.
Table 4-1 Plant Data with Respect to the State Points inFig. 4-8 (Abuşoğlu and Kanoğlu, 2008)
State Fluid Pressure (bar) Temperature (°C) State Fluid Pressure (bar) Temperature (°C)
1 Air 1.00 30.0 17 Water 8.00 170
2 Air 2.90 172 18 Water 4.70 60.0
3 Air 2.80 53.7 19 Water 4.60 50.0
4 Fuel oil 4.30 81.0 20 HT water 3.10 71.7
5 Fuel oil 5.10 137.5 21 HT water 3.00 81.0
6 Exhaust 2.40 451 22 HT water 2.80 88.0
7 Exhaust 0.80 302 23 LT water 3.10 38.4
8 Exhaust 0.75 247 24 LT water 3.00 44.9
9 Exhaust 1.190 53.7 25 LT water 2.90 50.3
10 Water 2.40 88.0 26 Lub oil 4.20 63.0
11 Water 8.00 88.0 27 Lub oil 3.00 78.3
12 Water 8.00 95.0 28 Lub oil 2.90 59.7
13 Water 8.00 170 29 Air 1.00 30.0
14 Water 8.00 170 30 Air 0.99 51.0
15 Water 8.00 170 31 Air 1.00 30.0
16 Water 7.80 70.0 32 Air 0.90 47.0
Example
EXAMPLE 4-3 A Diesel Engine Cogeneration Plant
Consider the diesel engine cogeneration plant in Fig. 4-8 with data in Table 4-1. The plant produces 25.32 MW electricity
and 8100 kg/h saturated steam at 8 bar and 170°C (state 13). Water enters the waste heat boiler (WHB) at 95°C as a liquid
(state 12). The rate of fuel oil consumed is 1.38 kg/s, and its lower heating value is 39,300 kJ/kg. Determine (a) the rate of
process heat supplied by the exhaust gases in the WHB, and (b) the utilization efficiency and the electric-to-heat ratio. (c)
Determine the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per year by this cogeneration plant. Assume continuous operation
throughout the year. Determine the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions due to steam production by the exhaust gases in
the WHB. Assume that steam would otherwise be produced by a fuel oil boiler with an efficiency of 82 percent. (d) Also,
determine the amount of CO2 emitted for each kWh of electricity produced from this power plant. Assume that fuel oil has
the chemical formula C12H26.
SOLUTION
a. The rate of heat released due to combustion of the fuel is
Q̇in = ṁfuel × LHV = (1.38 kg/s)(39,300 kJ/kg) = 54,234 kW
Noting that steam is liquid (assumed to be saturated liquid) at 95°C at the WHB inlet (state 12) and saturated vapor at
170°C at the exit (state 13), the enthalpies are obtained from steam tables to be
h12 = 398.1 kJ/kg and h13 = 2767.9 kJ/kg
The rate of process heat supplied by the exhaust gases in the waste heat boiler is
Q̇process = ṁsteam(h13 − h12) = (8100/3600 kg/s)(2767.9 − 398.1)kJ/kg = 5332 kW
b. Noting that the plant produces 25.32 MW power, the utilization efficiency of this cogeneration plant is determined from
Ẇ net + Q̇process 25,320 kW + 5332 kW

εu = = = 0.565 = 56.5%
Q̇in 54,234 kW
That is, this cogeneration plant converts 56.5 percent of heat input in the combustion chamber of the engine into
electrical power and process heat. The electricity-to-heat ratio is
Ẇ net 25,320 kW
Electricity-to-heat ratio = = = 4.75
Q̇process 5332 kW
This is not surprising as diesel engine cogeneration systems are characterized by high power production and relatively
low process heat output.
c. In order to calculate the amount of CO2 emission by this cogeneration plant, we assume the fuel oil to have the
composition of C12H26, and we write the stoichiometric combustion equation as
C 12H26 + ath[O2 + 3.76N2] → 12CO2 + 13H2O + 3.76athN2
where the stoichiometric coefficient is determined from an O2 balance to be:
ath = 12 + 6.5 → ath = 18.5
Substituting,
C 12H26 + 18.5[O2 + 3.76N2] → 12CO2 + 13H2O + 69.6N2
This cogeneration plant normally uses a large amount of excess air. However, if we write the combustion equation with
excess air, the amount of CO 2 in the products will not be affected. There will be some extra oxygen and larger amounts
of nitrogen in the products. For one kilomole of the fuel burned, 12 kmol of CO2 are produced. Then for one kilogram of
fuel burned, the amount of CO2 production will be
mCO2 NCO2M CO2 (12 kmol)(44 kg/kmol)
= = = 3.11 kg CO2/kg fuel
mfuel NfuelM fuel (1 kmol)[(12 × 12 + 26 × 1) kg/kmol)]
The rate of fuel consumed by the engine is 1.38 kg/s. Then, the rate of CO2 produced is
ṁCO2 = (3.11 kg CO2/kg fuel)(1.38 kg fuel/s) = 4.29 kg CO2/s
The CO2 production per year is
mCO 2 = ṁCO 2 × Operating hours

= (4.29 kg CO2/s)(365 days/yr × 24 h/day × 3600 s/h)
= 1.35 × 108 kg CO2/yr
That is, this cogeneration plant is responsible for 135,000 tons of CO2 emission to the atmosphere per year.
If the steam was produced by a fuel-oil boiler with an efficiency of 82 percent, the amount of fuel consumption a year
would be
Q̇process × Operating hours

Fuel consumption =
ηboiler × LHV
(5332 kW)(365 × 24 h/yr) 3600 kJ
= ( ) = 5.22 × 106 kg fuel/yr
(0.82)(39,300 kJ/kg fuel) 1 kWh
Noting that for one kg of fuel burned, 3.11 kg of CO2 are produced, the reduction in CO2 emission due to steam
production by the exhaust gases would be
mCO2,saved = (3.11 kg CO2/kg fuel)(5.22 × 106kg fuel/yr) = 1.62×107 kg CO2/yr
That is, 16,000 tons of CO2 emission are avoided by generating steam by the otherwise wasted exhaust gases in this
cogeneration plant.
d. It would be interesting to see how much CO2 is emitted for 1 kWh of electricity produced from this power plant. We note
that 25,320 kW of electricity is produced when the fuel is burned at a rate of 1.38 kg/s. Also, 3.11 kg CO2 are produced
for one kg of fuel burned. Then,
mCO2 (1.38 kg fuel/s)(3.11 kg CO2/kg fuel) 3600 s

= ( ) = 0.610 kg CO2/kWh electricity
Welectricity 25,320 kW 1h
That is, for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced from this plant, 0.610 kg of CO2 is emitted to the atmosphere. In
various literature sources, the amount of CO2 emission per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced is taken in the range of
0.6 to 0.75 kg CO2 /kWh. Not surprisingly, the value calculated here falls in this range. The reason that this value falls in
the lower end of this range is the high thermal efficiency of the diesel engine, which can be calculated as
Ẇ net 25,320 kW
ηth = = = 0.467 = 46.7
Q̇in 54,234 kW
The relationship between the thermal efficiency of the engine and the amount of CO2 production per kilowatt-hour of
electricity produced is shown in Fig. 4-9. Clearly, as the thermal efficiency increases, the amount of CO2 production
decreases exponentially. This indicates that increasing the thermal efficiency of power-producing equipment decreases
CO2 emission by reducing fuel consumption for a given power production.
Figure 4-9 The relationship between the thermal efficiency of the engine and the amount of CO2
production per kWh of electricity produced.
4-5. GEOTHERMAL COGENERATION

Cogeneration can be accomplished by using renewable-based power production technologies such as a solar thermal plant, a
solar photovoltaic system, or a geothermal power plant. Here we consider geothermal cogeneration. The technology for
producing power from geothermal resources is well established, and many geothermal power plants are operating worldwide.
Depending on the state of the geothermal fluid in the reservoir, different power producing cycles may be used, including direct
steam, single-flash (Fig. 4-10), double-flash, binary, and combined flash-binary cycles.
Figure 4-10 Operation of a single-flash geothermal power plant.
The simplest geothermal cycle is the direct steam cycle, in which steam extracted from the geothermal well is passed through a
turbine and exhausted to the atmosphere or to a condenser. Flash steam plants are used to generate power from liquid-
dominated resources that are hot enough to flash a significant proportion of the water to steam in surface equipment, either at
one pressure stage (single-flash, see Fig. 4-10) or two pressure stages (double-flash plants). The steam flows through a steam
turbine to produce power while the geothermal brine is reinjected back in to the ground. Steam exiting the turbine is condensed
by cooling water obtained in a cooling tower or a spray pond before being reinjected. Binary cycle plants use the geothermal
brine from liquid-dominated or liquid resources. These plants operate on a Rankine cycle with a binary working fluid (isobutane,
isopentane, etc.) that has a low boiling temperature. The working fluid is completely vaporized and is usually superheated by the
geothermal heat in the vaporizer. The vapor expands in the turbine and then condenses in a water-cooled condenser or dry
cooling tower before being pumped back to the vaporizer to complete the cycle. Combined flash/binary plants incorporate both
a binary unit and a flashing unit to exploit the advantages associated with both systems. The liquid portion of the geothermal
mixture serves as the input heat for the binary cycle, while the steam portion drives a steam turbine to produce power.
We consider a cogeneration plant consisting of a binary geothermal power plant and a heater, which utilizes the used
geothermal water for heating water for space heating as shown in Fig. 4-11. The utilization efficiency of such a cogeneration
plant can be determined from
Ẇ net + Q̇heating Ẇ net + ṁwater(h9 − h8) Ẇ net + ṁgeo(h6 − h7)

εu = = =
Ėin ṁgeo(h5 − h0) ṁgeo(h5 − h0)
(4-10a)
Figure 4-11 A geothermal cogeneration plant.
If the water and geofluid flowing through the heater remain liquid, this equation can also be written as
Ẇ net + Q̇heating Ẇ net + ṁwatercwater(T9 − T8) Ẇ net + ṁgeocgeo(T6 − T7)

εu = = =
Ėin ṁgeo(h5 − h0) ṁgeo(h5 − h0)
(4-10b)
where ṁgeo and ṁwater are the mass flow rates of geothermal water (geofluid) and heating water, respectively,h is enthalpy,
and the state numbers refer to Fig. 4-11. Also, h0 is the enthalpy of liquid water at the environmental temperature of 25°C. The
terms in the numerator are power output and the rate of heating, respectively. The term in the denominator of Eq. (4-10)
represents the energy content of geothermal water with respect to the environmental state. Using the energy of geothermal
water at the plant inlet is analogous to using the heating value of the fuel as the energy input to a fossil fuel–based
cogeneration plant.
Example
EXAMPLE 4-4 A Geothermal Cogeneration Plant
We consider a binary geothermal power plant like that in Fig. 4-11 using geothermal water at 165°C with isobutane as the
working fluid. The mass flow rate of geothermal water is 247 kg/s and the net power output is 10 MW. In this cycle,
isobutane is heated and vaporized in the heat exchanger by geothermal water. Then, the isobutane flows through the
turbine, is condensed and pumped back to the heat exchanger, completing the binary cycle. The heat exchanger and
condenser pressures are taken to be 3000 and 400 kPa, respectively, while the turbine inlet temperature (or heat exchanger
exit) is taken to be 150°C, which is 15°C lower than the geothermal water temperature at the heat exchanger inlet. The
isentropic efficiencies of both the turbine and pump are taken to be 85 percent. The above values closely correspond to
those of an actual power plant (Kanoğlu and Çengel, 1999a).
Noting that a pinch-point will occur at the start of vaporization of the working fluid in the heat exchanger, the energy balance
relations for the heat exchanger can be written as
ṁgeocgeo[T5 − (Tvap + ΔTpp)] = ṁbinary(h3 − hbinary,f)
(4-11)
ṁgeocgeo[(Tvap + ΔTpp) − T6] = ṁbinary(hbinary,f − h2)
(4-12)
where ṁbinary is the mass flow rate of the binary fluid, cgeo is the specific heat of geothermal water, T vap is the vaporization
temperature of the binary fluid at the heat exchanger pressure, ΔT pp is the pinch-point temperature difference, and hbinary,f is
the specific enthalpy of the binary fluid at the start of vaporization.
The pinch-point temperature in the heat exchanger is evaluated as 12°C and the mass flow rate of isobutane as 136.3 kg/s.
It is also determined that geothermal water leaves the plant at 100°C (state 6) and leaves the heater at 87°C (state 7). The
liquid water, heated to 90°C (state 9), is used for space heating and returns to the cogeneration plant at 50°C (state 8). The
rate of energy input to the plant is obtained from the denominator of Eq. (4-10) to be 146,790 kW.
Determine the rate of space heating provided by the system, the utilization efficiency, the thermal efficiency, and the
maximum possible thermal efficiency.
SOLUTION The rate of space heating supplied by geothermal water is
Q̇heating = ṁgeocgeo(T6 − T7) = (247 kg/s)(4.2 kJ/kg ⋅ °C)(100 − 87)°C = 13,490 kW
where the specific heat of geothermal water is taken as 4.2 kJ/kg⋅°C. The rate of energy input is 146,790 kW, the net power
output is 10,000 kW, and the rate of space heating is 13,486 kW. Then, the utilization efficiency of this cogeneration plant is
determined as
Ẇ net + Q̇heating 10,000 kW + 13,490 kW

εu = = = 0.160 = 16.0%
Ėin 146,790 kW
This is a quite low efficiency compared to steam, gas-turbine, and diesel cogeneration systems. This is mainly due to low
heat-to-work conversion in geothermal power plants, resulting in low thermal efficiency. Note that the thermal efficiency of
this geothermal power plant is
Ẇ net 10,000 kW
ηth = = = 0.068 = 6.8%
Ėin 146,790 kW
The low thermal efficiency is due to low resource temperature, which is only 165°C in this case. The maximum thermal
efficiency would be achieved if a power plant operated on the Carnot cycle between 165°C and the environmental
temperature of 25°C. The thermal efficiency of this Carnot heat engine would be
Tmin (25 + 273) K

ηth,max = 1 − =1− = 0.320 = 32.0%
Tmax (165 + 273) K
Considering that the maximum thermal efficiency this power plant can have is only 32 percent, the actual thermal efficiency
of 6.8 percent does not look as bad.
4-6. ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION

4-6. ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION
A form of cooling system that becomes economically attractive when there is a source of inexpensive thermal energy at a
temperature of 100 to 200°C is absorption refrigeration. Some examples of inexpensive thermal energy sources include
geothermal energy, solar energy, and waste heat from cogeneration or process steam plants, and even natural gas when it is
available at a relatively low price. A cogeneration plant may involve electricity generation and absorption cooling. A
trigeneration plant, on the other hand, may involve electricity generation, process heat, and cooling by an absorption system.
As the name implies, absorption refrigeration systems involve the absorption of arefrigerant by a transport medium. The most
widely used absorption refrigeration system is the ammonia–water system, where ammonia (NH 3 ) serves as the refrigerant and
water (H2 O) as the transport medium. Other absorption refrigeration systems include water–lithium bromide and water–lithium
chloride systems, where water serves as the refrigerant. The latter two systems are limited to applications such as air
conditioning where the minimum temperature is above the freezing point of water.
To understand the basic principles involved in absorption refrigeration, we examine the NH3 –H2 O system shown in Fig. 4-12.
The ammonia–water refrigeration machine was patented by the Frenchman Ferdinand Carré in 1859. Within a few years, the
machines based on this principle were being built in the United States primarily to make ice and store food.
Figure 4-12 Ammonia absorption refrigeration cycle.
You will immediately notice from the figure that this system looks very much like the vapor-compression system, except that the
compressor has been replaced by a complex absorption mechanism consisting of an absorber, a pump, a generator, a
regenerator, a valve, and a rectifier. Once the pressure of NH3 is raised by the components in the box (this is the only thing they
are set up to do), it is cooled and condensed in the condenser by rejecting heat to the surroundings, is throttled to the
evaporator pressure, and absorbs heat from the refrigerated space as it flows through the evaporator. So, there is nothing new
there. Here is what happens in the box:
Ammonia vapor leaves the evaporator and enters the absorber, where it dissolves and reacts with water to form NH3 –H2 O.
This is an exothermic reaction; thus heat is released during this process. The amount of NH3 that can be dissolved in H2 O is
inversely proportional to the temperature. Therefore, it is necessary to cool the absorber to maintain its temperature as low as
possible, hence to maximize the amount of NH3 dissolved in water. The liquid NH3 –H2 O solution, which is rich in NH3 , is then
pumped to the generator. Heat is transferred to the solution from a source to vaporize some of the solution. The vapor, which is
rich in NH3 , passes through a rectifier, which separates the water and returns it to the generator. The high-pressure pure NH3
vapor then continues its journey through the rest of the cycle. The hot NH3 –H2 O solution, which is weak in NH3 , then passes
through a regenerator, where it transfers some heat to the rich solution leaving the pump, and is throttled to the absorber
pressure.
Compared with vapor-compression systems, absorption refrigeration systems have one major advantage: A liquid is
compressed instead of a vapor. The steady-flow work is proportional to the specific volume, and thus the work input for
absorption refrigeration systems is very small (on the order of 1 percent of the heat supplied to the generator) and often is
neglected in the cycle analysis. The operation of these systems is based on heat transfer from an external source. Therefore,
absorption refrigeration systems are often classified as heat-driven systems.
The absorption refrigeration systems are much more expensive than the vapor-compression refrigeration systems. They are
more complex and occupy more space, they are much less efficient, thus requiring much larger cooling towers to reject the
waste heat, and they are more difficult to service since they are less common. Therefore, absorption refrigeration systems
should be considered only when the unit cost of thermal energy is low and is projected to remain low relative to electricity. An
ideal use of an absorption system is when it uses the waste heat of a power plant in a cogeneration scheme. Absorption
refrigeration systems are primarily used in large commercial and industrial installations.
The COP of absorption refrigeration systems is defined as
Qcooling Qcooling
COPabsorption = ≅
Qgen + Wpump Qgen
(4-13)
Air-conditioning systems based on absorption refrigeration, called absorption chillers, perform best when the heat source can
supply heat at a high temperature with little temperature drop. The absorption chillers are typically rated at an input
temperature of 116°C (240°F). The chillers perform at lower temperatures, but their cooling capacity decreases sharply with
decreasing source temperature, about 12.5 percent for each 6°C (10°F) drop in the source temperature. For example, the
capacity goes down to 50 percent when the supply water temperature drops to 93°C (200°F). In that case, one needs to double
the size (and thus the cost) of the chiller to achieve the same cooling. The COP of the chiller is affected less by the decline of
the source temperature. The COP drops by 2.5 percent for each 6°C (10°F) drop in the source temperature. The nominal COP of
single-stage absorption chillers at 116°C (240°F) is 0.65 to 0.70. Therefore, for each ton of refrigeration, a heat input of (12,000
Btu/h)/0.65 = 18,460 Btu/h is required. At 88°C (190°F), the COP drops by 12.5 percent, and thus the heat input increases by
12.5 percent for the same cooling effect. Therefore, the economic aspects must be evaluated carefully before any absorption
refrigeration system is considered, especially when the source temperature is below 93°C (200°F).
The utilization factor of a cogeneration plant involving an electricity producing unit and an absorption cooling system may be
expressed as
Net power output + Rate of cooling delivered Ẇ net + Q̇cooling

εu = =
Total rate of heat input Q̇ in
(4-14)
If a cogeneration plant provides electricity, heat, and cooling at the same time (i.e., trigeneration), the utilization factor may be
expressed as
Net power output + Rate of heating + Rate of cooling

εu =
Total rate of heat input
Ẇ net + Q̇heating + Q̇cooling
=
Q̇in
(4-15)
This scheme with power production, heating, and cooling may represent the most efficient use of the fuel or resource, and a
high utilization factor is a measure of this.
Example
EXAMPLE 4-5 A Cogeneration Plant with Absorption Cooling
The net power output from a diesel engine–powered cogeneration plant is 4000 kW. The rate of fuel consumption is 34
lbm/min, and the air-fuel ratio is 40. The plant uses heavy diesel fuel with a lower heating value of 16,900 Btu/lbm. This is a
turbocharged engine, and the temperature of exhaust gases is 570°F (state 1). These gases are used to provide cooling to
an industrial facility by means of an absorption cooling system (Fig. 4-13). The absorption system has a COP of 0.9. The
exhaust gases leave the generator of the absorption system at 450°F (state 2). Determine (a) the rate of cooling provided
and (b) the utilization efficiency. Also, determine (c) the cost savings per year due to cooling provided by this absorption
system. Assume that the cooling would otherwise be provided by a conventional vapor-compression refrigeration system
with a COP of 2.2. Take the price of electricity to be $0.090/kWh and assume an annual operation time of 6000 hours. The
specific heat of exhaust gases can be taken as 0.25 Btu/lbm⋅°F.
Figure 4-13 A diesel engine cogeneration plant with absorption cooling system.
SOLUTION
a. The mass flow rate of exhaust gases is the sum of air and fuel flow rates. Then,
ṁair = AF × ṁfuel = (40)(34 lbm/min) = 1360 lbm/min
ṁexhaust = ṁair + ṁfuel = 34 + 1360 = 1394 lbm/min = 83,640 lbm/h
The rate of heat given up by the exhaust gases in the generator is
Q̇gen = ṁexhaustcp (T1 − T2) = (83,640 lbm/h)(0.25 Btu/lbm ⋅ °F)(570 − 450)°F = 2,509,200 Btu/h
The COP of the absorption system is given to be 0.9. The rate of cooling provided by this system is determined to be
Q̇cooling
COPabsorption =
Q̇gen
Q̇cooling = COPabsorptionQ̇gen = (0.9)(2,509,200 Btu/h) = 2,258,280 Btu/h ≅ 2,258,000 Btu/h
which is equivalent to 188.2 tons of cooling since 1 ton of cooling is defined as 12,000 Btu/h. The rate of heat input to
this cogeneration plant is determined from
Q̇in = ṁfuel × LHV = (34 × 60 lbm/h)(16,900 Btu/lbm) = 34,476,000 Btu/h
b. The utilization efficiency is
3412 Btu/h
Ẇ net + Q̇cooling (4000 kW) ( ) + 2,258,280 Btu/h
1 kW
εu = = = 0.461 = 46.1%
Q̇in 34,476,000 Btu/h
c. If the same cooling were provided by a conventional vapor-compression refrigeration system, the electricity
consumption rate would be
Q̇cooling Q̇cooling 2,258,280 Btu/h 1 kW

COP = → Ẇ electricity = = ( ) = 300.8 kW
Ẇ electricity COP 2.2 3412 Btu/h
The corresponding electricity consumption per year is
Electricity consumption = Ẇ electricity × Operating hours = (300.8 kW)(6000 h) = 1,805,000 kWh
The cost of this electricity is the cost savings associated with using exhaust gases from the engine for cooling:
Cost savings = Electricity consumption × Unit price of electricity

= (1,805,000 kWh)($0.09/kWh)
= $162,450 ≅ $162,500
That is, the facility saves $162,500 per year by the absorption cooling system that runs on exhaust gases from the diesel
engine.
Example
EXAMPLE 4-6 Comparison of Potential Revenues from Geothermal Energy for Various Uses
Compare potential revenues for three possible uses of a geothermal resource at 165°C that supplies water at a rate of 10
kg/s. Consider the following options under the specified conditions. The second and third options are cogeneration
applications.
1. Power generation by a binary geothermal power plant with a conversion efficiency of 12 percent. Geothermal water
enters at 165°C and leaves the plant at 90°C. Annual operating hours are 8000 hours. The unit price of electricity
generated is $0.10/kWh.
2. Power generation by a binary power plant with a conversion efficiency of 12 percent and space heating with a
conversion efficiency of 100 percent. Geothermal water enters the power plant at 165°C and leaves at 90°C. It enters the
heating system at 90°C and is discharged at 50°C. Annual operating hours are 8000 hours for power generation and
3000 hours for space heating. The unit price of heat supplied is $1.20/therm (1 therm = 105,500 kJ = 29.31 kWh).
3. Power generation by a binary power plant with a conversion efficiency of 12 percent and space cooling by an absorption
system that has a COP of 0.7. Geothermal water enters the power plant at 165°C and leaves at 115°C. It enters the
absorption system at 115°C and is discharged at 95°C. Annual operating hours are 8000 hours for power generation and
3000 hours for space cooling. The unit price of cooling provided is $0.05/kWh.
SOLUTION We provide the analysis for each option in Table 4-2.
Table 4-2 Potential Revenues from Geothermal Energy for Various Uses
Power generation + heating Power generation +

cooling
Parameter Geothermal Power Heating Power Cooling

power generation generation generation
Rate of geothermal water, ṁ 10 kg/s 10 kg/s 10 kg/s 10 kg/s 10 kg/s
Source temperature of geothermal brine, Ts 165°C 165°C 90°C 165°C 115°C
Discharge temperature of geothermal brine, Td 90°C 90°C 50°C 115°C 90°C
Rate of geothermal heat utilized, 3135 kW 3135 kW 1672 kW 2090 kW 1045 kW

Q̇u = ṁc p (T s − T d) where c p = 4.18 kJ/kg⋅°C
Annual operating period, Δt 8000 h 8000 h 3000 h 8000 h 3000 h
Amount of geothermal heat utilized, Qu = Q̇uΔt 2.51 × 107 kWh 2.51 × 107 5.02 × 106 kWh or 1.67 × 107 3.14 × 106
kWh 171,162 therm kWh kWh
Conversion efficiency, ηc 0.12 0.12 1.0 0.12 0.7
Amount of commodity (electricity, heating, or 3.01 × 106 kWh 3.01 × 106 171,162 therm 2.01 × 106 2.19 × 106
cooling) delivered, Ed = ηcQu kWh kWh kWh
Unit price of electricity, heat, and cooling, UP $0.10/kWh $0.10/kWh $1.20/therm $0.10/kWh $0.05/kWh
Potential revenue, PR = Ed × UP $300,960 $300,960 $205,395 $200,640 $109,725
Total potential revenue $301,000 $506,000 $310,000
The results show that using the same geothermal resource for a cogeneration application (power + heating) can provide
potential revenues of $506,000 per year compared to $301,000 when it is used for power generation only. A cogeneration
scheme involving power generation and absorption cooling can only provide potential revenues of $310,000, which is a little
higher than revenues by a power generation system. However, the temperature of geothermal water at the exit of the
absorption cooling system is still high (90°C), which makes it suitable for heating applications. Note that space heating
cannot be added to the space cooling in this trigeneration scheme since no space heating is needed when space cooling is
used in summer. A potential solution is to operate the cogeneration system with power generation and space heating in
winter and with power generation and space cooling in summer. When this is the case, the annual potential revenue
becomes PR = $301,000 (power) + $205,000 (heating) + 110,000 (cooling) = $616,000. The final values for total potential
revenues are rounded to three significant digits in Table 4-2, and a comparison of all four cases is shown in Fig. 4-14.
Figure 4-14 Comparison of potential revenues (in $) from geothermal energy for various uses.
Geothermal direct use applications such as district space heating and cooling are characterized by high initial costs.
Therefore, a life cycle cost analysis should be performed to investigate the feasibility of each cogeneration and
trigeneration option. A more detailed discussion on this example can be found in Kanoğlu and Çengel (1999b).
4-7. FUEL CELL COGENERATION

4-7. FUEL CELL COGENERATION
A cogeneration application can use a fuel cell as the prime mover. A fuel cell converts the chemical energy of a fuel directly into
electricity. There is no combustion, and thus higher conversion efficiencies compared to other combustion-based power
systems are possible. Fuel cells mostly consume hydrogen as the fuel, but other fuels such as natural gas and methanol may
also be used. Fuel cell–powered cogeneration systems are usually referred to as combined heat and power (CHP) fuel cell
systems, and they produce electricity and heat. Small-size units are used for homes and offices while large systems can be
used for industrial applications.
A micro CHP system is normally rated below 50 kW output. Micro CHP fuel cell systems with outputs of 1 kW to 5 kW are used
in homes. They mostly use natural gas and propane as the fuel. Waste heat is utilized for hot water and space heating. The
electricity and heat demand in a typical residential application vary throughout the day, reaching their highest values at peak
hours. Since these fuel cells normally produce a constant level of electricity, excess electricity needs to be sold back to the
utility grid to make the use of these systems financially more attractive. The initial costs of home CHP fuel cells are comparable
to those of solar photovoltaic systems for homes (LaMonica, 2011). In the U.S., incentives and rebates are available for home
fuel cells. The cost of producing a unit amount of electricity with a home CHP fuel cell is about $0.06/kWh when natural gas is
purchased for a price of $1.20/therm. This assumes full utilization of electricity and heat.
The temperature of waste heat from a fuel cell is generally low, and thus it is considered low-grade heat. Space heating and
water heating for residential uses are particularly suited for utilizing waste heat from a fuel cell. Phosphoric-acid fuel cells
(PAFC) are the most commonly used fuel cell type for cogeneration. Operating temperatures are between 150°C and 200°C for
PAFC. Molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are also used. These fuel cells are more suitable
for industrial cogeneration applications with significant steam production potential since operating temperatures are 600–
700°C for MCFC and 700–1000°C for SOFC. The fuel-to-electricity efficiency of fuel cells is between 40 and 60 percent. The
utilization efficiency of fuel cell cogeneration systems can reach up to 90 percent (DOE, 2011).
4-8. CONSIDERATIONS FOR COGENERATION APPLICATIONS

Selection, design, evaluation, and operation of cogeneration systems require solid fundamental knowledge and practical
experience on the subject. Here, we discuss some important considerations and criteria for various aspects of cogeneration
systems and applications. Much of the information in this section is based on the Georgia Cogeneration Handbook (1988), also
included in Thumann and Mehta (2008).
A cogeneration application should be both technically and economically feasible to receive a green light from the investor. A
cogeneration system may be considered for an industrial plant, a residential or commercial district, or a university campus.
Here we mainly consider an industrial plant, but the evaluation can easily be extended to other application sites.
4-8-1. Load Factor

A preliminary investigation of a proposed cogeneration application should start with the analysis of plant's energy use profile.
The upper and lower limits of electricity and heat use of the facility should be analyzed. An important parameter is the load
factor. Remember that the electric load factor is defined as the ratio of the average electricity demand (load) to the peak
demand of a facility over a certain time period. This period is usually taken to be a month in demand billing situations, but it is
more appropriate to define it on an annual basis for the preliminary evaluation of cogeneration projects.
The load factor is normally defined for electricity, but it can also be defined for heating. The ratio of the average heat demand to
the peak heat demand over a one-year period may be called the thermal load factor. The electric and thermal load factors may
be obtained by analyzing utility bills. In this analysis, the average electric demand is obtained from
Total electricity consumption (kWh)
Average electric demand (kW) =
Annual operating hours (h)
(4-16)
where the annual operating hours are normally taken to be 8760 h (24 h/day × 365 days/yr = 8760 h/yr). The peak demand may
be determined by examining the monthly utility bill. The maximum monthly electricity demand can be used as the peak demand.
Note that the utility may indicate a different peak demand value for billing purposes than the actual peak demand. The actual
peak demand over a year should be identified and used here. The electric load factor is determined from
Average electric demand (kW)

Electric load factor =
Peak electric demand (kW)
(4-17)
Thermal load factor can be determined similarly considering average and peak thermal demands. The average thermal demand
should be expressed by using useful heat supplied by the heating equipment rather than the heating values of fuel consumed.
This can be done by considering the boiler efficiency and the heating value of the fuel:
Average thermal demand (kJ/h)

ηboiler × Total fuel consumption (kg) × HHV (kJ/kg)
=
(4-18)
In English units,
Average thermal demand (Btu/h)

ηboiler × Total fuel consumption (lbm) × HHV (Btu/lbm)
=
(4-19)
Here, the boiler (steam generator) efficiency ηboiler is the ratio of the useful heat supplied by the boiler to the amount of heat
consumed by burning fuel. HHV is the higher heating value of the fuel. Again, the annual operating hours are taken to be 8760 h.
If the facility consumes more than one type of fuel (natural gas, coal, propane, fuel oil, etc.), the calculation for average thermal
demand should be repeated for each fuel and the total thermal demand should be calculated. The thermal demand can also be
expressed in the same unit as the electric demand noting that 1 kW = 3600 kJ/h = 3412 Btu/h.
The peak thermal demand may be calculated by using the maximum fuel consumption over a certain time period that has
occurred in the previous year. In the absence of accurate data, the maximum monthly fuel consumption can be used. Then the
thermal load factor is determined from
Average thermal demand (kJ/h)

Thermal load factor =
Peak thermal demand (kJ/h)
(4-20)
A higher electric load factor is preferred to minimize the demand charge by utility companies. A high load factor is also
preferred for cogeneration applications as it represents the greater use of installed capacity. A low load factor (say 0.40 or 40
percent) means that if the cogeneration electricity capacity is selected based on the peak demand, the system will supply on
average 40 percent of the installed capacity most of the time and close to full capacity for only a short period of time over a
year. A plant with high electric and thermal load factors is an ideal candidate for cogeneration applications. In this case,
oversizing of the system is avoided and the system will be utilized close to full capacity most of the time. This is likely to
provide good financial return for the investment. A plant with low electric and thermal load factors is not a good candidate for
cogeneration (Fig. 4-15).
Figure 4-15 A plant with high electric and thermal load factors is an ideal candidate for
cogeneration applications.
If the electric load factor is high and the thermal load factor is low, a cogeneration application can still be feasible provided that
additional heat demand can be supplied from a backup boiler. A plant may have a low thermal load factor when the boiler shuts
down during a certain season. This occurs when the boilers supplying space heat are shut down in summer. Similarly, if the
electric load factor is low and the thermal load factor is high, a cogeneration application can still be feasible provided that
additional electric demand can be purchased from the utility at a reasonable price. In this case, the voltage transformation and
associated equipment cost may have to be taken care of by the plant.
Cogeneration applications make more sense when the system produces a large amount of process and space heat to meet the
peak thermal demand while generating some amounts of electricity. In this case, the additional electricity need is purchased
from the utility. This makes more sense if the thermal load factor is high and electric load factor is low. A cogeneration system
can also be sized based on peak electric demand especially when the thermal load factor is low and electric load factor is high
(Fig. 4-16). A backup boiler is needed in this case. A lot of waste heat is generated during the periods of low thermal demand.
The possibility of selling excess electricity to a utility makes this design more attractive. When both electric and heat load
factors are high, the sizing of the system should be based on
peak electric demand if the use of a backup boiler is feasible.
peak thermal demand if selling surplus electricity to utility is feasible.
Figure 4-16 Sizing cogeneration system based on electric and thermal load factors.
The relative magnitudes of thermal demand and electric demand can be expressed by defining a thermal/electric load ratio as
Thermal demand (kW)

Thermal/electric load ratio =
Electric demand (kW)
(4-21)
This ratio changes throughout the year depending on the operating characteristics of the plant. It is desired that this ratio be
large most of the time on an annual basis. If the space heating boilers are shut down during summer months, this ratio
becomes small, and cogeneration becomes less attractive. A detailed analysis for the values of thermal/electric load ratio
together with the number of operating hours each ratio holds during a year can provide valuable information on the feasibility of
a proposed cogeneration project. Note that a high thermal/electric load ratio corresponds to a higher utilization factor for a
given cogeneration system.
The ratio of thermal demand to electric demand is commonly expressed in mbh/kW unit, where 1 mbh = 1000 Btu/h. If a facility
has a thermal/electric load ratio greater than 5 mbh/kW most of the time, it is a good candidate for cogeneration. If this ratio is
greater than 10 mbh/kW most of the time, it is an excellent candidate for cogeneration. If the ratio is less than 2 mbh/kW, the
facility is not a good candidate for cogeneration (Fig. 4-17). The thermal/electric load ratio can also be expressed in kW/kW
using the following unit conversions:
kW
Thermal/electric load ratio ( )
kW
mbh 1000 Btu/h 1 kW
= Thermal/electric load ratio ( )( )( )
kW 1 mbh 3412 Btu/h
or
Thermal/electric load ratio = 0.2931 × Thermal/electric load ratio (mbh/kW)
(4-22)
Figure 4-17 If a facility has a thermal/electric load ratio greater than 5 mbh/kW (or 1.5 kW/kW) most
of the time, it is a good candidate for cogeneration.
When the terms in the numerator and denominator have the same units, they cancel out. Therefore, it is better to express
thermal/electric load ratio as a dimensionless quantity using the same unit for thermal and electric demands. This way, the ratio
will be the same no matter which unit is used for the demand as long as both thermal and electric demands are expressed by
the same unit.
Note that a cogeneration project can still be feasible when the thermal/electric load ratio is low (less than 0.6). This is generally
the case for reciprocating engine cogeneration systems. These engines are preferred when the first priority of the plant is to
produce its own electricity, and the thermal demand can be met by the help of backup boilers most of the time. This
cogeneration scheme is particularly attractive when the electricity price from the utility is high while the fuel is available at a
relatively low price.
4-8-2. Operation of Cogeneration Systems

4-8-2. Operation of Cogeneration Systems
The operation of a cogeneration system should ideally follow the criteria used in sizing electric and thermal capacities. That is,
if the system is designed to meet the peak electric demand, it should be operated to produce as much electricity as needed in
the plant and provide the available waste heat for process heat. In this case, the plant does not buy any electricity from the
utility. A backup boiler is used when the thermal demand is not completely supplied by the cogeneration system. This mode of
operation is called electric dispatch. This operation makes the most sense if the electric load factor of the plant is high most of
the year. The plant should have a viable plan for obtaining required electricity when the cogeneration system fails or needs
maintenance. Buying electricity from the utility could be very expensive during these unscheduled periods.
If a cogeneration system is designed to meet the peak thermal demand, it is more proper to operate this system so that thermal
demand is satisfied at all times. Electricity should be produced as a second priority. This mode of operation is called thermal
dispatch. The plant is dependent on the utility for supplying additional electricity needs of the facility. Thermal dispatch
operation is particularly advantageous when the thermal/electric load ratio is high (greater than 1.5). Since a unit amount of
electricity is more expensive than a unit amount of heat when both are expressed in the same unit (say kWh), an electric
dispatch operation is likely to provide better financial return to the plant than the thermal dispatch operation when both the
electric and thermal demands are large.
Significant fluctuations in electricity demand can increase the demand charge by the utility. This charge can be minimized by
scheduling the operation of electrical equipment for off-peak times as much as possible. This is known as peak shaving. When
rescheduling of electrical equipment is not practical for production purposes, peak demand can be reduced by installing and
operating internal combustion engine generators in the facility. This way, electricity is generated in the facility by burning a
suitable fuel. Since these generators only produce electricity and waste the resulting heat, they should only be operated for
short periods of time. This measure is also called peak shaving, which is not considered a cogeneration application since only
one form of energy (electricity) is produced.
When neither electric dispatch nor thermal dispatch has a clear advantage, the cogeneration system can be operated based on
electric dispatch for certain times of the year and thermal dispatch at other times. This mode of operation is designed to
maximize savings by minimizing electricity and fuel costs. This is known as a hybrid strategy. It is particularly important to
operate the system on electric dispatch mode during peak electric demand periods. This is needed to reduce demand charges
by the utility. Both the purchase of electricity from the utility and the use of backup boilers are needed with a hybrid strategy.
Therefore, electric and thermal capacities are normally selected to be less than the peak electric and thermal demands. This
reduces investment costs while maximizing savings with hybrid operation.
4-8-3. Selection of Power Producing Unit

Correct selection of the power producing unit (also called prime mover) is one of the most important steps in a cogeneration
project. The selection is sometimes simple, depending on the specifics of location, fuel availability, and size of the unit, among
other conditions. In most cases, however, two or more prime movers might be candidates for selection and the selection must
satisfy the technical and financial requirements of the facility. Different prime movers have different fuel and maintenance
requirements, capacity limits, and suitable applications. Common prime movers are gas turbine, steam turbine, and
reciprocating internal combustion engine. A comparison of these prime movers is provided here to help in the selection
process.
4-8-3-1. Reciprocating internal combustion engines

4-8-3-1. Reciprocating internal combustion engines
Reciprocating engines can use light diesel fuel (also used in automobiles), heavy diesel fuel (also called fuel oil, and used with
large boilers), propane, and natural gas. Light diesel fuel and propane are expensive in most parts of the world, and thus are not
commonly used. Light diesel fuel, however, is used for small standby generators to supply electricity for emergencies. Fuel oil
is a relatively inexpensive product of a refinery process and is commonly used when natural gas is not available. Because
natural gas is generally less expensive than fuel oil, some reciprocating cogeneration systems burning fuel oil have been
converted to work with natural gas.
The maintenance requirements of reciprocating engines are high, particularly when fuel oil is burned. The emission
characteristics of these engines are not good, and special considerations and investment are needed to control the sulfur and
nitrous oxide emissions.
The capacity of reciprocating engines ranges between 50 kW and 3 MW for a single unit. Multiple units are used in a
cogeneration system to provide sufficient power. These engines are most suitable for relatively small cogeneration
applications with high electric and low thermal demands. The rate of steam that can be generated using the energy of exhaust
gases is limited. Additional heat is recovered to produce hot water. Reciprocating engines have higher thermal (fuel-to-
electricity) efficiencies than gas and steam turbines, with efficiencies approaching 50 percent. The utilization factor (fuel-to-
electricity/heat efficiency) is only a few percent higher than the thermal efficiency.
4-8-3-2. Gas turbines

Gas turbines mostly use natural gas as the fuel. Diesel fuel is only used as backup fuel. Gas turbines are very reliable, and they
require little maintenance. Dependence to the utility is minimal when these engines are used.
The capacity of a single gas turbine ranges between 500 kW and 30 MW. Therefore, they can be used for small-, medium-, or
large-capacity applications. The energy of exhausting combustion gases can be used to generate saturated steam at 150–
200°C (500–1500 kPa). Greater amounts of thermal energy with respect to electricity can be produced with gas turbines
compared to reciprocating engines when used in a cogeneration system. Thermal efficiencies of most gas turbines are around
30 percent. High utilization factors can be achieved when substantial amounts of thermal demand are satisfied. Gas turbine–
powered cogeneration is the most commonly used design for industrial plants.
4-8-3-3. Steam turbines

4-8-3-3. Steam turbines
Steam turbines are most flexible in terms of their fuel requirements. Fuel is burned in the boiler of a steam plant, and the boiler
can be designed to burn a variety of fuel such as coal, diesel, fuel oil, propane, natural gas, biofuels, and wood pellets. Coal is
the cheapest fuel in the world. The fuel cost of a cogeneration system can be minimized by using coal-burning steam turbine
units. Steam turbines are very reliable, and they require little maintenance.
Steam turbines are used for large-capacity cogeneration applications as the minimum capacity is about 1 MW. Steam turbines
allow for flexibility in adjusting the relative amounts of electricity and heat production. The thermal efficiency of steam power
plants utilizing very low pressures at the turbine outlet is about 30–45 percent. The steam temperature in this case is as low as
40°C with little or no thermal output potential. Steam can be withdrawn from the turbine at relatively high pressures (and
temperatures) to satisfy process heat requirements of the facility. In this case, however, the thermal efficiency is much lower.
This is justified if a high utilization factor is achieved in this mode of operation. Steam turbines can be a good choice when
cogeneration is used for large residential or commercial districts as well as large manufacturing facilities.
A combined cycle plant can also be used for large-scale cogeneration applications. The thermal efficiencies of combined cycle
power plants can reach 60 percent, and high values of utilization factors are possible.
A comparison of prime movers used in cogeneration applications is given inTable 4-3.
Table 4-3 A Comparison of Prime Movers Used in Cogeneration Applications
Reciprocating engine Gas turbine Steam turbine
Application Small- and medium-size plants Small, medium, and large Large plants, residential and commercial districts
plants
Capacity 50–3000 kW 500–30,000 kW > 1000 kW
Fuel Diesel, fuel oil, natural gas, Natural gas, diesel Coal, natural gas, Diesel, fuel oil, propane, biofuel,
propane pellet
Thermal efficiency Approaching 50% Around 30% 30–45% Combined cycle: 50–60%
Maintenance High Low Low

requirements
4-8-4. Economic Analysis

The decision to implement a cogeneration project is made after a detailed economic analysis. The annual cost savings due to
cogeneration and the payback period of this investment are most likely to be used by plant owners when making such a
decision. Sometimes a preliminary and simple cost analysis may indicate whether the project is feasible, not feasible, or
possibly feasible. Once this analysis indicates "feasible" or "possibly feasible," a more detailed technical and economic analysis
considering electric and thermal demand profiles over an entire year should be conducted. A simple economic evaluation of a
cogeneration project is given in Example 4-7.
Example
EXAMPLE 4-7 Economic Evaluation of a New Cogeneration Project
The utility bill of a facility shows that the facility used 5 million kWh of electricity and 300,000 therms of natural gas for
heating in the previous year. The efficiency of boilers providing process heat can be taken as 80 percent. The unit cost of
electricity and natural gas are $0.10/kWh and $1.00/therm, respectively. It is proposed to supply all of the electricity and
heat from a cogeneration system using a gas turbine as the prime mover. The gas turbine will burn natural gas and the
exhaust gases of the gas turbine will be used in a heat recovery heat exchanger to produce process heat. The thermal
efficiency of the gas turbine can be taken to be 30 percent. Assume that the plant consumes the same amount of electricity
and process heat after the installation of the cogeneration system, and that all electricity and heat are to be provided by the
cogeneration system.
a. Determine the annual cost savings from using cogeneration.
b. Determine the utilization factor of the cogeneration system.
c. Determine the simple payback period of this cogeneration project if the initial cost of the cogeneration system is
$750,000.
SOLUTION
a. The amount of money the plant spends on electricity and fuel prior to cogeneration is
Electricity cost = Electricity consumption × Unit cost of electricity

= (5 × 106 kWh)(0.10/kWh) = $500,000
Fuel cost = Fuel consumption × Unit cost of fuel
= (300,000 therm)($1.00/therm) = $300,000
Total cost = $500,000 + $300,000 = $800,000
Noting that the thermal efficiency of the gas turbine is 30 percent, the amount of fuel consumed by the gas turbine per
year is determined from the definition of thermal efficiency to be
5 × 106 kWh 3412 Btu

( ) = 5.687 × 1010 Btu
Wnet W
ηth = → Qin = net =
Qin ηth 0.30 1 kWh
This is equivalent to 568,700 therms of natural gas since 1 therm = 100,000 Btu. The cost of this fuel consumption is
Fuel cost = Fuel consumption × Unit cost of fuel

= (568,700 therm)($1.00/therm) = $568,700
The plant spent $800,000 for electricity and process heat before the cogeneration. The cost of fuel for producing
electricity and heat after cogeneration is $568,700. Therefore, the annual cost savings are
Cost savings = Cost before cogeneration − Cost after cogeneration

= $800,000 − $568,700 = $231,300
Thus, the cogeneration system will save the facility $231,300 per year.
b. The amount of process heat produced by the boilers prior to cogeneration is determined from the definition of boiler
efficiency to be
Qprocess
ηboiler =
Energy of fuel
Qprocess = ηboiler × Energy of fuel = (0.80)(300,000 therm) = 240,000 therm
This is the process heat output from the plant before and after cogeneration. The cogeneration system produces 5
million kWh of electricity and 240,000 therms of process heat while consuming 568,700 therms of natural gas.
Expressing every term in kWh, the utilization factor is determined to be
29.31 kWh
5 × 106 kWh + (240,000 therm) ( )
Wnet + Qprocess 1 therm
εu = =
Qin 29.31 kWh
(568,700 therm) ( )
1 therm
= 0.722 = 72.2%
Therefore, this cogeneration system converts 72.2% of fuel energy input to electricity or process heat, wasting the
remaining 27.8% of fuel energy input.
c. The simple payback period of this cogeneration project is
Initial cost $750,000

Payback period = = = 3.24 yr
Annual cost savings $231,300/yr
This cogeneration project will pay for itself in 3.24 years. This is optimistic since we assumed that all electricity and
heat are to be provided by the cogeneration system. In reality, the plant may have to buy some electricity from the utility
during peak demand periods, and this reduces the annual cost savings while increasing the payback period.
4-9. REFERENCES
4-9. REFERENCES
Abuşoğlu A and Kanoğlu M, First and Second Law Analysis of Diesel Engine Powered Cogeneration Systems, Energy
Conversion and Management, 49, 2026–2031, 2008.
Agnew B, Talbi M, and Mostafavi M, Combined Power and Cooling, an Analysis of the Combined Diesel Absorption Cycle,
Applied Thermal Engineering, 19, 1097–1105, 1999.
Benelmir R and Feidt M, Energy Cogeneration Systems and Energy Management Strategy,Energy Conversion and
Management, 39(16-18), 1791–1802, 1998.
Çengel YA, Boles MA, and Kanoğlu M, Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, 9th ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, 2019.
DOE. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fuel Cell Technologies Program, Comparison of Fuel
Cell Technologies, February 2011.
Energy Nexus Group, Technology Characterization: Reciprocating Engines, Environmental Protection Agency Climate
Protection Partnership Division, Washington, DC, 2002.
Georgia Cogeneration Handbook, Governor's Office of Energy Resources, August 1988.
Kanoğlu M and Çengel YA. Improving the Performance of an Existing Binary Geothermal Power Plant: A Case Study.
Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Energy Resources Technology, 121(3), 196–202, 1999a.
Kanoğlu M and Çengel YA, Economic Evaluation of Geothermal Power Generation, Heating, and Cooling, Energy, The
International Journal, 24(6), 501–509, 1999b.
Kartano J, Power Plant Business, Wartsila NSD, Finland, 2002.
LaMonica Martin, Clear Edge Touts Home Fuel Cells Over Solar Panels, CNET News, http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-
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Renedo CJ, Ortiz A, Manana M, Silio D, and Perez S, Study of Different Cogeneration Alternatives for a Spanish Hospital
Center, Energy and Buildings, 38, 484–490, 2006.
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4-10. PROBLEMS
WHY COGENERATION?
4-1 What is process heat? Which industries rely heavily on process heat? How is the process heat supplied in these
industries?
4-2 Consider a process-heating plant in which a fuel is burned in a boiler and resulting steam is used to supply process
heat. Steam is condensed after transferring its heat in the process heater and is pumped back to the boiler to complete the
cycle. How do you define the first law efficiency of this plant? What is the efficiency of this plant if you neglect the pump
work and boiler losses?
4-3 Consider a process-heating plant in which a fuel is burned in a boiler and resulting steam is used to supply process
heat. Steam is condensed after transferring its heat in the process heater and is pumped back to the boiler to complete the
cycle. How do you evaluate this process-heating plant from a first-law and second-law point of view?
4-4 What is cogeneration? What is trigeneration?
4-5 What cycles are used as power cycles in a cogeneration plant? Which ones are most common?
4-6 What is the advantage of cogeneration compared to separate electrical and process heat systems?
4-7 What are a topping cycle and a bottoming cycle? Which one is more commonly used? For which applications are they
more suitable?
4-8 Which industry does not heavily rely on process heat?
a. Paper
b. Food
c. Electronics
d. Textile
e. Oil refining
4-9 For which industry does cogeneration make the most sense?
a. An industry consuming large amounts of process heat and electricity
b. An industry consuming large amounts of process heat and a small amount of electricity
c. An industry consuming large amounts of cooling and electricity
d. An industry consuming large amounts of cooling and small amounts of electricity
e. An industry consuming large amounts of electricity and small amounts of cooling
4-10 Which one cannot be used as the power producing system in a cogeneration plant?
a. Gas turbine
b. Steam turbine
c. Wind turbine
d. Geothermal plant
e. Internal combustion engine
STEAM-TURBINE COGENERATION
4-11 How do you define the efficiency of a power plant? What is it called? Can this efficiency be 100 percent?
4-12 How do you define the efficiency of a cogeneration plant? What is it called? What is the efficiency of an ideal steam-
turbine cogeneration plant?
4-13 Define the utilization factor of a cogeneration plant based on the higher heating value of the fuel.
4-14 Engineer A claims that the utilization factor of a cogeneration plant can be equal to 100 percent. Engineer B
disagrees, saying that this efficiency cannot be 100 percent because of the limitation imposed by the second law of
thermodynamics. Which engineer is right? Explain.
4-15 Consider two steam-turbine cogeneration plants, plant A and plant B. The rate of heat input and the utilization factor
are the same in each plant. Plant A has an electricity-to-heat ratio of 2, while plant B has an electricity-to-heat ratio of 1.
Which plant has a higher thermal efficiency? Which plant is more likely to be more profitable?
4-16 A steam-turbine cogeneration plant produces 60 MW of electricity and provides 10 MW of process heat. If the rate of
heat input to the plant is 155 MW, determine the utilization factor and thermal efficiency of this plant.
4-17 Consider a cogeneration plant with a thermal efficiency of 35 percent. If the electricity-to-heat ratio is 3, what is the
utilization factor of this cogeneration plant?
4-18 A cogeneration plant has a utilization factor of 60 percent and a thermal efficiency of 15 percent. What is the
electricity-to-heat ratio of this plant?
4-19 A natural–gas fueled, steam-turbine cogeneration plant produces 150 MW of electricity and provides 50 MW of
process heat. If the boiler consumes natural gas at a rate of 265 therm/min (1 therm = 100,000 Btu = 105,500 kJ), determine
the utilization factor and thermal efficiency of this plant based on the heating value of natural gas consumed.
4-20 A coal-burning combined cycle cogeneration plant produces 300 MW of electricity and provides 75 MW of process
heat. The coal has a heating value of 24,000 kJ/kg and is consumed in the boiler at a rate of 76 ton/h.
a. Determine the utilization factor of this plant based on the heating value of coal.
b. If the unit cost of coal is $0.3/kg, determine the specific fuel consumption per unit output (electricity or heat), in kg
coal/kWh and the specific fuel cost, in $/kWh.
4-21 A cogeneration plant produces 4000 kW of electricity and provides 2.3 × 107 Btu/h of process heat. The plant sells
the electricity and process heat at $0.09/kWh and $12.5/106 Btu, respectively. How much money does the plant make if it
operates 8000 hours a year? Does the plant make more money by selling electricity or process heat?
4-22 In order to meet the process heat demand of a manufacturing facility, an existing steam power plant producing a net
power output of 20,000 kW is modified. This is done by routing some steam from the turbine at an intermediate pressure for
a process-heating unit. As a result, 5000 kW of process heat is supplied, but the power output drops to 18,000 kW while the
rate of heat input in the boiler remains unchanged.
a. Determine if this modification provides any monetary benefit. Determine annual monetary benefit (or loss) if the annual
operating hours are 6000 h. Take the price of electricity and process heat to be $0.105/kWh and $0.011/MJ,
respectively.
b. Determine the thermal efficiency of the steam power plant before the addition of the process-heating unit and the
utilization factor of the cogeneration plant if the rate of heat input in the plant is 63,000 kW.
4-23 A manufacturing facility requires 3 kg/s of saturated steam at 1 MPa, which is extracted from the turbine of a
cogeneration plant (see Fig. P4-23). Steam enters the turbine at 4 MPa and 450°C at a rate of 9 kg/s and leaves at 10 kPa.
The extracted steam leaves the process heater as a saturated liquid and mixes with the feedwater at constant pressure. The
mixture is pumped to the boiler pressure. Assuming an isentropic efficiency of 83 percent for both the turbine and the
pumps, determine (a) the rate of process heat supply, (b) the net power output, and (c) the utilization factor of the plant and
the electricity-to-heat ratio.
Figure P4-23
4-24 Consider a steam-turbine cogeneration plant as shown in Fig. P4-24. Steam leaves the boiler at 6 MPa and 600°C at a
rate of 20 kg/s. The pressure of steam in the process heater is 1.5 MPa, and that in the condenser is 10 kPa. The isentropic
efficiency of the turbine is 85 percent, and that of the pumps is 90 percent. Determine the net power output, the rate of
process heat, and the utilization factor for the following three modes of operation:
a. No process heating is needed, and all steam available at the boiler outlet is used for power generation.
b. Maximum process heating is provided, and no power is generated.
c. The operation is adjusted such that the plant generates equal rates of electricity and process heat. In this operation, the
steam for process heating is taken entirely from the turbine.
d. Compare the monetary value of each mode, taking the price of electricity and process heat to be $0.1/kWh and
$0.05/kWh, respectively.
Figure P4-24
4-25 The first-law efficiency of a cogeneration plant is expressed by
a. Thermal efficiency
b. Utilization factor
c. Effectiveness
d. Coefficient of performance
e. Process efficiency
4-26 Consider a steam-turbine cogeneration plant. The rate of heat input to the boiler is 100 kW, the power generated is 30
kW, and the rate of process heat supplied is 50 kW. What is the utilization factor of this plant?
a. 20%
b. 30%
c. 50%
d. 80%
e. 100%
kW, and the rate of heat rejected in the condenser is 40 kW. What is the utilization factor of this plant?
a. 100%
b. 75%
c. 60%
d. 40%
e. 35%
kW, and the rate of heat rejected in the condenser is 40 kW. What is the thermal efficiency?
a. 100%
b. 75%
c. 60%
d. 40%
e. 35%
kW, and the rate of heat rejected in the condenser is 40 kW. What is the electricity-to-heat ratio?
a. 1.4
b. 1.14
c. 1.5
d. 2.5
e. 0.4
GAS-TURBINE COGENERATION
4-30 How do you compare actual thermal efficiencies of steam power plants and gas-turbine power plants? Explain.
4-31 How do you compare the temperature of waste heat in steam-turbine and gas-turbine power plants?
4-32 What are the advantages of gas-turbine cogeneration compared to steam-turbine cogeneration?
4-33 A gas-turbine plant produces 4000 kW of electricity. Now, a process heater, which uses the heat of exhaust gases
leaving the turbine, is incorporated into the plant. The exhaust gases enter the process heater at 550°F at a rate of 165,000
lbm/h and leave at 400°F. The rate of heat input in the combustion chamber of the plant is 4.7 × 107 Btu/h. Use the air
properties for exhaust gases, and determine the rate of process heating provided in Btu/h, the utilization factor, and the
electricity-to-heat ratio of the plant.
4-34 An industrial facility uses a gas turbine to produce 8000 kW of electricity and a coal-burning boiler with an efficiency
of 75 percent to produce its 2000-kW process heating needs. It is proposed to generate this process heat by using the heat
of exhaust gases leaving the gas turbine. How much will the facility save in coal costs per year with this measure? The unit
price of coal is $0.3/kg and its heating value is 31,000 kJ/kg. Assume an annual operating period of 6500 h.
4-35 The waste heat of a gas-turbine plant is to be used to provide space heating to a residential district. Hot water is
supplied to the district at 95°C at a rate of 18 kg/s and returns to the plant at 65°C. The gas turbine generates a net power of
11,000 kW while consuming natural gas in the combustion chamber at a rate of 67 m3 /min. The heating value of natural gas
is 34,500 kJ/m3 . Determine the rate of space heating provided to the district and the utilization factor of this plant.
4-36 A food plant uses 120 kW of process heat provided by electric resistance heaters. The plant makes an investment of
$120,000 to obtain this process heat from the exhaust gases of an existing gas-turbine plant. How long will it take for this
investment to pay for itself from the electricity it saves? The unit price of electricity is $0.085/kWh. The cogeneration plant
operates 90 percent of the time throughout the year.
4-37 A gas-turbine power plant in a facility operates on a pressure ratio of 7. Air enters the compressor at 100 kPa and
27°C at a rate of 32 kg/s and the combustion gases enter the turbine at 827°C. Take the isentropic efficiencies of the
compressor and turbine to be 85 percent. Neglect the mass flow rate of fuel entering the combustion chamber—that is,
assume the same mass flow rate at the exits of the compressor and combustion chamber. Use the air properties at room
temperature for air and combustion gases: cp = 1.005 kJ/kg⋅K and k = 1.4.
a. Determine the net power output from the plant and the thermal efficiency.
b. Now, the combustion gases leaving the turbine are to be used to produce saturated steam at 170°C in a heat exchanger,
as shown in Fig. P4-37. Steam is used for process heating in this facility and returns to the heat exchanger at the same
temperature as a saturated liquid. Combustion gases are discharged from the heat exchanger at 210°C. Determine the
rate at which steam is produced from the heat exchanger and the utilization factor of this cogeneration plant.
Figure P4-37
4-38 The typical waste heat temperatures in steam-turbine and gas-turbine power plants, respectively, are
a. 200°C, 400°C
b. 50°C, 350°C
c. 400°C, 200°C
d. 400°C, 60°C
e. 80°C, 150°C
4-39 Which one is not an advantage of gas-turbine cogeneration compared to steam-turbine cogeneration?
a. Simpler and easier to operate
b. Higher electricity-to-heat ratio
c. Quicker to install
d. More potential for process heat
e. None of these
DIESEL-ENGINE COGENERATION
4-40 Why is a compression ignition engine preferred over spark ignition engines in cogeneration applications?
4-41 For which applications are large diesel-engine cogeneration better suited than gas-turbine and steam-turbine
cogeneration?
4-42 List four sources of usable waste heat from a reciprocating engine.
4-43 A diesel-engine cogeneration plant produces 1750 kW of electricity and 21,000 kJ/min of process heat while
consuming diesel fuel at a rate of 505 L/h. The lower heating value of diesel fuel is 36,100 kJ/L. Determine the thermal
efficiency of the diesel engine and the utilization factor of the cogeneration plant.
4-44 A compression-ignition cogeneration plant produces 3250 kW of electricity and 2.93 × 106 Btu/h of process heat
while consuming fuel oil at a rate of 525 gal/h. The lower heating value of fuel oil is 58,800 Btu/gal and its price is
$3.20/gal.
a. Determine the thermal efficiency of the diesel engine, the utilization factor of the cogeneration plant, and the electricity-
to-heat ratio.
b. Determine the specific fuel consumption (in gal fuel oil/therm output) and the specific fuel cost (in $/therm output). Here
output refers to electricity and process heat produced by the plant.
4-45 The exhaust gases leaving an internal combustion engine at 450°C at a rate of 5.2 kg/s (state 1) are to be used to
generate saturated steam at 200°C (state 4), as shown in Fig. P4-45. The steam is used for process heating and returns to
the system as a saturated liquid at the same pressure (state 3). The exhaust gases leave the process heater at 250°C (state
2). The engine produces 3400 kW of electricity, and the rate of heat input in the combustion chamber of the engine is 8300
kW.
a. Use the air properties for exhaust gases, and determine the rate at which steam is produced, the utilization factor, and
the electricity-to-heat ratio of the plant.
b. If the electricity and process heat are sold at $0.075/kWh and $0.032/kWh, respectively, determine the revenues
generated by selling electricity and process heat per year for an annual operating period of 8250 h.
Figure P4-45
4-46 Which one is not a source of usable waste heat from a reciprocating engine?
a. Exhaust gas
b. Engine jacket cooling water
c. Lube oil cooling water
d. Pumping fluid
e. Turbocharger intercooling fluid
4-47 Which power producing system has the highest thermal efficiency among simple cycle power generation options?
a. Steam turbine
b. Gas turbine
c. Diesel engine
d. Gasoline engine
e. Geothermal plant
4-48 Consider a diesel-engine cogeneration system with a thermal efficiency of 40 percent. If the electricity-to-heat ratio is
4, what is the utilization factor of this cogeneration plant?
a. 40%
b. 44%
c. 50%
d. 56%
e. 100%
4-49 Consider a diesel-engine cogeneration system with a thermal efficiency of 30 percent and a utilization factor of 40
percent. What is the electricity-to-heat ratio of this plant?
a. 2.0
b. 3.0
c. 3.8
d. 4.5
e. 5.0
GEOTHERMAL COGENERATION
4-50 What are the common geothermal power producing cycles?
4-51 Can a wind turbine be used as the power producing system of a cogeneration plant? Explain.
4-52 Geothermal water enters a single-flash geothermal power plant at 230°C as a saturated liquid at a rate of 50 kg/s
(state 1), as shown in Fig. P4-52. It is flashed (throttled) to a pressure of 500 kPa, during which enthalpy remains constant.
The resulting vapor (state 3) is directed to a steam turbine and is expanded to a condenser pressure of 50 kPa (state 4). The
isentropic efficiency of the turbine is 82 percent. The liquid separated from vapor in the flash chamber (state 6) is normally
reinjected back to the ground. It is proposed to use this water for space heating of commercial buildings in winter. This is
done by routing geothermal water to a heat exchanger in which the heat of geothermal water is transferred to fresh water.
The heated fresh water circulates in the buildings for space heating. Geothermal water leaves the heat exchanger at 90°C.
a. Determine the power produced and the rate of space heating.
b. Determine the thermal efficiency of the geothermal power plant and the utilization factor of the cogeneration plant.
Figure P4-52
4-53 Reconsider Prob. 4-52. The price of electricity and space heating are $0.07/kWh and $0.9/therm (1 therm = 105,500
kJ), respectively.
a. Determine the annual potential revenues from selling electricity and space heating. Assume an annual period of 8500 h
for electricity production and 3000 h for space heating.
b. Assume that all geothermal water is used for space heating during winter, and no electricity is generated. In this mode,
geothermal water enters the heat exchanger at 230°C as a saturated liquid at a rate of 50 kg/s and leaves at 90°C. In
non-winter times, geothermal water is only used to generate electricity. Assume an annual period of 3000 h for space
heating and 5500 h for electricity production. Determine the total potential revenue and compare it to the revenue
calculated in part (a).
4-54 Consider a binary geothermal cogeneration plant like that in Fig. P4-54 using geothermal water at 150°C with
isobutane as the working fluid. The mass flow rate of geothermal water is 190 kg/s and the net power output is 6.5 MW. It is
determined that geothermal water leaves the plant at 85°C (state 6) and leaves the heater at 70°C (state 7). The liquid water,
heated to 75°C (state 9), is used for space heating and returns to the cogeneration plant at 50°C (state 8).
a. Determine the rate of space heating provided by the system and the mass flow rate of water used for space heating.
b. Determine the utilization factor and the thermal efficiency.
Figure P4-54
4-55 Reconsider Prob. 4-54. The space heating provided by this cogeneration plant will replace natural gas heating. How
much money does this plant make by selling geothermal heat at a discount rate of 20 percent with respect to natural gas?
The efficiency of a natural gas furnace is 85 percent, and the price of natural gas is $1.20/therm (1 therm = 105,500 kJ).
Assume a winter operation period of 3200 h.
4-56 Which one cannot be used as the power producing system in a renewable-based cogeneration plant?
a. Biomass plant
b. Geothermal plant
c. Solar thermal plant
d. Solar photovoltaic plant
e. Hydroelectric power plant
4-57 A geothermal cogeneration plant produces 10 MW of electricity and supplies 2 MW of district heating. If the energy
input to the plant is 80 MW, the utilization factor of this plant is
a. 0.125
b. 0.15
c. 0.20
d. 0.025
e. 1.0
ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION
4-58 What drives an absorption system? Give some examples.
4-59 What is the most common system for absorption refrigeration? What are the other systems? Which system is
recommended if the minimum temperature is below 0°C (32°F)?
4-60 What is the main advantage of absorption cooling systems compared to conventional vapor-compression systems?
4-61 What are the disadvantages of absorption refrigeration systems? Are they suitable for small-scale applications?
4-62 How is the coefficient of performance of an absorption refrigeration system defined?
4-63 Can the COP of an absorption refrigeration system be greater than 1? Can it be smaller than 1?
4-64 An absorption refrigeration system provides 15 kW of cooling by receiving heat in the generator at a rate of 21 kW.
What is the COP of this system?
4-65 A diesel-engine cogeneration plant generates 18,000 kW of electricity and 900 tons of refrigeration (1 ton = 12,000
Btu/h) by an absorption system. The engine consumes fuel oil at a rate of 2.54 lbm/s, and the lower heating value of fuel oil
is 19,600 Btu/lbm.
a. Determine the utilization factor of this cogeneration plant.
b. If the COP of the absorption refrigeration system is 0.7, determine the rate of heat input to its generator, in Btu/h.
4-66 An absorption refrigeration system is powered by a geothermal power plant, whose net power output is 5000 kW and
whose thermal efficiency is 8 percent. Geothermal water enters the power plant at 180°C as a liquid and leaves the plant at
120°C. It then enters the generator of the absorption cooling system and leaves at 100°C. The COP of the absorption cooling
system is 0.75.
a. Determine the mass flow rate of geothermal water, the rate of cooling provided by the absorption cooling system, and
the utilization factor of this cogeneration plant.
b. The absorption cooling system is replacing a conventional vapor-compression system whose COP is 2.5. The price of
absorption cooling is 20 percent less than the price of conventional cooling. The unit price of electricity is $0.085/kWh.
Determine the revenues generated by selling electricity and absorption cooling. The power plant operates 8200 h a year,
but the cooling is supplied for 4000 h a year.
4-67 The net power output from a gas-turbine cogeneration plant is 8000 kW (see Fig. P4-67). The rate of fuel
consumption is 0.52 kg/s and the air-fuel ratio is 30. The plant uses natural gas with a higher heating value of 55,530 kJ/kg.
The temperature of exhaust gases is 340°C (state 1). These gases are used to provide cooling to an industrial facility by
means of an absorption cooling system. The absorption system has a COP of 0.65. The exhaust gases leave the generator
of the absorption system at 270°C (state 2). Determine (a) the rate of cooling provided and (b) the utilization factor. Also,
determine (c) the cost savings per year due to cooling provided by this absorption system. Assume that the cooling would
otherwise be provided by a conventional vapor-compression refrigeration system with a COP of 1.6. Take the price of
electricity to be $0.105/kWh and assume an annual operation time of 5500 h. The specific heat of exhaust gases can be
taken to be 1.05 kJ/kg⋅°C.
Figure P4-67
4-68 A trigeneration plant produces 25 MW of electricity, 12 MW of process heat, and 9 MW of cooling. If the rate of heat
input to the plant is 66 MW, determine the utilization factor of this plant.
4-69 A trigeneration plant produces 180 kW of electricity, 780,000 Btu/h of process heat, and 80 tons of cooling. If the rate
of heat input to the plant is 2,700,000 Btu/h, determine the utilization factor of this plant.
4-70 A trigeneration plant produces 2.5 MW of electricity, 1.8 MW of process heat, and 1.4 MW of cooling. Electricity is
produced for a period of 7500 h, heating for 2500 h, and cooling for 2000 h per year. The plant consumes a total of 5500
tons of coal a year, and the heating value of coal is 25,000 kJ/kg. Determine the annual average utilization factor of this
plant.
4-71 Which one is not a component of an absorption refrigeration system?
a. Compressor
b. Evaporator
c. Condenser
d. Generator
e. Expansion valve
4-72 Which statement is not correct for absorption refrigeration systems?
a. The COP can be greater than 1.
b. The COP can be smaller than 1.
c. The pump work is negligible.
d. They are more suitable for small-scale applications.
e. They are heat-driven systems.
4-73 An absorption refrigeration system provides 24 kW of cooling while receiving 18 kW of solar heat input. The COP of
this system is
a. 0.5
b. 0.75
c. 1.0
d. 1.33
e. 4.0
4-74 A cogeneration plant produces 2 MW of electricity and supplies 500 kW of cooling with a heat input of 4000 kW. The
utilization factor of this plant is
a. 0.125
b. 0.375
c. 0.50
d. 0.625
e. 1.6
CONSIDERATIONS FOR COGENERATION APPLICATIONS
4-75 Define electric load factor and thermal load factor for a facility.
4-76 Why are high electric and thermal load factors preferred for cogeneration?
4-77 How do you size a cogeneration system depending on the values of electric and thermal load factors? Explain.
4-78 What is the difference between electric dispatch and thermal dispatch?
4-79 What is peak shaving? Why is it done? Is it a cogeneration scheme?
4-80 Compare the capacity limits of common prime movers used in cogeneration applications.
3
4-81 The utility bill of a facility shows that the facility used 3 million kWh of electricity and 450,000 m3 of natural gas for
heating in the previous year. The efficiency of boilers providing process heat can be taken as 85 percent. The unit cost of
electricity and natural gas are $0.16/kWh and $0.60/m3 , respectively. It is proposed to supply all of the electricity and heat
from a cogeneration system using a gas turbine as the prime mover. The gas turbine will burn natural gas, and the exhaust
gases of the gas turbine will be used in a heat recovery heat exchanger to produce process heat. The heating value of
natural gas is 34,500 kJ/m3 . Take the thermal efficiency of the gas turbine to be 33 percent. Assume that the plant
consumes the same amount of electricity and process heat after the installation of the cogeneration system, and that all
electricity and heat are to be provided by the cogeneration system.
$400,000.
4-82 A steam turbine–powered cogeneration system burning coal is to be installed in a large manufacturing plant to
provide 10 million kWh of electricity and 3.4 × 1010 Btu of heat per year. The average thermal efficiency of the steam turbine
is estimated to be 25 percent. The plant currently buys its electricity from the utility at a price of $0.14/kWh and produces
heat using natural gas boilers with an average efficiency of 83 percent. The unit costs of natural gas and coal are $9/106
Btu and $0.1/lbm, respectively. The heating value of coal is 12,000 Btu/lbm. Assume that all entire electricity and heat are to
be provided by the cogeneration system.
$1,600,000.
4-83 Which plant is the best candidate for cogeneration given the following values for electric load factor (ELF) and
thermal load factor (TLF)?
a. ELF = 0.90, TLF = 0.90
b. ELF = 0.90, TLF = 0.30
c. ELF = 0.30, TLF = 0.90
d. ELF = 0.30, TLF = 0.30
e. ELF = 0.50, TLF = 0.50
4-84 When the thermal load factor is high and the electric load factor is low, the sizing of a cogeneration system should be
based on
a. Average heat demand
b. Average electric demand
c. Peak heat demand
d. Peak electric demand
e. None of these
4-85 Which operating strategy is preferred for a cogeneration system when the thermal/electric load ratio is high for the
plant?
a. Electric dispatch
b. Thermal dispatch
c. Peak shaving
d. Hybrid strategy
e. None of these
4-86 Which prime mover is particularly suitable for relatively small cogeneration applications with high electric and low
thermal demands?
a. Combined cycle
b. Steam turbine
c. Gas turbine
d. Reciprocating engine
e. Geothermal plant
4-87 Which prime mover typically has the highest thermal (fuel-to-electricity) efficiency?
a. Combined cycle
b. Steam turbine
c. Gas turbine
e. Geothermal plant
4-88 Which prime mover is most flexible in terms of its fuel requirements and suitable for large-capacity applications?
a. Solar thermal plant
b. Steam turbine
c. Gas turbine
e. Geothermal plant

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Source: Energy Efficiency and Management for Engineers, 1st Edition

4-1. WHY COGENERATION?

Figure 4-1 A simple process-heating plant.

4-1-1. Cogeneration Schemes

Figure 4-2 Topping and bottoming cycles.

4-2. STEAM-TURBINE COGENERATION

Figure 4-3 An ideal cogeneration plant.

Net power output + Process heat delivered Ẇ net + Q̇process

Net power output Ẇ net

Q̇in = ṁ3(h4 − h3)

Q̇out = ṁ7(h7 − h1)

Q̇process = ṁ5h5 + ṁ6h6 − ṁ8h8

Ẇ turbine = (ṁ4 − ṁ5)(h4 − h6) + ṁ7(h6 − h7)

EXAMPLE 4-1 A Steam Power Plant with Process Heating

Figure 4-5 The cogeneration plant considered in Example 4-1.

h1 = hf@ 20kPa = 251.42 kJ/kg

v1(P2 − P1) (0.001017 m3/kg)(2000 − 20 kPa) 1 kJ

The enthalpies at states 2 and 3 are

h2 = h1 + wpump I,in = 251.42 + 2.29 = 253.71 kJ/kg

ṁ3h3 + ṁ2h2 = ṁ4h4

Then, the enthalpy at state 5 is obtained:

v4 ≅ vf@ hf= 491.81kJ/kg = 0.001058 m3/kg

The enthalpy and entropy at state 6 are

P6 = 8 MPa h6 = 3399.5 kJ/kg

The enthalpy at state 7 for the isentropic expansion process is

Ẇ turb,out = ṁ7(h6 − h7) + ṁ8(h6 − h8)

Q̇in = ṁ5(h6 − h5) = (11 kg/s)(3399.5 − 499.02)kJ/kg = 31,905 kW

The net power in this case is determined from

Ẇ turb,out = ṁ6(h6 − h8) = (11 kg/s)(3399.5 − 2357.6) kJ/kg = 11,461 kW

4-3. GAS-TURBINE COGENERATION

Figure 4-6 A gas-turbine engine.

EXAMPLE 4-2 A Gas-Turbine Cogeneration Plant

h2s − h1 cp (T2s − T1) T − T1

The mass flow rate through the cycle is

Ẇ net 7000 kJ/s

b. The rate heat input in the combustion chamber is

The thermal efficiency is

h6 = 632.18 kJ/kg and h7 = 2792.0 kJ/kg

The rate at which steam is produced in this heat exchanger is

Q̇process = ṁsteam(h7 − h6)

d. The utilization efficiency of this cogeneration plant is

Ẇ net + Q̇process 7000 kW + 5186 kW

Its cost per unit time is

Then the cost of producing 1 kWh of electricity becomes

Cost rate of fuel consumed $0.2424/s 3600 kJ

Q̇process × Operating hours

where the annual operating hours are

Operating hours = 40 weeks/yr × 7 days/week × 16 h/day = 4480 h/yr

Cost savings = Fuel savings × Unit price of natural gas

The amount of natural gas consumption in the combustion chamber is

The corresponding cost of this natural gas consumption is

Cost of natural gas = Fuel consumption × Unit price of natural gas

Cost savings $1,057,000/yr

4-4. DIESEL-ENGINE COGENERATION

1 Air 1.00 30.0 17 Water 8.00 170

2 Air 2.90 172 18 Water 4.70 60.0

3 Air 2.80 53.7 19 Water 4.60 50.0

4 Fuel oil 4.30 81.0 20 HT water 3.10 71.7

5 Fuel oil 5.10 137.5 21 HT water 3.00 81.0

6 Exhaust 2.40 451 22 HT water 2.80 88.0

7 Exhaust 0.80 302 23 LT water 3.10 38.4

8 Exhaust 0.75 247 24 LT water 3.00 44.9

9 Exhaust 1.190 53.7 25 LT water 2.90 50.3