COMBINE HEAT AND POWER(CHP)

Combine heat and power other wise known as Cogeneration is the use
of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both
electricity and useful heat. It is one of the most common forms of
energy recycling

Conventional power plants emit the heat created as a by-product of

electricity generation into the natural environment through cooling
towers, flue gas , or by other means

By contrast CHP captures the by-product (heat) for domestic or

industrial heating purposes

Cogeneration is a thermodynamically efficient use of fuel.

In separate production of electricity some energy must be rejected as

waste heat, but in cogeneration this thermal energy is put to good use.
General overview

Thermal power plants and heat engines in general, do not convert all
of their thermal energy into electricity. In most heat engines, a bit
more than half is lost as excess heat .

By capturing the excess heat, CHP uses heat that would be wasted in a
conventional power plant, potentially reaching an efficiency of up to
89%, compared with 55% for the best conventional plants.

This means that less fuel needs to be consumed to produce the same
amount of useful energy

CHP is most efficient when the heat can be used on site or very close
to it.

Overall efficiency is reduced when the heat must be transported over

longer distances.

This requires heavily insulated pipes, which are expensive and
inefficient;

whereas electricity can be transmitted along a comparatively simple

wire, and over much longer distances for the same energy loss.

A car engine becomes a CHP plant in winter, when the reject heat is
useful for warming the interior of the vehicle.

Cogeneration plants are commonly found in district heating systems

of cities, hospitals, prisons, oil refineries, paper mills, wastewater
treatment plants, thermal enhanced oil recovery wells and industrial
plants with large heating needs.
Comparism of Efficiency Between Conventional and CHP Power Plant

A
The Working Principle of a Gas Fired CHP

(1) Biogas or natural gas is burned in a combustion chamber

(2) This produces a flow of hot gas that drives a turbine which is coupled
to generator producing electricity.

(3) The exhaust gas is then captured using a heat recovery boiler

(4) The boiler provides space and water heating for local building

(5) Excess low grade heat is also captured to drive a steam turbine-
producing yet more electricity

(6) Some of the heat could also drive an abortion chiller, producing cold
air for air condition
Simple Cogeneration principle
Types of CHP

The actual efficiency of a CHP plant depends on how well it supplies

the heat it produces

Since the heat is generally carried as hot water, the efficiency is

greatest when the power plant is closest to the buildings it's serving.

In other words, CHP works best as a decentralized form of energy

supply with more and smaller power plants built very close to local
communities.

Cutting the distance between power plants and consumers also makes
travel down shorter the electricity supply is more efficient, less
energy is lost due to resistance

Taking decentralization to its logical conclusion, it can even work out
efficient for offices, schools, hotels, and homes to have their own mini or
micro CHP power plant producing their electricity and hot water where it
is consumed and sending any unwanted electricity to the power grid for
other people.

(1) MicroCHP

The installation is usually less than 5 kWe in a house or small business.

Instead of burning fuel to merely heat space or water, some of the

energy is converted to electricity in addition to heat

This electricity can be used within the home or business or, if

permitted by the grid management, sold back into the electric power grid
MiniCHP

The installation is usually more than 5 kWe and less than 500 kWe in
a building or medium sized business.

It is best for where building occupation or process activities are

extended or continuous in operation such as hospitals, prisons,
manufacturing processes, swimming pools, airports, hotels, apartment
blocks, etc.
CHP Technologies

Micro- and MiniCHP installations use five different technologies:

(1)Micro turbines ,
(2) internal combustion engines,
(5) stirling engines
(4) closed cycle steam engines
(5) fuel cells.

It is indicated that Micro CHP based on Stirling engines is the most
cost effective of the so called micro generation technologies in abating
carbon emissions

MiniCHP has a large role to play in the field of CO2 reduction from
buildings where more than 14% of emissions can be using CHP in a
buildings
Advantages of CHP
(i) It is highly efficient

(ii) Every tonne of fossil fuel we avoid burning stops carbon dioxide
from entering the atmosphere and reducing the problem of global
warming.

(iii) Burning fewer fossil fuels also reduces air pollution and related
problems such as water pollution and acid rain.

(iv) Replacing huge power plants with more CHP plants that are much
smaller makes us less dependent on the centralized energy network
and, in theory, major system failures and outages (blackouts) are
reduced.

(v) Just like conventional power plants, CHP plants can run off virtually
any fuel, from oil, gas, and oil to methane gas produced in landfill
sites or power made by burning trash in municipal incinerators.
Disadvantages of CHP

(I ) One problem is that the technology is currently more expensive and

complex, so building CHP plants typically requires greater initial
investment. Energy savings eventually pay back the investment, but
more money still has to be spent upfront to begin with.

(ii) Maintenance costs can also be greater for CHP.

(iii) Another problem is that smaller-scale CHP plants produce electricity

more expensively than larger-scale ones.

(iv) some critics argue that CHP is less efficient than alternative
technologies such as heat pumps, which could be a far better way to
tackling climate change