Performance enhancement of a cogeneration installation in industry

Abstract

The CHP (Combined Heat and Power) is a wide spread technology, that uses one form of energy to obtain two different forms of energy: work (electricity) and heat. For that purpose it uses a thermal engine, or a combination of different types of thermal engines. With this technology the global efficiency of the whole system is increased meeting the sustainability of the primary form or energy. In this work it was analysed a CHP running simultaneously with "internal combustion engines" and a "steam turbine" used in industry in Portugal. After performance enhancement the results obtained shows that there is a 40% profit increase from electricity production by internal combustion engines operating on natural gas. The equivalent electrical efficiency is 67%. On the other hand, steam turbine "upgrade" will expand practically all the vapor produces in the boiler, working on fuel oil. The equivalent electrical efficiency increased from 28% to 55%. The simple return on investment is 4 years. So this technology is a growing one, and can be used in buildings and small villages. This technology is a growing one, and can be used in buildings and small villages.