Residential and commercial cogeneration systems assessment. Final report Mar 1982-Jun 1983

Technical Report · Mon Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983

OSTI ID:5486939

Bullard, C W; Althof, J A

Over a wide range of technical performance charactersitics and thermal load profiles, it appears that cogeneration systems having installed costs in the $500 to $1500/kW range will be economically feasible if they can be sized to take advantage of peak and intermediate electricity values in the range of 6-10 cent/kwhe. These results were obtained assuming a fuel cost of 2 cent /kWht ($6/MMBtu). The optimal size of such systems is often larger than the building's peak thermal load. Moreover, daytime cooling loads can often be met more economically with a cogeneration/absorption cooling system than with vapor compression systems. The presence of absorption cooling improve the feasibility and increases the optimal size of the cogenerator, due to the increased capacity factor. The key to economic feasibility is to achieve a high degree of waste heat recovery and a high electric/thermal ratio in the cogenerator, in order to minimize the incremental operating cost of the system on summer days when cooling loads are high and electricity rates are highest.

• Research Organization: Illinois Univ., Urbana (USA). Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
• OSTI ID: 5486939
• Report Number(s): PB-84-105071
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290800 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Heat Utilization-- (1980-)
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320304* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Industrial & Agricultural Processes-- Waste Heat Recovery & Utilization
ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION CYCLE
COGENERATION
COOLING LOAD
DEUS
ENERGY RECOVERY
ENERGY STORAGE
ENERGY SYSTEMS
EVALUATION
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
HEAT RECOVERY
HEAT STORAGE
OPERATION
OPTIMIZATION
PERFORMANCE
POWER GENERATION
RECOVERY
STEAM GENERATION
STORAGE