You need JavaScript to view this

Assessment of advanced small-scale combined heat and power production

Abstract

To increase the share of renewable energy sources, bioenergy has to be used for electricity generation, preferably in combined heat and power (CHP) production systems, besides its traditional use in space heating. The need for small-scale, i.e. below 5 MW{sub el}, CHP production arises from the fact that a considerable portion of the available solid biofuels may not be transported over long distances for economic reasons and that in many cases the heat demand is below 10 MW{sub el} in district heating schemes in communities with less than 10 000 inhabitants. The available technical options have to be assessed with respect to performance, reliability and economy. Such an assessment has been performed in a study where the following options have been compared: Gasification - combustion engine or gas turbine; Combustion - steam turbine/engine; Combustion - hot air turbine; Combustion - Stirling engine. While conventional steam cycle systems are available and reliable they are generally not economical in the power range under consideration. Among the other systems, which are not yet commercially available, the Stirling engine system seems to be attractive in the power range below 500 kW{sub el} and the hot air system could close the gap to the steam  More>>
Authors:
Spitzer, J [1] 
  1. Joanneum Research (Austria)
Publication Date:
Dec 31, 1996
Product Type:
Technical Report
Report Number:
VTT-SYMP-164
Reference Number:
SCA: 092000; PA: FI-98:003019; EDB-98:027706; SN: 98001896199
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Power production from biomass II with special emphasis on gasification and pyrolysis R and DD; Sipilae, K.; Korhonen, M. [eds.] [VTT Energy, Espoo (Finland). Energy Production Technologies]; PB: 320 p.
Subject:
09 BIOMASS FUELS; BIOMASS; COGENERATION; COMBUSTION; GASIFICATION; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; HEAT ENGINES
OSTI ID:
570564
Research Organizations:
Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland)
Country of Origin:
Finland
Language:
English
Other Identifying Numbers:
Other: ON: DE98724226; ISBN 951-38-4555-9; TRN: FI9803019
Availability:
OSTI as DE98724226
Submitting Site:
FI
Size:
pp. 239-242
Announcement Date:
Apr 02, 1998

Citation Formats

Spitzer, J. Assessment of advanced small-scale combined heat and power production. Finland: N. p., 1996. Web.
Spitzer, J. Assessment of advanced small-scale combined heat and power production. Finland.
Spitzer, J. 1996. "Assessment of advanced small-scale combined heat and power production." Finland.
@misc{etde_570564,
title = {Assessment of advanced small-scale combined heat and power production}
author = {Spitzer, J}
abstractNote = {To increase the share of renewable energy sources, bioenergy has to be used for electricity generation, preferably in combined heat and power (CHP) production systems, besides its traditional use in space heating. The need for small-scale, i.e. below 5 MW{sub el}, CHP production arises from the fact that a considerable portion of the available solid biofuels may not be transported over long distances for economic reasons and that in many cases the heat demand is below 10 MW{sub el} in district heating schemes in communities with less than 10 000 inhabitants. The available technical options have to be assessed with respect to performance, reliability and economy. Such an assessment has been performed in a study where the following options have been compared: Gasification - combustion engine or gas turbine; Combustion - steam turbine/engine; Combustion - hot air turbine; Combustion - Stirling engine. While conventional steam cycle systems are available and reliable they are generally not economical in the power range under consideration. Among the other systems, which are not yet commercially available, the Stirling engine system seems to be attractive in the power range below 500 kW{sub el} and the hot air system could close the gap to the steam cycle systems, i.e. cover the power range between 0.5 and 5.0 MW{sub el}. Gasification schemes seem less suitable: The power generation part (combustion engine and gas turbine) is well established for natural gas, with the combustion engine in the lower (<5 MW{sub el}) and the gas turbine in the higher (>5MW{sub el}) power range. However, the gas quality needed for the operation of a combustion engine requires expensive pre-treatment of the gas from wood gasification so that this scheme is less attractive for the power range under consideration. These conclusions lead to R and D efforts in Austria in two directions: Hot air turbine: A utility demonstration plant is under construction with a power of 1 600 kW{sub el}; Stirling engine: An R and D project is under way with the goal of developing a CHP plant in the power range below 500 kW{sub el} to be operated with a conventional wood chip boiler. The hot air turbine plant is expected to be in operation by the end of 1996}
place = {Finland}
year = {1996}
month = {Dec}
}