Energy Storage, Conservation & Audit 13EE8409 Unit 4

COGENERATION

Introduction:
A procedure for generating electric power and useful heat in a single installation, the
useful heat may be in the form of steam, hot water, or hot air. In a heat engine, part of the
heat is take up from a “source” at a higher temperature must be discharged to a “sink” at
lower temperature. In a co – generation system, the mechanical work is converted into
electrical energy in an electric generator and the discharged heat, which would otherwise be
dispersed to the environment, is utilized in an industrial process or in the other ways. The net
result is an overall increase in the efficiency of fuel utilization.
The general type of co – generation systems may be distinguished
1. The major purpose of the system is to generate electricity with heated water as a by –
product. This type of co – generation is referred to in the section on waste heat
utilization.
2. The system is designed to supply both the electrical and heat requirements of a large
building complex or community. This type is described in the section on total
(integrated) energy system.
3. In most existing co – generating systems, the objective is to produce both electricity
and industrial process heat in the form of steam, hot water or hot air. Many industries
use large amounts of process heat as well as electricity to operate pump etc. In these
cases co – generation can result in 30% lower fuel consumption than for the separate
generation of electricity and process heat.
Co – generation is thus the simultaneous generation of electricity and steam (or heat)
in a single power plant. It has long been used by industries and municipalities that need
process steam as well as electricity. Ex: A chemical industry, paper mills, and places that use
district heating. Co generation is not usually used by large utilities which tend to produce
electricity only. Co generation is advisable for industries and municipalities if they can
produce electricity cheaper, or more conveniently than that brought from a utility.
From an energy resource point of view, co generation is beneficial only if it saves
primary energy when compared with separate generation of electricity and steam. The co
generation plant efficiency ηCO is given by

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Energy Storage, Conservation & Audit 13EE8409 Unit 4

Where E = electric energy generated

ΔHs = heat energy in process steam
Qa = heat added to the plant
From separate generation of electricity and steam, the heat added per unit total energy output
is

Where e = electrical fraction of total energy output

η e = electric plant efficiency

η h = steam generator efficiency
The combined efficiency η c for separate generation is therefore given by:

Co generation is beneficial if the efficiency of the co generation plant exceeds that of separate
generation.

Types of co generation:
There are two broad categories of co generation:
1. The topping cycle:
The primary heat at the higher temperature end of the ranking cycle is used to
generate high pressure and temperature steam and electricity in the usual manner. Depending
on process requirements, process steam at low pressure and temperature is either extracted
from turbine at an intermediate stage such as for feed water heating or taken at turbine
exhaust in which case it is called a back pressure turbine. Process steam pressure
requirements vary widely between 0.5 and 40 bar.
Only the topping cycle, therefore can provide true savings in primary energy. In
addition most process applications require low grade steam. Such steam is conventionally
produced in a topping cycle. Some are:
i. Steam electric power plant with back pressure turbine
ii. Steam electric power plant with steam extraction from a condensing turbine
iii. Gas turbine power plant with a heat recovery boiler
iv. Combined steam gas turbine power plant. The steam turbine is either of the back
pressure type or of the extraction condensing type

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2. The bottoming cycle:

The primary heat is used at high temperature directly for process requirements. An
example is the high temperature cement kiln. The process low grade waste heat is then used
to generate electricity, obviously at low efficiency. The bottoming cycle thus has a combined
efficiency that most certainly lies below and therefore is of little thermodynamic or economic
interest.

Combined cycle power generation:

The production of electricity using two or more heat engines in tandem as prime
movers to operate electric generators. In a heat engine part of the heat is taken up from
“source” at a higher temperature is discharged to a heat “sink” at lower temperature. In a
combined cycle system, the heat discharged from one heat engine serves as the source for the
next engine. The net result is a greater overall operating temperature range than is possible
with a single heat engine. The thermal efficiency of the combined system is thus greater than
for the two heat engines operating independently. Less fuel is then required to generate a
given amount of electrical energy.
As a general rule, combined cycle systems have two heat engine stages, the second
one being a conventional condensing steam turbine. The highest inlet steam temperature for a
turbine is limited properties of materials to about 540 °C. However the flame temperature in a
boiler burning fossil fuels may be more than 1650 °C. Consequently in a combined cycle
system, the steam turbine is preceded by a topping cycle heat engine which can utilize heat at
high temperatures. The working fluid leaves the topping cycle at a sufficient high temperature
to generate steam for the steam turbine.
Because the technology is well developed, the gas turbine is most commonly used as
the topping cycle engine. The turbine exhaust gases at a tempera ture of 600 °C or more pass
to a waste heat boiler where steam is produced from water under pressure flowing through
finned tubes surrounded by hot gases. If it is desirable, the steam temperature may be
increased in a subsidiary heater before it enters the steam turbine. In addition to using fuel
more efficiency, a combined gas and steam turbine generating system require less condenser
cooling water for a given electrical output than a steam turbine generator alone.
Gas turbines generating use liquid petroleum products or natural gas as the fuel, but
coal could be preferred primary fuel for combined cycle generation because of its availability.
One possibility is to convert the coal into a low heat value fuel gas, which is suitable gas
turbine fuel. Another approach is to burn coal with compressed air in a pressurized fluidized
bed combustion furnace. After removing particulate matter, the hot combustion gases are

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mixed with the compressed air that has been heated by passage through pipes immersed in
the fluidized bed. The mixture of hot pressurized gases then drives the gas turbines.
Other topping cycles are being studied as alternatives to the gas turbine in combined
cycle systems. The most important are magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) conversion and the
potassium vapor cycle. In both cases, combustion of coal would provide the heat for
conversion into electrical energy.
At least 50% of the heat energy supplied to a steam turbine is discharged at a fairly
low temperature, averaging about 40 °C, in the condenser cooling water. A possible way of
converting part of this heat into useful work is by means of bottoming cycle in which the heat
discharged by the steam turbine is used in a vapour turbine with a working fluid of low
boiling point. However, the economics of this form of cogeneration is uncertain.
Hence the combined cycle concept combines two thermodynamic cycles: Brayton
cycle and Ranking cycle. The Brayton cycle has capability to operate at very high
combustion temperature. The Ranking cycle which is limited to steam temperature of
approximately 540 °C is ideally suited for recovering waste heat from the gas turbine
exhaust. When operating together, the combined cycle recovers more energy from the fuel
than either any one of the cycle alone can do.
The combined cycle power generation system has the following advantages over
combined system:
1. Higher efficiency
2. Low specific cost of the gas turbine
3. Smaller space requirement
4. Less cooling water demand

Different systems for combined cycle power gene ration:

The combined cycle power generation from coal two different routes may be
considered. These are:
1. Combined cycle power generation through pressurized fluidized bed combust ion of
coal (PFBC)
2. Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation

Advantages of combined cycle powe r plants:

The following are some of the salient merits of a combined cycle:
1. The efficiency of the combined cycle plant is better than a simple gas turbine or steam
cycle.

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2. The capital cost of combined cycle plant with supplementary firing is slightly higher
than a simple gas turbine and much below those of a classical steam plant of the same
power capacity.
3. The combined plant is more suitable for rapid start and shut down than a steam plant.
4. The cooling water requirement of a combined cycle is much lower than a pure steam
plant having the same power output.
5. The combined steam offer self sustaining features if unfortunately, power station is
shut down due to some fault, the gas turbine offers a way to start the station from the
cold shut conditions. No outside power source is required. Gas turbine is always
equipped with a diesel engine to start from cold.
6. Many utilities are planning and installing simple gas turbine units which will later to
be converted into combined cycle operation. This two phase development requires
short installation time for peaking power plus the future capability for efficient
operation for base load generation.
7. The present trend is to increase the thermal efficiency of gas turbine plant is to
increase the turbine inlet temperature. Higher turbine inlet temperature reduces the
heat rate, fuel cost and generation cost. The present combined cycle efficiency may
reach 50% soon then better turbine material would be available.
8. The environmental standards of many old fossil fuel plants are not acceptable and
they are likely to be closed. These can be renovated by replacing the old boiler with a
gas turbine unit and heat recovery boiler. With these modifications exhaust emission
can be reduced and thermal efficiency and generating capacity can be increased.

Waste heat utilization:

This refers to the beneficial use of the heat discharged in the steam turbine condenser
cooling water from an electric power generation plant. From about 50 to 65 % of the heat
supplied either by combustion of fossil fuel (coal, oil, or natural gas) or by fission of a
nuclear fuel existing steam electric plant is removed by the cooling water. This heat is
dissipated to the environment by direct discharge of the warmed water to the ocean or a river
or by passage through a cooling lake or cooling tower. Various possibilities are being
considered for making use of the large amount of heat that is lost in this way.
Fossil fuels can be utilized more efficiently with less heat discharged for a given total
electric power output if the steam turbine is preceded by another heat engine that operates at a
higher temperature. The heat discharged from higher temperature cycle would then be used to
generate steam for a conventional turbine (Topping cycle) in general, the first or top heat

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engine cycle of a combined cycle generation system. In such a system, the heat discharged
from topping cycle is used to generate steam for operating a steam turbine. The temperature
at which heat is taken up in a steam turbine is limited to about 540 °C by the properties of
materials, but much higher temperatures are attained by combustion of fossil fuels. The
purpose of the topping cycle is to utilize this temperature heat and thus increase the overall
thermal efficiency (i.e., the proportion of heat taken up that is converted into useful work or
electrical energy). There is corresponding decrease in the condenser cooling water
requirement for a given power output.
The most highly developed topping cycle is the gas turbine, but the diesel engine
could be used in smaller installations. The potassium vapour cycle and thermionic conversion
are possibilities but the major interest at present is in magneto hydro dynamic conversion,
largely because it has the potential for a high thermal efficiency using coal as the fuel.

Reclamation or recovery of flue gas:

Normally flue gas leaves furnace at high temperature. By using appropriate waste heat
recovery system, sensible heat losses through flue gases can be recovered and reutilized by
following methods:
1. Charge preheating
2. Preheating of combustion air
3. Generating system
4. Heating water by waste heat boiler
5. For other process
The benefits of preheated combustion air are:
i. Reduction in fuel consumption
ii. Increase in flame temperature

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iii. Increase in combustion efficiency

iv. Reduction in initial heating time
v. Reduction in scale losses

Heat pumps:
It works in an opposite manner to heat engine. It absorbs heat from lower temperature
source and by utilizing mechanical work discharge heat at a higher temperature. It is possible
to reverse the direction of spontaneous energy flow by the use of a thermodynamic system
known as a heat pump. The name, heat pump is applied to a machine that can be used for
space heating in the winter and for cooling (air conditioning) in the summer. The heat pump
can abstract low grade heat (to be readily used elsewhere) and upgrade it to a higher
temperature. The majority of heat pumps work on the principle of the vapour compression
cycle. A heat pump consists of a condenser, compressor, evaporator, expansion valve and
working fluid as shown in fig below.

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The cycle produces a cooling effect at the evaporator and a heating effect at a
condenser. A compressor driven by electric motor raises the pressure then temperature of the
working fluid of the system. The compressed vapour is then condensed in a heat exchanger
giving up its latent heat usually to air or water. It is then expanded through a expansion valve
to a low temperature and pressure. In the evaporator the heat is extracted from the heat source
to boil the circulating fluid. The vapour from evaporator passes to the compressor and the
cycle is complete.
The performance of the heat pump is termed the co – efficient of performance (COP).
COP = Heat output at the condenser
Total (work) input at the condenser
The main application/ potential area of heat pump is in recovering the low grade waste heat
by upgrading it and using it in the main process stream.
Main uses of heat pump are:
i. In plastic factories
ii. For product drying
iii. For maintaining dry atmosphere for storage
iv. For drying compressed air

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