Combined Heat and Power System Design for Buildings

Catalog description

Thermodynamic and thermo-economic analyses methods for determination of optimal, on-site, total energy systems for commercial buildings. AE 551 Combined Heat and Power System Design for Buildings (3) Building systems consume about 40% of the primary energy resources utilized in the United States each year and are responsible for a proportional fraction of air contaminants (NO, SO, fine particulates, CO) and greenhouse gas, CO,. A conventional energy supply mix for building (grid electricity, site fossil fuel heating) results in approximately 50% primary fuel energy utilization. Advances in scalable, low emissions, electric power generating devices are leading to incorporating on-site power production into the building design. The "waste heat" general is of such a quality that it can be utilized at the site in heating, hot water, absorption cooling, and dehumidification applications. The simultaneous utilization of a primary fuel to generate both the electrical and thermal components in Building Combined Heat and Power (BCHP) can result in total primary fuel utilization values of 85% or greater, electric power reliability increases and significantly reduced emissions, particularly greenhouse gases. This course examines the underlying thermodynamic principles involved in BCHP, pollutant and greenhouse emission mechanisms and levels associated with both Separate Heat and Power (SHP) and BCHP designs for a given building site. Economic and regulatory principles that govern the application feasibility of a BCHP design for a given building configuration are examined. At the end of the course, students will have the skills and tools necessary to perform an assessment of the feasibility of a BCHP application to a given building site. Specific combinations of distributed, electric power generation equipment (micro-turbines, fuel cells, diesel engines, wind-power) and thermal "waste" utilization from these generating systems will be discussed and analyzed. Case studies are utilized to illustrate the evaluation processes. Using the SHP design methods and principles (ducted air supply systems, hydronic heating and cooling systems, etc.) covered in AE 454 (Advanced HVAC) and central system methods covered in AE 557 (Centralized Cooling Production and Distribution Systems) or AE 558 (Centralized Heating Production and Distribution Systems) for commercial buildings, students will learn how to achieve and establish the same building performance objectives using Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technologies. Since the use of CHP for various building types requires reducing transients in thermal and electric load profiles, the relationship of the structural characteristics of the building (thermal mass) and the use of combinations of artificial lighting vs. day-lighting to the utilization of CHP is investigated.