The aim of the thesis was to develop an operating model of some sizes of Microturbines on the software eQuest.
Then used the model developed to simulate the installation of a Cogeneration (CHP) plant to satisfy the heat and electric demand of a school. The final step was to consider the economics of the investment and choosing which size and use of the turbine was the most convenient for the building.
The key topics of the project were the following:
• Collecting experimental data about some size of Microturbines
• Development of the turbine model for the software eQuest
• Development of the building following the ASHRAE standard
• Simulation of some size of Cogeneration Plants
• Analysis of the results of the simulations
• Energy auditing of the building and analysis of the cost of the current and new plant
• Choice of the best solution for the building
The thesis was developed in collaboration between Politecnico di Torino and the University of Illinois at Chicago, during the course of the double degree program TOP-UIC
Simulation of a small scale cogeneration system using a microturbine
1. SIMULATION OF A
SMALL-SCALE
COGENERATION SYSTEM
USING A MICROTURBINE
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Student Pietro Galli
Advisor Dr. William Ryan
Advisor Dr. Marco Carlo Masoero
May 5th, 2016
3. OVERVIEW: AIMS
Microturbine model for eQuest
Simulation using eQuest of a CHP
plant installed in a small size building
Economics
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
4. OVERVIEW: STRUCTURE
• Specification
• Source
• Energy demand
Base model
• Data collecting
• Implementation
• Testing
Microturbine model
• Implementation
• Various solutions
• Results and economics
CHP
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
5. COMBINED HEAT AND POWER
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
6. DEFINITION AND ADVANTAGES
Simultaneous on-site production
of electricity and useful heat
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Advantages
High efficiency
Cost reduction
Pollutants reduction
7. SCHEME OF A CHP PLANT
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
13. CHARACTERISTICS AND MODELS DEVELOPED
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Small scale turbine
Power from
30 to 500
kW
Reduction of the
manufacturing
costs
Growing
market
Models studied
Capstone
C200
Typical 100
kW
Capstone
C60
15. CAPSTONE DATA TABLES
Data given as function of the
Capacity
Data given as function of the
ambient temperature
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
16. PARAMETERS IMPLEMENTED IN eQuest
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Partial Load Ratio
• Ratio between the actual power generated and the design one
Heat Input Ratio
• Ratio between the heat currently supplied and the design one
Ambient temperature effect
• Raising the temperature negatively affect the efficiency and the
Capacity
Recoverable Heat
• Correlation between the power developed and the quantity of
heat recoverable from the exhaust gas
17. Partial Load Ratio and Heat Input Ratio
Partial Load Ratio Heat Input Ratio
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
19. Recoverable Heat
Recoverable heat of C200
Comparison with the default
equation
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Recoverable
heat Recov.
heat
PLR
PLR
20. Testing The model
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Expected fuel consumption vs fuel consumption of the implemented model
• Fuel consumption
equation found
interpolating the data
from Capstone
(Quadratic interpolation)
• Comparison between the
expected and model
consumption for each
power developed
22. Heat fluxes in the process
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
23. Implementation of the CHP plant in eQuest
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Real layout of the school hot water loop:
• Main Hot Water Loop
• Domestic Hot Water Loop (separated loop)
Problem:
• eQuest does not allow to attach multiple loops to the turbine
Solution:
• Compute the DHW Loop Process Load
• Attach the Process load just computed to the main hot water loop
• Set to zero the capacity of the DHW Loop
24. Putting the DHW Loop process load into the Main one
eQuest view of the Real plant Computation of the DHW process
load
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
• Then add Q to the Main Hot Water Loop as
“Miscellaneous load”
25. Capstone C200: Electricity Production
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Electricity produced by the turbine
and total electricity request
Purchased energy Duration curve
Base model and C200
26. Capstone C200: Gas Consumption
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Gas Used by the turbine
and total gas consumption
Monthly gas purchase Base
model vs C200
Purchased Gas Duration
curve Base model vs C200
27. Capstone C200: Microturbine usage
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Operating condition of the turbinePartial Load Ration during the year
Critical PLR = 0.6
28. Capstone C200: Heat Recovery
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Heat flux monthly profileHeat flux hourly profile
29. Why Testing other Models?
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
High Fuel consumption and Wasted recoverable
heat
Low Efficiency of the turbine:
Many hours of PLR below critical value
High cost of installation and maintenance:
- 1000 $/kW
Weakness of the 200 kW
microturbine Alternatives
Switch off the turbine at night
Use a smaller size turbine:
C60 or 100 kW
30. Efficiency of the plant
CHP plant efficiency FERC Efficiency
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Considering the different natures of the two Energy produced in the
process (Heat and Electricity)
31. Global efficiency of the plant for the various solutions
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Type of plant
Fturb
(MMBtu)
Qrec
(MMBtu)
Eprod
(kWh)
Epurch
(kWh)
GAS purch
(MMbtu)
Efficiency
CHP
Efficiency
FERC
Base model 0 0 0 832,048 1,046 0 0
200 kW 9,962 556 826,817 6,478 10,817 33.91% 31.11%
200 kW no night 7,736 491 664,726 168,665 8,636 35.66% 32.49%
100 kW 7,201 491 628,863 204,394 8,126 36.62% 33.21%
100 kW no night 5,301 428 466,698 366,559 6,256 38.12% 34.08%
60 kW 5,457 555 483,054 350,153 6,312 40.57% 35.39%
60 kW no night 3,585 476 320,981 512,226 4,410 43.82% 37.19%
33. Bills and Maintenance
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Investment and
operational cost
• Initial investment
• O&M costs
Gas Bill
• Costumer charge
• Storage Charge
• Gas Rate
• Volumetric Distribution
Charge
Electricity Bill
• Peak Demand Charge
• Customer Charge
• Distribution Charge
• Taxes and Other
34. Base Model Bills
Monthly Electricity billMonthly Gas Bill
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
35. Global Economic Results
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Size and use of turbine Total Gas cost
Total electricity
cost
Total energy
cost ($)
Total cost
(including O&M)
Investment cost
Base model 7,168 75,595 82,763 82,763 -
200 kW 54,933 3,235 58,169 66,169 200,000
200 kW no night 44,980 17,306 62,286 67,286 200,000
100 kW 42,652 24,012 66,664 70,664 100,000
100 kW no night 34,081 35,187 69,268 71,768 100,000
60 kW 34,366 37,147 71,513 73,913 60,000
60 kW no night 24,616 48,315 72,931 74,431 60,000
36. Global Economic Results
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Size and use of turbine Annual savings
Hours of
operation
Life of the plant
(years)
Payback time
(years)
Savings
generated in the
life of the plant
Base model - - -
200 kW 16,594 8,760 10 12 -29515.18
200 kW no night 15,477 5,475 16 13 54,411.6
100 kW 12,098 8,760 10 8 24,296.7
100 kW no night 10,994 5,475 16 9 80,725.3
60 kW 8,850 8,760 10 7 30,922.3
60 kW no night 8,331 5,475 16 7 76,953.3
38. Aims achieved
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Development of a microturbine model for eQuest:
• Finding the coefficients from specification tables
• Development of microturbine models of different sizes
• Testing the models
Development of a CHP plant for the Base model:
• Typical ASHRAE school model
• Installation the Plant
• Testing different solutions
Analysis of the results:
• Efficiency of the plant
• Gas and Electric Bill
• Investment and operation costs
40. THANK YOU FOR THE ATTENTION!
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
41. SIMULATION OF A
SMALL-SCALE
COGENERATION SYSTEM
USING A MICROTURBINE
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of engineering
Student Pietro Galli
Advisor Dr. William Ryan
Advisor Dr. Marco Carlo Masoero
May 5th, 2016