The CHP R&D project portfolio includes advanced reciprocating engine systems (ARES), packaged CHP systems, high-value applications, fuel-flexible CHP, and demonstrations of these technologies. Project fact sheets and short project descriptions are provided below:
Advanced Reciprocating Engine Systems
Advanced Reciprocating Engine Systems (ARES)
The ARES program is designed to promote separate but parallel engine development among the major stationary, gaseous fueled engine manufacturers in the United States.
Packaged CHP Systems
Combined Heat and Power Integrated with Burners for Packaged Boilers
CMCE, Inc., in collaboration with Altex Technologies Corporation, developed the Boiler Burner Energy System Technology (BBEST), a CHP assembly of a gas-fired simple-cycle 100 kilowatt (kW) microturbine and a new ultra-low NOx gas-fired burner, to increase acceptance of small CHP systems.Flexible CHP System with Low NOx, CO and VOC Emissions
The Gas Technology Institute, in collaboration with Cannon Boiler Works, Integrated CHP Systems Corp., Capstone Turbine Corporation, Johnston Boiler Company, and Inland Empire Foods developed a Flexible Combined Heat and Power (FlexCHP) system that incorporates a supplemental Ultra-Low-NOx (ULN) burner into a 65 kW microturbine and a heat recovery boiler. The ULN burner helps the CHP system meet stringent emissions criteria and improves overall system efficiency in a cost-effective manner.High Efficiency Microturbine with Integral Heat Recovery
Capstone Turbine Corporation, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and NASA Glenn Research Center, developed a clean, cost-effective 370 kW microturbine with 42% net electrical efficiency and 85% total CHP efficiency. The microturbine technology maximizes usable exhaust energy and achieves ultra-low emissions levels.Low-Cost Packaged Combined Heat and Power System with Reduced Emissions
Cummins Power Generation, in collaboration with Cummins Engine Business Unit, developed a flexible, packaged CHP system that produces 330 kW of electrical power output and 410 kW of thermal output while increasing efficiency and reducing emissions and cost. The project resulted in one of the highest-efficiency and lowest-emissions system for a CHP project less than 1 megawatt (MW) in size.
High-Value Applications
Flexible Distributed Energy and Water from Waste for the Food and Beverage Industry
GE Global Research, in collaboration with GE Water & Process Technologies, GE Intelligent Platforms, SRA International, and Anheuser-Busch, developed a systematic plant-wide automation for online monitoring and supervisory control. The system enhances the robust and reliable operation of the waste-to-value plant by reducing frequency upsets by up to 90%. As the technology matures and demonstrates its value, it can likely be expanded to other industries with similar high-organics wastewater effluent such as biofuels, pulp, and paper.Microchannel High Temperature Recuperator for Fuel Cell Systems
(Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)
FuelCell Energy, Inc., in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Oregon State University Materials Institute, the Microproducts Breakthrough Institute, and the Oregon Nanoscience and Materials Institute, developed an efficient, microchannel-based waste heat recuperator for a high-temperature fuel cell system. This technology increases the efficiency of fuel cells and improves their performance in distributed energy applications.Novel Controls for Economic Dispatch of Combined Cooling, Heating and Power (CHP) Systems
(Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)
University of California, Irvine, in collaboration with Siemens Corporate Research, developed and demonstrated novel algorithms and dynamic control technology for optimal economic use of CHP systems under 5 MW. The control systems and technologies under development are expected to increase increasing market penetration of CHP systems in the light industrial, commercial, and institutional markets.Residential Multi-Function Gas Heat Pump
Southwest Gas Corporation, in collaboration with IntelliChoice Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, developed hardware and software for engine and system controls for a residential gas heat pump system that provides space cooling, heating, and hot water. The project built on system concepts and technical solutions developed for an 11-ton packaged natural gas heat pump.Ultra Efficient Combined Heat, Hydrogen, and Power System
FuelCell Energy, Inc., in collaboration with Abbott Furnace Company, developed a combined heat, hydrogen, and power (CHHP) system that utilizes reducing gas produced by a high-temperature fuel cell to directly replace hydrogen in metal treatment and other industrial processes.
Fuel-Flexible CHP
Adapting On-site Electrical Generation Platforms for Producer Gas
The University of Minnesota, Morris, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Center for Diesel Research, Cummins Power Generation Inc., ALL Power Labs, and Hammel, Green & Abrahamson (HGA), integrated a biomass gasifier and a reciprocating engine generator set into a combined platform, enabling electricity generation from waste biomass while reducing diesel fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.Development of an Advanced Combined Heat and Power (CHP) System Utilizing Off-Gas from Coke Calcination
(Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)
The Gas Technology Institute—in collaboration with Superior Graphite Company and SCHMIDTSCHE SCHACK, a division of ARVOS Group, Wexford business unit (formerly Alstom Power Energy Recovery)—developed an energy-efficient process of petroleum coke calcination in a fluidized bed with an advanced CHP system using the off-gases and the waste heat from the calcined coke. The total amount of recycled heat from the newly developed coke calcination process has sufficient heat for the CHP to produce process stream and generate most of the electricity used by the fluidized bed.Development of Fuel-Flexible Combustion Systems Utilizing Opportunity Fuels in Gas Turbines
GE Global Research developed and tested new fuel-flexible gas turbine nozzle technology concepts that will enable end users to efficiently generate power and heat from industrial off-gases and gasified industrial, agricultural, or municipal waste streams, as well as blends of these opportunity fuels with readily available pipeline gases.- Development of Real-Time Gas Quality Sensor Technology
The Gas Technology Institute, in collaboration with several project partners, brought together real-time gas quality sensor technology with engine management for opportunity fuels. The project was a unique industry effort that will improve the performance, increase efficiency, raise system reliability, and provide improved project economics and reduced emissions. Low-NOx Gas Turbine Injectors Utilizing Hydrogen-Rich Opportunity Fuels
Solar Turbines Incorporated, in collaboration with The Pennsylvania State University and the University of Southern California, modified a gas turbine combustion system to operate on hydrogen-rich opportunity fuels. Increasing the usability of opportunity fuels will avoid greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of natural gas and increase the diversity of fuel sources for U.S. industry.Novel Sorbent to Clean Biogas for Fuel Cell Combined Heat and Power
TDA Research Inc., in collaboration with FuelCell Energy, developed a new, high-capacity sorbent to remove sulfur from anaerobic digester gas. This technology enables the production of a nearly sulfur-free biogas to replace natural gas in fuel cell power plants while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. .
Demonstrations
- ArcelorMittal USA Blast Furnace Gas Flare Capture
(Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)ArcelorMittal USA, Inc.'s Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago, Indiana, installed an energy recovery boiler system that produces steam from previously wasted blast furnace gas that was flared into the atmosphere during iron making operations. The steam drives existing turbo-generators at the facility to generate 333,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity and reduce CO2 emissions by 340,000 tons annually.
- Biomass Boiler for Food Processing Applications
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, in cooperation with Frito-Lay, Inc., CPL Systems, Inc., and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, demonstrated an innovative biomass boiler at Frito-Lay’s Topeka, Kansas, food processing facility. The installed 60,000 lb/hr stoker-fired boiler is fueled by a combination of wood waste and tire-derived fuel sources.
- BroadRock Renewables Combined Cycle Electric Generating Plants Fueled by Waste Landfill Gas
(Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)BroadRock Renewables LLC, in collaboration with DCO Energy, operates combined cycle electric generating plants at the Central Landfill in Johnston, Rhode Island, and Olinda Alpha Landfill in Brea, California. The Rhode Island plant is the second-largest landfill-gas-to-electricity facility in the United States. The facility generates 33.4 MW of power and saves 2.1 trillion Btu annually from the landfill gas that would otherwise be flared. The California plant is the third-largest landfill-gas-to-electricity facility in the United States. The facility generates 32.5 MW of power and saves 2.2 trillion Btu annually from the landfill gas that would otherwise be flared.
- CHP System at Food Processing Plant in Connecticut Increases Reliability and Reduces Emissions
Frito-Lay North America, Inc., a division of PepsiCo, in cooperation with the Energy Solutions Center, demonstrated and evaluated a CHP plant at a large food processing facility in Connecticut. CHP is reducing the energy costs and environmental impact of the facility while easing congestion on the grid.
- Thermal Energy Corporation Combined Heat and Power Project
(Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)Thermal Energy Corporation (TECO), in collaboration with Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co., Inc., operates the largest chilled water district energy system in the United States at the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world. TECO installed a new high-efficiency natural gas-fired CHP system capable of producing 48 MW of on-site generation and 330,000 pph of steam, a 75,000 ton-hour (8.8 million gallon) thermal energy storage tank, and an additional 32,000 tons of chilled water capacity. The CHP system can operate as a baseload system to serve 100% of the TECO plant peak electrical load and 100% of TECO customers' peak process and space heating loads. The system also enables the entire TECO plant to continue operations and provide uninterrupted energy services to TECO customers in the event of a prolonged grid outage.
- Texas A&M University CHP System
(Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)Texas A&M University (Texas A&M), in collaboration with Harvey Cleary Builders and Jacobs Engineering Group, installed a 45 MW high-efficiency, natural gas-fired CHP system consisting of a 34 MW combustion turbine, a 210,000-pound-per-hour (pph) heat recovery steam generator, and an 11 MW steam turbine generator. The system can operate as a baseload system to serve 75% of Texas A&M's peak power needs, 65% of total electrical energy needs, and 80% of the heating loads (steam for cooling included). The system also enables Texas A&M to isolate critical campus electrical loads to maintain service during grid disruptions.