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The History of CoGeneration

Energy cogeneration has had a long and interesting history that lead up to the technology we use today. The technology was developed in the early twentieth century, when people realized that a steam (primary power source then)could simultaneously produce electricity[1]. From 1940 on, the technology was spread throughout some of our cities but never fully implemented to the point it should have. Since then, engineers have expanded with different combinations of energy services produced, while experimenting with different types of fuels required(see Table 1), to power these systems. This technology is often referred to, as Combined Heat and Power, or CHP. It is strongly advocated by the EPA[2], because of its incresed operational efficiency, lower energy costs, and reduced demand on our natural resources. The CHPP[3], or Combined Heat and Power Partnership, is an organization that encourages the use of CHP Technologies and is very supportive of the transition from conventional systems over to CHP4, and their website is very helpful and informative for anybody interested in this technology.

Figure 1. This Cogeneration unit shows how a boiler can be used to make hot water and power a generator, which in turn creates electricity and heating.


Table 1

Cogeneration produces

Fuels to be used

Heating + Electricity  Diesel Fuel
Heating + Hot Water(HSU) Waste Vegetable Oil Veggawatt* [4]
Hot Water + Electricity Steam

 Coal
Natural Gas

 






 


 


Cogeneration at Humboldt State

The cogeneration building is located in the front parking lot of the Jolly Giant Commons(JGC)(Figure 2). This building often has a few service vehicles outside and is closer to the forrest wall on the left of the parking lot when looking at it from the road. After talking with a few HSU staff, I tracked down the Maintenance Supervisor (housing and dining services) here at HSU, Tim Freeman, who kindly gave us a tour of the cogeneration system present here,on campus. Tim also provided us with useful information on how Cogeneration works.

Figure 2. Where the cogeneration plant is on the Humboldt Campus


 The cogeneration Unitruns 24/7, and has been since its instalation in 1987  Unlike the majority of other cogeneration facilities serving different functions, the system here at Humboldt produces hot water and ambient heating instead of heating and energy production. This system supports a majority of residence halls, here on campus, with on demand hot water and ambient room heating, for students. The cogeneration unit is constantly producing around 350KW (350,000 Watts), and all of the hot water, heat and energy produced on campus is used on campus. Under every residence hall that this system covers, is a boiler and a heating unit, except Canyon, which only has air heating units. These boilers were set in place when the halls were made but since the cogeneration unit's construction, they are not being used.

       ○ These older boilers under the halls are only used when the system for some reason doesn't work (which is near never).

The Distribution Loop  at Humboldt

Figure 3. This image portrays a similar system to that of HSU's, where returning water,is put back through the "loop", until it is used.[5]

The process starts with the engine heating up a series of stainless steel "heating" plates, which are exposed to a water distribution loop. The high temperature water then circulates uphill, to the Redwood and Sunset residence halls.(Because the water comes out of the engine so hot there is a cooling mechanism that remixes the hot and cold water, to accomodate appropriate temperatures for showers and kitchen utility. From there, the loop continues down the hill through the Jolly Giant Commons, building. There, it provideds hot water for the dish washer (180oF.) and all other Domestic Systems running through the building. The line then splits in two, one going to the east(starts at Pepperwood) and west(starts at Cedar) sides of the Canyon dormitories. But because the flow of these building was thought out poorly, there is no way to release any excess heat that ends up at the end of the line here, so the two end buildings for both the East and West sides keep this heat, making them the hottest buildings on campus. It then completes the loop as it comes back to the cogeneration building (at 120F. or greater) in the JGC parking lot to be heated back up. This system (shown in Figure 3) describes our campus cogeneration system, here on campus. The Engine creates power that is used to heat up stainless steel plates, which consequently heats and reheats water. Within the multiple heating plate systems comes water is remixed(shown as exhaust gasses In Figure 3) and used to heat the "Loop", and the engines residual heat is incorporated sent out through the water pipe network. Once the hot water completes the loop back to the cogeneration building, it is put back through the metal plates to be reheated(don't worry, waste water from showers and toilets are not connected to this system).

Other Information

  • The cogen motor responsible for heating and transporting water through the arterial network, runs on natural gas purchased from PG&E on a monthly bid contract. (Calculating just the right amount of fuel needed per month ensures the best contract price per billing cycle.
  • This system has an alarm 'call' system, which, when the system has an issue, it contacts Tim Freeman(head of HSU maintenance), who then calls in one of his workers to either check out the issue or fix whatever has happened.
  • It is mandatory that the engine is removed from the Cogeneration building to be cleaned, lubricated, and checked every fourteen years.

Known Issues With Our Unit Here On Campus

  • The entire system is directly connected and there is no isolating any part of the system, which means that when one part of the system goes down, the rest is affected.
  • The heating distribution among the Canyon buildings was poorly made, leaving two of the buildings to be constantly heating because there is no excess heat ventilation.
  • Because there is extremely hot water coming straight out of the co-gen plant, the engineers had to add a cooling system so that the water that went into the buildings could be used for showering.

Another CoGen system here on campus?

When I was walking with Tim, he told me that HSU has a useless 700 million dollar cogenerating unit that is located by the newer gyms.This, I found, was very interesting and continued to ask Tim, and the reason that it isn't working is because the company hired to set up the control panels for this new unit didn't configure them right. This meant that they couldn't run the engine nearly long enough to have it be a worth while investment without running into some kind of issue. He has told me that there isn't much of an action plan to fix this unit right away but once these is money available, it will be looked in to.

See Also

HSU Forbes Complex Cogeneration  

Wikipedia - Cogeneration

Beth's Comments

  • L1 - see C-12 as well. Think about an image to draw folks in.
  • Revisit your heading titles. Someone should be able to review them and know what your page is about
  • No need for bullet under the History of CoGeneration.
  • Avoid "should have been" - try "did not reach its full potential"
  • You need to cite about 3 references in your first paragraph.
  • Link to appropriate information e.g. EPA.
  • Just link to CHPP rather than long sentence saying "their website".
  • Use your diagrams and tables to explain the process. You need to refer to the figures and tables within your text.
  • Be sure to read all conventions about figures, captions etc.
  • Avoid telling a story ("I found"....) Just cite Tim as a source in your references.
  • You need to do some significant editing under Cogeneration at HSU. Be sure to ask me for help... here are some ideas to start:
    • Orient the reader to HSU and the location of the unit on campus. Use a paragraph and a reference to a map
    • Avoid using the bullets you have in this section... as they are for a list.
    • Be careful with unwarranted capitalization
    • have a paragraph explaining what the cogen plant does in the canyon.
  • Under the Distribution Loop you do not need the 2 bullets.
  • In the Distribution loop section, are you describing how the system works at HSU? Your heading needs to be clearer here. A diagram would help to explain where the system is.
  • Be sure you understand the conventions for figures... ask for assistance if you need it. Office hours?
  • You need to reorganize your document and you are relying too much on bullets. Again, I can help you think about your page. Here are some main concepts for sections or paragraphs
    • System Components
    • Steps in process
    • Advantages and Disadvantages of Current System
  • I think your information about the other cogeneration plant is off, particularly the cost. You should do more research on this issue if you want to include it on your page.... or else remove it.
  • Be sure you understand the conventions for references and citing references. Your references are not yet listed with the correct format.
  • What about some pictures of components?

References

  1. "Cogeneration - History Of Cogeneration". Science Encyclopedia. <http://science.jrank.org/pages/1572/Cogeneration-History-cogeneration.html>.
  2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. <http://www.epa.gov/>.
  3. "Combined Heat and Power Partnership". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. <http://www.epa.gov/chp/>.
  4. "Archive for the ‘cogeneration’ Category". Carbonetix. <http://carbonetix.com.au/ >.
  5. "Archive for the ‘cogeneration’ Category". Carbonetix. <http://carbonetix.com.au/ >.

Freemam, Tim. Personal INTERVIEW.

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