Applications
Three categories account for the vast majority of CHP applications:
- Industrial
- Commercial, Institutional and Residential
- DHC
CHP has a long history within the industrial sector, which has large concurrent heat and power demands, and which also has by far the greatest installed capacity (in terms of electricity production) of the three applications. District heating also uses CHP systems extensively, providing heat for countries with long heating seasons and increasingly cooling during the summer months. However, advancements in technology development have led to the availability of smaller CHP systems, with reduced costs, reduced emissions and greater customisation. As a result, CHP systems are increasingly used for smaller applications in the commercial and institutional sectors, and are being incorporated more often into DHC systems. The following table summarises these applications.
CHP Applications
| FEATURE | CHP – INDUSTRIAL | CHP – COMMERCIAL / INSTITUTIONAL |
DISTRICT HEATING AND COOLING |
| Typical customers | Chemical, pulp and paper, metallurgy, heavy processing (food, textile, timber, minerals), brewing, coke ovens, glass furnaces, oil refining | Light manufacturing, hotels, hospitals, large urban office buildings, agricultural operations | All buildings within reach of heat network, including office buildings, individual houses, campuses, airports, industry |
| Ease of integration with renewables and waste energy | Moderate – High (particularly industrial energy waste streams) | Low – moderate | High |
| Temperature level | High | Low to medium | Low to medium |
| Typical system size | 1 – 500 MWe | 1 kWe – 10 MWe | Any |
| Typical prime mover | Steam turbine, gas turbine, reciprocating engine (compression ignition), combined cycle (larger systems) | Reciprocating engine (spark ignition) , stirling engines, fuel cells, micro-turbines | Steam turbine, gas turbine, waste incineration, CCGT |
| Energy / Fuel Source | Any liquid, gaseous or solid fuels; industrial process waste gases (eg blast furnace gases, coke oven waste gases) | Liquid or gaseous fuels | Any fuel |
| Main Players | Industry (power utilities) | End users and utilities | Include local community ESCOs, local and national utilities and industry |
| Ownership | Joint ventures/ third party |
Joint ventures/ third party |
From full private to full public and part public / private, including utilities, industry and municipalities |
| Heat / electricity load patterns |
User- and process-specific | User-specific | Daily and seasonal fluctuations mitigated by load management and heat storage |