Study of different micro CHP alternatives for residential application

Abstract

The growing worldwide demand for less polluting forms of energy has led to a renewed interest in the use of micro combined heat and power (CHP) technologies in the residential sector. Micro CHP is the simultaneous production of heat and power in a single building based on small energy conversion units. The heat produced is used for space and water heating and possibly for cooling, the electricity is used within the building. In this paper, two typical CHP types for a residential building are analyzed, namely ECOWILL gas engine plant and LIFUEL fuel cell plant. For each facility, two different control strategies are studied: to minimize annual energy cost and to minimize annual CO2 emissions, using an evaluation model constructed in the optimization software package LINGO. The analysis result shows that the fuel cell system serves the assumed residential building better than the gas engine system. With the operation of optimal economic benefits, annual energy cost is reduced by about 26 % compared with the conventional system (served by utility grids). On the other hand, considering the optimal environmental benefits, annual CO2 emission is reduced by about 9%.