Combined Heat and Power for Hospitals: Implementation Barriers and Technical Challenges
Daniel Birleanu, Energy & Resource Solutions, Inc. (ERS)
Combined heat and power (CHP) is a technology that has been used for many years around the world to simultaneously generate electricity and heat at the point of use. Whenever a facility needs concurrent electricity and heat in the form of hot water or steam, onsite generation could be a very attractive alternative to importing electricity and generating heat from conventional boiler sources. Large CHP plants are installed throughout the United States in manufacturing facilities, higher education campuses, cities, and large hospital campuses. Smaller CHPs are also used, but historically the economic and environmental barriers to smaller units have been harder to overcome.
In recent years, both federal and state regulators have explored opportunities to provide energy end users with the best energy solutions at the lowest societal cost possible. Due to the increased stress on the electrical transport and distribution networks, the power and energy utilities are also on board with promoting distributed generation solutions in order to alleviate the burden on existing networks. Many states offer incentive programs that facilitate the implementation of CHP solutions even at the lower end of the size spectrum at 50 to 75 kilowatts (kW) electric.
Hospitals could be very good candidates for CHP implementation due to their year-round use of hot water and/or steam and relatively high electrical intensity. If a proper CHP is installed, a hospital would offer a high utilization rate of both thermal and electrical energy generated by the CHP, which is a key element to ensuring that the system is cost-effective in the long run.
During this presentation, the speaker will focus on two separate projects that ERS has recently evaluated as part of National Grid's CHP technical assistance program:
- A small community hospital (less than 100 beds), which planned on installing a steam generation CHP unit in the 100-150 kW range
- A slightly larger regional hospital (150 beds), which planned on installing hot water generating CHP units with a total of 180 kW.
The speaker will discuss the methodology used in both cases, along with the advantages of CHP, technical assessment and calculations, and current local and national support initiatives. The case studies cover the specifics of these two facilities, including thermal and electrical loads; heat generation (hot water versus low- or high-pressure steam); thermal, electrical, and natural gas interconnections; CHP unit(s) sitting challenges; and economics and utility incentives. The studies offered several challenges, and the speaker will present those challenges together with a set of take-away lessons to be used in future projects.
Biography:
Daniel Birleanu is a senior engineer with Energy and Resource Solutions (ERS) and is a recognized expert in the design and assessment of lighting systems, combined heat and power systems, and district heating systems. He is a skilled building modeler and has been directly responsible for many of ERS's DOE-2 building simulation projects associated with development and review of new construction projects.
Mr. Birleanu has served as the lead engineer for numerous energy efficiency studies involving a wide variety of customers and technologies. He has extensive experience designing, implementing, and supporting energy efficiency programs throughout New England and has been instrumental in developing measures associated with efficient lighting, refrigeration, HVAC, drives, and natural gas efficiency. Dan holds a bachelor's degree in power generation and a Master of Science in management of energy systems from Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Romania.