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Cogeneration

Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of two or more forms of useable energy from a single fuel source.

Gas turbines are a mature technology with high flexibility, portability, and reliability. Gas turbines are ideally suited for C.H.P. applications because their high-temperature exhaust can generate process steam at temperatures as high as 1,200 pounds per square inch gauge (psig) and 900 °F or used directly in industrial processes heating or drying. It can export power to the electric grid. It can be operated with a wide range of gas and liquid fuels. Moreover, for C.H.P., natural gas is the most common fuel. It provides the best economic performance in baseload applications where the system operates at or near full load. It has relatively low emissions and requires no cooling. It has wide use in C.H.P. applications and has relatively low installed costs.

The electrical generation efficiency of gas turbines declines significantly as the load is decreased. Therefore.  The use of cogeneration is highly recommended and adopted for this proposal because it is more efficient, reliable, and offers the most cost-effective fuel. The wasted heat generated from producing electricity is directly put to productive use. Learn more

WHAT IS COGENERATION?

Cogeneration (sometimes called distributed power generation) is a process that produces two or more valuable forms of energy from the combustion of a single fuel such as natural gas. A cogeneration facility provides electricity and other useful thermal energy (such as steam and heat) for industrial, commercial, and residential heating or cooling purposes.

A natural gas-fired turbine-driven cogeneration system modifies internal combustion engines that use natural gas as a fuel source to enable the facility to produce electricity and hot water on site. It involves the conversion of a single source of energy fuel into two independently helpful energy products. The heat or steam generated from cogeneration can be used in the refineries or floods a large oil field to boost production.

Furthermore, public and private heating or cooling entities can use the generated electricity for industrial or commercial purposes. Government offices, commercial, industrial, and residential buildings can benefit from cheaper and uninterrupted electricity through gas-fired cogeneration. Simultaneously, the hot water from the process can be repurposed in many other ways by surrounding communities, satellite industries, or institutions.

According to the U.S. Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), a facility is considered a cogeneration facility if it produces electric energy and another form of useful thermal energy through the sequential use of energy created. It must meet specific ownership, operating, and efficiency criteria established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as indicated in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 18, Part 292.

A natural gas, turbine-driven cogeneration C.H.P. produces high-temperature exhaust and thermal energy that can be recovered from the heat exhaust to produce steam, hot water, or chilled water (with an absorption chiller). The exhaust from the heat can also be used directly for industrial process drying or heating.

Combined heat and power (C.H.P.) positively impacts the growth and development of the local, state, and national economies and supports the national policy goals of secure and independent energy in several ways. Specifically, C.H.P. can:

  1. Enhance the state and national energy security purpose by reducing the national energy requirements and help businesses sustain fluctuating and unreliable energy price volatility and supply disruptions
  2. Advance climate change and environmental goals by reducing the emissions of CO2 and other pollutants.
  3. Improve business competitiveness by increasing energy efficiency and reducing the costs of electricity.
  4. Increase the resiliency of the nation’s energy infrastructure by limiting grid congestion and offsetting transmission losses, and avoiding unnecessary interrupted disruptions.
  5. Diversify energy supply by enabling further, full integration of the country’s domestically produced and renewable fuels.
  6. Improve energy efficiency by capturing heat that is usually wasted and using the captured heat for more meaningful purposes.
  7. Increase total C.H.P. capacity in the nation by paving the way for more businesses and industries to adopt C.H.P.
  1. Save energy users a considerable amount of money per year on electricity compared to current energy use
  2. Reduce emissions by several million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually
  3. Result in several billions of dollars in new capital investment in the industrial, manufacturing, and utility market sectors, and other national facilities over the next decade

Combine Heat and Power (C.H.P.)

  1. It is an all-in-one unit and self-contained system
  2. It has a remote monitoring system
  3. It provides Primary power, not a Backup power
  4. The power is continuous
  5. It can be integrated into commercial or residential homes and businesses
  6. It saves you money—operating costs are reduced
  7. Reduces negative environmental impact
  8. It uses clean energy, which is natural gas
  9. It provides energy independence
  10. It does not require external systems such as coils and pumps etc.

C.H.P. is the use of a single fuel source (natural gas) to simultaneously generate useful heat and electricity (It can be used to power light in commercial offices, warehouses, single-family, and multifamily)

A Combined heat and power (C.H.P.) plant, also known as cogeneration, is:

  • The concurrent production of electricity or mechanical power and valuable thermal energy (heating and cooling) from a single energy source.
  • A type of distributed power generation which, unlike central station generation, is located at or near the point of consumption.
  • A suite of technologies that can use a variety of fuels (energy mix) to generate needed electricity or power at the point of use, allowing the heat that would typically be lost in the power generation process and be recovered and repurposed to provide needed heating and cooling.

C.H.P. technology can be deployed quickly, cost-effectively, efficiently, and with few geographical or physical limitations. C.H.P. can use a variety of fuels, both fossil- and renewable-based. It has been employed for many years, mostly in industrial, large commercial, and institutional applications. C.H.P. may not be widely recognized outside industrial, commercial, institutional, and utility circles. Still, it has quietly provided highly efficient electricity and process heat to some of the most vital industries, largest employers, urban centers, and campuses in the United States.

There are several applications of standard C.H.P. technologies using different sources of energy to generate power. C.H.P. systems consist of electric generation, most typically from natural gas, diesel, coal, biomass, solar, wind, geothermal, or nuclear, with a system that captures the heat produced and customarily lost.

The excess heat, often in the form of steam, can be repurposed for heating or more frequently for cooling and domestic hot water. However, the fuel of choice for C.H.P. is natural gas. Several applications of C.H.P. include but are not limited to fuel cells, gas turbines, microturbines, reciprocating engines, steam turbines, and absorption chillers.

 

WHY COGENERATION?

Natural gas deposits account for a significant portion of oil reservoirs in Nigeria. More than two-thirds of the amount of oil found in Nigeria is available in large recoverable natural gas reservoirs. Several billion cubic feet of stranded natural gas are flared, vented, or re-injected each year. Almost two million barrels of oil a day are produced in the oil field in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, and these oils are produced in reservoirs containing a large amount of gas, which is produced with the oil. The associated gas produced with oil can be separated, but approximately close to 95 percent of it is flared into the atmosphere unabated. The flaring of this abundant supply of stranded natural gas wastes valuable national resources that can be harnessed and tapped economically. This residual natural gas that accompanied oil production can efficiently be utilized in other national industrial developments, such as electricity production. Notably, the flaring of Natural gas has severe consequences for the environment. Learn more

Flaring natural gas damages the environment since it also creates smog and acid rain. However, harnessing and conserving this gas with proper utility application, such as the gas-fired turbine cogeneration system, produces good business sense and is suitable for the environment. Natural gas is colorless, odorless. Its pure form is the most desirable, efficient, and cost-effective alternative energy source to fuel electrical generation. Its clean-burning nature, which addresses critical environmental concerns such as the problem of urban smog, acid rain, and greenhouse gas emissions, makes natural gas a reliable, efficient, and cleaner source of electrical power. As a clean-burning fuel, natural gas efficiency is aiding new advances in developing alternate energy technology such as fuel cells and natural gas vehicles (N.G.V.’s).

Using energy industry best practices and independently reviewed studies by the Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), we have ascertained cogeneration as the best solution.

Cogeneration technology is a reliable, cost-effective, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly solution. Several government organizations and public entities, most notably the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.), recognize the benefits of cogeneration in providing reliable, clean, and efficient energy.

BLACK CRYSTAL ENERGY Electrical Power Development Project is the “Blue Diamond Light” (B.D.L.) project. It will increase public access to electricity by about 90 percent initially for the immediate population in significant parts of Nigeria. This project will promote gas-fired cogeneration electrical power plants in an environmentally sound manner while encouraging government and private participation to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness of the existing current and future electrical power supply in the country.

Black Crystal Energy has remained committed to natural gas production in electricity production since the company laid the groundwork for cogeneration over ten years. Before beginning its sole operation in energy exploration in 2002, Black Crystal Energy worked with UNIGAS Company of Norman, Oklahoma, to lay the foundation for the “Blue Diamond Light” (B.D.L.) project in Nigeria.