Features Effective Energy Conversion

Cogeneration Opportunities in Process Industries

Na Raghu

Cogeneration is the environmentally-friendly, economically-sensible way to produce power, simultaneously saving significant amounts of money as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is a significant measure to enhance industrial competitiveness

hen we speak of boosting energy efficiency in industries, Co-generation is the buzzword being advocated as the most beneficial technology. Many industries require electricity as well as heat in the form of steam or hot water for their operations. These requirements are normally met through different energy sources. Simultaneous production of electricity and heat from a single primary energy source is termed as co-generation or combined heat and power. Cogeneration is one of the most efficient energy conversion processes with large cost saving potential which boosts competitiveness of the industries. Higher energy conversion efficiencies will also contribute to lower emission in particular CO2, the main green house gas. The power generated from cogeneration projects could be used for meeting the captive requirements and the surplus power could be exported to the grid. With the rising energy cost and unreliable grid power, there is good potential for industries to opt for cogeneration, as a cost reduction measure. As per estimates, power generation potential through cogeneration is about 15,000 MW through co-generation in core industries of our country. Significant potential exists in breweries, chlor-alkali plants, textile mills, distilleries, fertilizer plants, pulp and paper industry, solvent extraction units, rice mills, petrochemical plants, etc. The adoption of cogeneration technology in Indian industries is poor except in the sugar industries, for

various reasons such as higher capital investment, issues related to grid synchronization, technological constraints and fluctuating steam demand etc A well designed system can tackle all these hurdles. The cost involved in engineering will get paid back as Cogen yields good returns apart from undisturbed power supply. For better energy efficiency, Steam should be used at lowest pressure possible. The pressure required in many process industries are 3 to 4 bar, which achieved using pressure reducing stations, thus wasting energy. By using back pressure turbines or extraction cum condensing turbine, steam at required pressure could be extracted with out any energy wastage. This will greatly improve the system efficiency.

Heat-to-power ratio

Heat to power ratio is the ratio of thermal energy to electricity required by the industry and is expressed in different units such as Btu/kWh, kcal/kWh, lb./hr/kW, KW/KW etc. It is the most important parameters to be considered while selecting the type of cogeneration system, as it has to match with the characteristics of the cogeneration system being installed (Refer Table 1) Designing the downstream system is critical, once we decide to opt for cogeneration. Designing the steam end use equipments to operate at the lowest steam pressure possible would help in extracting maximum power from

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Cogeneration System Back-pressure steam turbine Extraction-condensing steam turbine Gas turbine Combined cycle Reciprocating engine

Heat-topower ratio (kWth/ kWe) 4.0-14.3 2.0-10.0 1.3-2.0 1.0-1.7 1.1-2.5

Power output (as% of fuel input) 14-28 22-40 24-35 34-40 33-53

Overall efficiency (%) 84-92 60-80 70-85 69-83 75-85

TECHNICAL PARAMETERS Turbine Input conditions Process Steam Pressure (Back Pressure) Power output from turbine

BACK PRESSURE 3 Kg/cm2 (g) 10 TPH 33 Kg/cm2 g) 3 Kg/cm2 (g)

BACK PRESSURE 4 Kg/cm2 (g) 10 TPH 33 Kg/cm2 g) 4 Kg/cm2 (g)

BACK PRESSURE 5 Kg/cm2 (g) 10 TPH 33 Kg/cm2 g) 5 Kg/cm2 (g)

600 KW

540 KW

500 KW

Table 2- Power Generation at Different Back Pressures

TECHNICAL PARAMETERS Steam Temperature Process Steam Kg/cm2 (g) Pressure (Back) Power output from turbine Quality of exhaust Steam 6 TPH 9 Kg/ cm2(g) 2500C 3 Kg/ cm2 (g) 145 KW Dry 1900C 6 TPH 21 Kg/ cm2(g) Saturated 3 Kg/ cm2 (g) 220 KW 7 % Wet 6 TPH 21 Kg/ cm2(g) 3300C 3 Kg/ cm2 (g) 300 KW Dry 2100C 6 TPH 33 Kg/ cm2(g) 3500C 3 Kg/ cm2 (g) 340 KW Dry 2100C 6 TPH 42 Kg /cm2(g) 4200C 3 Kg/ cm2 (g) 380 KW Dry 2300C

Table 1 Heat-to-power ratios of the different cogeneration systems

Steam Turbine Cogeneration

Principle
Boiler Steam Cycle Heat Exchanger Utilizable Heat

Turbine

Generator

Electrical Energy

Table 3 - Power output for different steam temperature

Back pressure turbine

Fig 1- Steam Turbine Cogeneration Principle

the turbine. The table 2 gives an idea of power generation at various back pressures for the same input condition. To achieve higher turbine efficiency, steam temperature is important apart from lower back pressure. Super heated steam helps in better power output. Table 3 shows the power output for various steam temperature.
Efficiency Comparison Between Cogeneration and Separate Production of Electricity and Head Separte production of Electricity and Heat
Fuel 100 Fuel 100 Power Plant Boiler Electricity 36 Heat 80 Total Efficiency :

Back pressure turbine would be ideal where the steam load is steady, without much fluctuation in demand. The power generation will be to the extent of steam usage. Any extra power demand in this case can be met through grid power supply. For smaller process boilers this would be the ideal selection.
Q Steam generator Steam turbine

Pel

feed water numn

QH

= 36+80
200

= 0.58

Pel Electrical output QH heat consumer Q Heat input G Generator

feed water steam shaft

Cogeneration
Electricity Fuel 100 Cogeneration System 30 Heat 55 Total Efficiency :

Fig 3 - Back Pressure Turbine

= 30+55
100

= 0.85

Extraction-cum-Condensing Turbines

Fig 2- Efficiency Comparison Between Cogeneration and Separate Production of Electricity and Head

An extraction cum condensing turbine would be a better option in the case of fluctuating power and steam requirements. For many applications in process industries, this would be the case.

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STEM FLOW TO COOKERS HG/HR X 1000

Q Steam generator feed water numn Steam turbine

Pel

BOILER LOAD WITHOUT ACCUMULATOR 6500 KG/HR MEASURED AVERAGE STEAM LOAD STEAM SUPPLIED FROM ACCOUMULATOR STEAM CHAROED INTO ACCUMULATOR

TOTAL STEAM FLOW HG/HR X 1000

QH

condenser

Hours NORMAL BOILER LOAD WITH ACCUMULATOR

Pel QH Q G

Electrical output heat consumer Heat input Generator

feed water steam shaft

Fig 5 - Co-generation Boilers

Hours

Fig 4 - Extraction cum Condensing Turbines

Process with fluctuating steam load

Often we come across process like breweries, where the steam demand will be fluctuating. Fluctuating steam loads hampers boiler operating efficiency. In breweries the steam pressure used is less than 1 bar, where as the boiler operates at 9 to 10 bar. The following illustration explains the steam load pattern with and without using a steam accumulator. The system efficiency could be improved by installing an accumulator. This will help in going for power generation using cogeneration.

drum boilers are used for this application. In India, agro fuel fired boilers are being used widely to save fuel cost. Manually fired boilers using wood or agro waste are not suitable for this application, since maintaining stable steam pressure would be difficult. It is better to consider Fluidized best combustion (FBC). In case of wood or agro based residue, a chipper may be installed to facilitate auto feeding of fuel.

Co-generation Boilers

Oil, Gas, Coal and agro waste boilers, waste heat recovery boilers are all used in process industries, which can also be used for power generation. Since high pressure steam is required, water tube, smoke tube cum water tube, bi-

Na. Raghu, is the CEO of Technoplus Services, Chennai and is a Boiler, COGEN and Heater Consultant. He is also a BEE Certified Energy Auditor, He can be contacted info@ technoplusservices.com

Case study of a COGEN system in a rice mill

Rice Mill (par boiling) capacity Steam required for par boiling Installed capacity of Boiler Installed capacity of turbine Back pressure Power output during normal operation Power generated per day Power cost Savings in power generation : 300 ton paddy per day : 9200 kg / hr : 12000 kg / hr : 800KW : 3.5 kg/cm2 : 700 KW : 16,000 units : Rs 3.1 / unit : Rs51, 000/- per day With rising cost of fuel, identifying & implementing small or big cogeneration scheme have become most economic propositions. Large opportunity exist in Cement, Sugar & Petrochemical plants and Chlor-alkali industries ,and cogeneration options need to be considered/utilized during modernisation and Debottlenecking of existing plants. Detailed steam & power balance could bring forth this hidden opportunity. Cogeneration can also help in getting carbon credit and government subsidies.

The pay back will be around 200 days for the above case.

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