Methods for Calculating Efficiency Basic Information

CHP Frequently Asked Questions (P F! (" ##$ %&'(! Biomass CHP Efficiency Benefits )elia*ility Benefits En+ironmental Benefits Economic Benefits

CHP is an efficient and clean a##roach to generating #o,er and thermal energy from a single fuel source- CHP is used either to re#lace or su##lement con+entional se#arate heat and #o,er (.HP! (i-e-$ central station electricity a+aila*le +ia the grid and an onsite *oiler or heater!-

CHP .ystem Efficiency efined (ey /erms 0sed in Calculating CHP Efficiency Calculating /otal .ystem Efficiency Calculating Effecti+e Electric Efficiency 1hich CHP Efficiency Metric .hould 2ou .elect3 efined

CHP .ystem Efficiency

E+ery CHP a##lication in+ol+es the reco+ery of other,ise ,asted thermal energy to #roduce additional #o,er or useful thermal energy- Because CHP is highly efficient$ it reduces emissions of traditional air #ollutants and car*on dio4ide$ the leading greenhouse gas associated ,ith glo*al climate changeEfficiency is a #rominent metric used to e+aluate CHP #erformance and com#are it to .HP- /his 1e* #age identifies and descri*es the t,o methodologies most commonly used to determine the efficiency of a CHP system5 total system efficiency and effective electric efficiency/he illustration *elo, illustrates the #otential efficiency gains of CHP ,hen com#ared to .HPCon+entional 6eneration +s- CHP5 7+erall Efficiency

In this e4am#le of a ty#ical CHP system$ to #roduce 89 units of useful energy$ the con+entional generation or se#arate heat and #o,er systems use %&8 units of energy:;% for electricity #roduction and 9< to #roduce heat:resulting in an o+erall efficiency of 9% #ercent- Ho,e+er$ the CHP system needs only %'' units of energy to #roduce the 89 units of useful energy from a single fuel source$ resulting in a total system efficiency of 89 #ercent-

High=)esolution Image >> /o# of #age (ey /erms 0sed in Calculating CHP Efficiency Calculating a CHP system?s efficiency requires an understanding of se+eral key terms$ descri*ed *elo,-

CHP system. /he CHP system includes the unit in ,hich fuel is consumed (e-g-

tur*ine$ *oiler$ engine!$ the electric generator$ and the heat reco+ery unit that transforms other,ise ,asted heat to usea*le thermal energy-

Total fuel energy input (QFUEL). /he thermal energy associated ,ith the total
fuel in#ut- /otal fuel in#ut is the sum of all the fuel used *y the CHP system- /he total fuel energy in#ut is often determined *y multi#lying the quantity of fuel consumed *y the heating +alue of the fuelCommonly acce#ted heating +alues for natural gas$ coal$ and diesel fuel are5

Net useful power output (WE). Bet useful #o,er out#ut is the gross #o,er

o %'"' Btu #er cu*ic foot of natural gas o %'$%98 Btu #er #ound of coal o %@A$''' Btu #er gallon of diesel fuel

#roduced *y the electric generator minus any #arasitic electric losses in other ,ords$ the electrical #o,er used to su##ort the CHP system- (An e4am#le of a #arasitic electric loss is the electricity that may *e used to com#ress the natural gas *efore the gas can *e fired in a tur*ine-!

 Net useful t ermal output (!QTH). Bet useful thermal out#ut is equal to the
gross useful thermal out#ut of the CHP system minus the thermal in#ut- An e4am#le of thermal in#ut is the energy of the condensate return and makeu# ,ater fed to a heat reco+ery steam generator (H).6!- Bet useful thermal out#ut re#resents the other,ise ,asted thermal energy that ,as reco+ered *y the CHP system6ross useful thermal out#ut is the thermal out#ut of a CHP system utilized *y the host facility- /he term utiliCed is im#ortant here- Any thermal out#ut that is not used should not *e considered- Consider$ for e4am#le$ a CHP system that #roduces %'$''' #ounds of steam #er hour$ ,ith ;' #ercent of the steam used for s#ace heating and the remaining %' #ercent e4hausted in a cooling to,er/he energy content of ;$''' #ounds of steam #er hour is the gross useful thermal out#ut/o# of #age Calculating /otal .ystem Efficiency /he most commonly used a##roach to determining a CHP system?s efficiency is to calculate total system efficiency- Also kno,n as thermal efficiency$ the total system efficiency ( o! of a CHP system is the sum of the net useful #o,er out#ut (1E! and net useful thermal out#uts (DQ/H! di+ided *y the total fuel in#ut (QF0EE!$ as sho,n *elo,5

/he calculation of total system efficiency is a sim#le and useful method that e+aluates ,hat is #roduced (i-e-$ #o,er and thermal out#ut! com#ared to ,hat is consumed (i-e-$ fuel!- CHP systems ,ith a relati+ely high net useful thermal out#ut ty#ically corres#ond to total system efficiencies in the range of <' to A9 #ercentBote that this metric does not differentiate *et,een the +alue of the #o,er out#ut and the thermal out#utF instead$ it treats #o,er out#ut and thermal out#ut as additi+e #ro#erties ,ith the same relati+e +alue- In reality and in #ractice$ thermal out#ut and #o,er out#ut are not interchangea*le *ecause they cannot *e con+erted easily from one to another- Ho,e+er$ ty#ical CHP a##lications ha+e coincident #o,er and thermal demands that must *e met- It is reasona*le$ therefore$ to consider the +alues of #o,er and thermal out#ut from a CHP system to *e equal in many situations/o# of #age Calculating Effecti+e Electric Efficiency Effecti+e electric efficiency calculations allo, for a direct com#arison of CHP to con+entional #o,er generation system #erformance (e-g-$ electricity #roduced from central stations$ ,hich is ho, the maGority of electricity is #roduced in the 0nited .tates!Effecti+e electric efficiency (HEE! can *e calculated using the equation *elo,$ ,here (1E! is the net useful #o,er out#ut$ (DQ/H! is the sum of the net useful thermal out#uts$ (QF0EE! is the total fuel in#ut$ and I equals the efficiency of the con+entional technology that other,ise ,ould *e used to #roduce the useful thermal energy out#ut if the CHP system did not e4ist5

For e4am#le$ if a CHP system is natural gas fired and #roduces steam$ then a re#resents the efficiency of a con+entional natural gas=fired *oiler- /y#ical a +alues for *oilers are5 '-A for natural gas=fired *oiler$ '-89 for a *iomass=fired *oiler$ and '-A@ for a coal=fired *oiler/he calculation of effecti+e electric efficiency is essentially the CHP net electric out#ut di+ided *y the additional fuel the CHP system consumes o+er and a*o+e ,hat ,ould ha+e *een used *y con+entional systems to #roduce the thermal out#ut for the site- In other ,ords$ this metric measures ho, effecti+ely the CHP system generates #o,er once the thermal demand of a site has *een met/y#ical effecti+e electrical efficiencies for com*ustion tur*ine=*ased CHP systems are in the range of 9% to <; #ercent- /y#ical effecti+e electrical efficiencies for reci#rocating engine=*ased CHP systems are in the range of <; to A& #ercent/o# of #age 1hich CHP Efficiency Metric .hould 2ou .elect3 /he selection of an efficiency metric de#ends on the #ur#ose of calculating CHP efficiency-

If the o*Gecti+e is to com#are CHP system energy efficiency to the efficiency of a

site?s .HP o#tions$ then the total system effi"ien"y metri" may *e the right choice- Calculation of .HP efficiency is a ,eighted a+erage (*ased on a CHP system?s net useful #o,er out#ut and net useful thermal out#ut! of the efficiencies of the .HP #roduction com#onents- /he se#arate #o,er #roduction com#onent is ty#ically @@ #ercent efficient grid #o,er- /he se#arate heat #roduction com#onent is ty#ically a 89= to A9=#ercent efficient *oiler-

If CHP electrical efficiency is needed for a com#arison of CHP to con+entional

electricity #roduction (i-e-$ the grid!$ then the effe"ti#e ele"tri" effi"ien"y metri" may *e the right choice- Effecti+e electric efficiency accounts for the multi#le out#uts of CHP and allo,s for a direct com#arison of CHP and con+entional electricity #roduction *y crediting that #ortion of the CHP system?s fuel in#ut allocated to thermal out#utBoth the total system and effecti+e electric efficiencies are +alid metrics for e+aluating CHP system efficiency- /hey *oth consider all the out#uts of CHP systems and$ ,hen used #ro#erly$ reflect the inherent ad+antages of CHP- Ho,e+er$ since each metric measures a different #erformance characteristic$ use of the t,o different metrics for a gi+en CHP system #roduces different +aluesFor e4am#le$ consider a gas tur*ine CHP system that #roduces steam for s#ace heating ,ith the follo,ing characteristics5 Fuel In#ut (MMBtuJhr! Electric 7ut#ut (M1! /hermal 7ut#ut (MMBtuJhr! &% @-' %88

0sing the total system efficiency metric$ the CHP system efficiency is <A #ercent (@-'K@-&%@L%8-8!J&%!0sing the effecti+e electric efficiency metric$ the CHP system efficiency is 9& #ercent (@-'K@-&%@!J(&%=(%8-8J'-A!/his is not a unique e4am#leF a CHP system?s total system efficiency and effecti+e electric efficiency often differ *y 9 to %9 #ercentN$TE% Many CHP systems are designed to meet a host site?s unique #o,er and thermal demand characteristics- As a result$ a truly accurate measure of a CHP system?s efficiency may require additional information and *roader e4amination *eyond ,hat is descri*ed in this document-