Combined Heat and Power

Overview

Installing a combined heat and power system designed to meet the thermal and electrical base loads of a facility may greatly increase a facility's operational efficiency and decrease energy costs. At the same time, combined heat and power reduces the emission of GHGs that contribute to global climate change.

CHP is not a single technology, but an integrated energy system that may be modified according to the needs of the energy end user. SAIC has helped numerous commercial and government clients realize energy efficiencies at their facilities by using combined heat and power options.

Success Stories

• Cogeneration Design for Military Campus

  SAIC performed utility systems master planning and design services to expand utility systems to accommodate new base missions and a 14-building military campus. We completed a comprehensive analysis of the existing utility infrastructure to accommodate the projected load growth for the proposed 90-acre complex. Recommendations were made for upgrades and selected modernization of the central chilled water and heating systems, combined with the design of new, stand-alone systems for remote buildings. We analyzed a variety of different equipment and operating scenarios to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating the following energy reduction strategies into the master plan: central plant vs. distributed heating and cooling options; cogeneration heat pump; electrical demand reduction (peak load shaving and peak load transfer); and thermal storage (ice storage, water storage).

• Dairy Farm Digester Gas/Cogeneration Plant

  SAIC designed a power plant that enables a dairy farm to turn its waste into electricity to power its water pumping and milking operations. The power plant uses a thermophilic digester, which uses heat-loving organisms that are warmed using waste heat to break down cow manure and turn it into gas. The gas is then used to power three generators that can produce 1,350 KW each. The farm can feed any excess electricity produced back to the grid of the local rural electric cooperative.

• Biomass to Energy Cogeneration Projects

  SAIC provided full engineering services for a technology firm specializing in biomass-fueled energy conversion and recovery facilities. The project includes three rice hull gasifiers, two 600 psig steam boilers, and one 15 megawatt turbine/generator. Auxiliary services consist of cooling water and cooling tower, service air, water treatment, and the condensate and boiler feed-water systems. Controls are programmable logic control-based with a fully automated control scheme. The extraction steam from the turbine is directed into a reheat boiler, which produces food quality process steam. The project includes the fuel handling system, the ash disposal system, and all necessary stack emission control systems.

• Military Medical Center Cogeneration Plant

  SAIC performed award-winning DesignBuild services for an Alternate Energy System Feasibility Study for a 1,000 bed military hospital and clinic. The objective was to evaluate energy technologies and systems and to compare their economic feasibility with the conventional central plant system. The energy plant features a 3,000 KW load balancing electric boiler capable of producing up to 10,000 pounds per hour of 100 psig steam. This boiler is used to shift the plant output from electrical to thermal output.