Energy and environmental analysis of a CCHP system used in industrial facility

The paper concentrates on problems of introducing a combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system into an industrial facility with well-defined demand profiles of cooling, heating, and electricity. Environmental and energy evaluation covering the proposed CCHP system (Case 2) and the reference system (Case 1) has been carried out. The conventional system consists of three typical methods of energy supply: a) electricity from an external grid, b) heat from gas-fired boilers, and c) cooling from vapor compression chillers run by electricity from the grid. The CCHP system contains the combined heat and power (CHP) plant with a gas turbine–compressor arrangement and water/lithium bromide absorption chiller of a single-effect type. Those two cases were analyzed in terms of annual primary energy consumption as well as annual emissions of CO2, NOx, and SO2. The results of the analysis show the primary energy savings of the CCHP system in comparison with the reference system. Furthermore, the environmental impact of the CCHP application, in the form of pollutant emission reductions, compares quite favorably with the reference conventional system.