As diverse and complex are today’s product lines, the manufacturing conditions under which they are produced can be just as varied and complex. In addition to electricity, steam, hot water and cooling may be required. With cogeneration plants, these forms of energy can be generated together and thus supplied in a highly efficient manner.
Even companies that do not have a large heat demand can benefit from the advantages of cogeneration if cooling is produced from the surplus heat using absorption chillers. Absorption refrigeration technology consequently offers the ideal opportunity to make economic use of the heat coming from the CHP unit and thus supply the production process with cooling, electricity and, if necessary, steam and hot water.
Refrigeration compressors are typically used to produce cooling. They use an electrically driven compressor to pressurize the gaseous refrigerant.
Combined heat, power and cooling for cryogenic refrigeration
The use of low-temperature waste heat from CHP plants for low-temperature cooling in an absorption refrigeration system is severely limited by a heating temperature of about 90 °C.
The environmental and economic advantage of such a system is driven by an efficient use of fuel and the fact that the primary energy factor for natural gas is much lower than the primary energy factor for electricity. By using multi-stage systems, lower temperatures can be achieved and sufficient cooling of the cogeneration unit can be ensured.
The fact that the purchase of electricity is reduced, it also reduces the primary energy expenditure.
In the case of a cogeneration unit with an electrical output of 2 MW, which additionally contributes saturated steam at 10 bar(g) with a waste heat boiler and provides deep-freeze cooling at around -7 °C with an absorption refrigeration system, primary energy savings of more than 15 % are possible! If saturated steam is required at a lower pressure or cooling at a higher temperature, the efficiency of the CHP plant increases, leading to greater primary energy savings.
GETEC supports its customers with a broad portfolio of experience and proven concepts.