Evaluation of a turbine driven CCHP system for large office buildings under different operating strategies

Abstract Combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) systems use waste heat from on-site electricity generation to meet the thermal demand of the facility. This paper models a CCHP system for a large office building and examines its primary energy consumption (PEC), operational costs, and carbon dioxide emissions (CDE) with respect to a reference building using conventional technologies. The prime mover used in this investigation is a load share turbine, and the CCHP system is evaluated under three different operation strategies: following the electric demand of the facility, following the thermal demand of the facility, and following a seasonal strategy. For the various strategies, the percentages of total carbon dioxide emissions by source are presented. This paper explores the use of carbon credits to show how the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions that is possible from the CCHP system could translate into economic benefits. In addition, the capital costs available for the CCHP system are determined using the simple payback period. Results indicate that for the evaluated office building located in Chicago the CCHP operation reduces the operational cost, PEC, and CDE from the reference building by an average of 2.6%, 12.1%, and 40.6%, respectively, for all the different operational strategies.