co-generation plant reverse engineering

Co-Generation Plant Project REP Group #66Asa Army, Derek Dodge, Vincent Chov, Cameron Hopkins, Reed Thaner

Who?Asa Army - asa13002 - 2026842

Derek Dodge - djd13002 - 2019982

Cam Hopkins - cah13001 - 1999781

Vincent Chov - vac13002- 2036548

Reed Thaner - rst10002 - 1866527

Tuesday/Thursday section

What is the Cogeneration Plant?

●The Co-Generation Plant is the power plant on campus.

●The plant generates all of the power needed for the UConn Storrs campus.

●It is powered by natural gas which fuels turbines to pressurize steam, which is then used for both heating, cooling, and power production.

What makes it unique?● Most conventional power plants use oil or coal to

produce electricity, which is an inefficient use of energy, and natural resources.

● The Co-Generation plant takes the exhaust heat and uses it for a myriad of other functions.

● The Co-Generation plant runs primarily on natural gas, which is the cleanest form of fossil fuel currently available.

● The Co-Generation plant allows UConn to produce its own power, along with heating and cooling the campus, significantly reducing our environmental impact.

Simple Flowchart of Plant

Power Output●The plant is capable of producing 25

Megawatts(MW) of power, and 2-3 MW are used to run the plant.

●UConn used CL&P prior to the Cogen Plant.●CL&P stands for Connecticut Light and

Power, which has an effective monopoly on power in CT.

●The co-gen plant only produces enough energy to meet its needs, since any extra energy goes to CL&P for free.

Cost and Savings●The Cogeneration plant cost $80 million to

build in 2005.●The UConn Storrs campus reduced its

energy costs from $12 million in 2005 to $2 million per year in 2006 by constructing the Co-Generation facility.

●This $10 Million savings per year means that in 2013 the facility will have paid for itself with the money that was saved by the University.

Gas Turbines●Three 7.5MW Solar Taurus 70 Turbines run

the plant.●These are run on natural gas, which then run

3 water-cooled electric generators.●The exhaust from these generators is then

used to power a steam generator, which then produces both high and low pressure steam.

Gas Turbines

Gas Turbines●In a gas turbine,

air goes from a compressor into the “combustion chamber”.

●Fuel injectors mix gas and air in the combustion chamber.

Gas Turbines●Compressing the air and gas allows for more

energy to be released upon ignition since there is more fuel per unit of volume.

●Once this energy is released by gas combustion, the pressure and temperature increases drastically.

●The high temperature and pressure exhaust gases drive the turbine.

Gas Turbines

Gas Turbines●The exhaust pushes

the turbine into motion like air through fan blades.

●This turbine rotation cranks an output shaft which makes usable rotational kinetic energy.

TurbineBlades

Gas Turbines●This rotary motion is used to power an

electric generator.●In the Co-Generation plant, a magnet is

attached to the output shaft and spun inside a coil of copper wires.

●This creates an electric current through the wires, thus creating usable electricity.

Gas TurbinesEven though we call the piece of the turbine that turns the magnet the output shaft, this shaft also connects the compressor to the turbine blades.

Output Shaft

Gas Turbines●Since the output shaft is also connected to

the shaft between the compressor and turbine, the turbine is able to pull air through the compressor and essentially run itself.

●The rotation of the shaft rotates the compressor, which causes it to pull in the air on its own and thereby continues the cycle.

Gas Turbines●Simple summary of a gas turbine●

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM9Cd6kpVpY (click below to watch video)

Gas Turbine Protection●The three gas turbines are all protected in a

thick solid metal box.●This box adds soundproofing and insulation

to the turbines as well as protection to the people inside the building in the event of a turbine malfunction.

Gas Turbine Video●A potential problem with a gas turbine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAhjSviYVr8

Gas Turbine Protection●If something like this were to go wrong at the

Co-gen plant, the thick metal surrounding the turbines would keep everyone safe.

Metal box

Gas Turbine Exhaust●Most gas turbines just waste the exhaust

gases and release them into the atmosphere.

●But in the Co-Generation plant, the exhaust gas is used to heat steam.

●This way the heat energy is harnessed and converted into more electricity.

Gas Turbine Exhaust●The exhaust from

the gas turbines flows through here.

●The exhaust from the gas turbines is upwards of 1400 degrees Fahrenheit.

●This exhaust gas runs over plates, and heats them up.

Making Steam●Water is then run over

these plates in another chamber.

●Since the plates are roughly 1400 degrees fahrenheit, the water very quickly turns into steam.

Steam● Most conventional power plants release steam and

waste it, but the Co-gen plant uses that steam to increase efficiency.

● The high pressure steam pressurized to roughly 620 pounds per square inch(psi) and is used to generate more electricity in a steam powered generator.

● The low pressure steam is pressurized to roughly 128 psi and is sent to all of the buildings on campus for heating.

● The low pressure steam also runs refrigeration compressors during the summer months for air conditioning on campus.

Steam Turbine●The Steam Turbine

Generator (STG) takes the excess steam produced and turns it into electricity

●The STG can produce an extra megawatt of energy that would otherwise be wasted.

Steam Turbine Generator●The STG works in the same basic manner

as a gas turbine, but instead uses steam to drive turbine blades, which in turn drives a generator, creating electricity.

●High pressure steam is needed so when the compressed vapor is allowed to expand it has the force necessary to drive the turbine.

Steam Turbine Generator

●Here is a simple steam turbine attached to a generator.

http://geothermal.marin.org/geopresentation/sld038.htm

Steam Turbine Generator●The STG is located in this metal box.●It is powered by the turbine behind.

Turbine is behind here

Generator inside here

Simple Generators●The rotary motion is supplied by the

turbines.Front View

Battery

Side View

http://www.ncert.nic.in/html/learning_basket/electricity/electricity/machine/ac_generator.htm

Water● The power plant is the largest single user of water on

campus.● 600,000 gallons of water a day are used to power the

plant.● 100,000 gallons evaporated per day from the

Cogeneration plant.● Source of the water is the state-of-the-art Water

Reclamation facility opened in. ● Previously had drawn from Fenton river, which ran dry

in 2005 due to high water usage by the university.

Water●The University of Connecticut was forced to

look for ways to reduce their water consumption on campus due to the Fenton River running dry.

●This lead to several innovations including the water reclaim facility that feeds the the Co-generation plant.

●It also sparked interest on how to reduce water consumption on campus and how to solve these issues.

Boilers●Large boilers are used to produce steam in

the plant.●The water gets pumped through a series of

pipes, which then pass through a natural gas fueled burner.

●This produces roughly 60,000 lbs/hour of steam when at full capacity.

●The steam then gets sent throughout campus in an underground piping system.

Boilers●During our tour,

maintenance was being performed on a leaky pipe in the boilers.

●This is the first time the boilers have been taken apart in roughly 40 years.

●This enabled us to get an inside view of the boilers.

The flame of the boiler would come from here.

Boilers●The water being

boiled runs through these pipes and the immense heat turns it into steam.

Tunnels●Throughout campus, there are underground

tunnels.●There are two major tunnels, the North and

South tunnel.●The South tunnel run all the way from the

Co-Gen plant to South Campus.●They house the piping system required to

move massive volumes of steam, natural gas, and water.

Tunnels●This is a vast improvement over the previous

outdated piping system.●The majority of the main steam arteries are

enclosed, away from the deteriorating effects of mother nature.

●They are also in a more stable environment less affected by heating and cooling due to the changing of the seasons.

●This will enable the Cogen plant and all of its systems to work properly for years to come.

North Tunnel

Water Purification●The water used at the Co-Gen plant is sent

from the highly advanced water reclamation facility, which removes impurities, anions and cations.

●The water reclaim facility processes water that has already been used on campus in the dining halls, academic buildings or in the residence halls.

Water Purification●Once it arrives at the plant, it then is purified

further using Reverse Osmosis.●Ultra pure water is essential to prevent

buildup of impurities in piping systems.●At the Co-Gen plant, the water goes through

another advanced purification process.

Reverse Osmosis● Reverse osmosis is a method of diffusion

commonly used to purify water● The process involves sending the

nonpotable water through a semipermeable membrane.

● This membrane diffuses the water by only allowing pure water, not excess ions through the membrane.

Water Tanks●One of the water

storage tanks.●There are storage

tanks after many of the steps of water filtration.

Cooling Towers●Honeycomb-like apparatus located on the

roof, where the water is sent for cooling.●The honeycomb design allows for increased

surface area to speed up heat transfer.●Also the prolonged exposure to the

atmosphere acts as a heat sink for the Co-gen plant.

●Roughly 100,000 gallons of water evaporates per day.

Cooling Towers

Water

Backup Systems●The plant also has numerous emergency

and reserve systems, for when the plant goes offline.

●There are 600,000 gallons of diesel fuel in storage tanks underground for emergencies.

●Three diesel generators are the primary reserve system.

●Two are used for power generation, while the third is only used to power up the main gas turbines.

Backup Systems● When it gets really cold, the plant may need to

use the back up boilers to produce more heat (rare occurrence).

● These backup systems also come into effect when the plant is shut down for maintenance during most of May.

● However occasionally there are total plant shut downs, in which case power is drawn from the grid.

Efficiency●The Co-Gen plant is roughly 80% efficient,

whereas a conventional power plant is about 33% efficient.

●This is because in a Co-Generation facility all the energy that could possibly be harnessed is being used.

●Power is produced by producing energy from steam, which is used for both heating and cooling on campus.

Environmental Responsibility

●The Co-Generation plant has played a vital role in making UConn one of the most environmentally friendly colleges in the world.

●The plant has reduced greenhouse gas emissions of CO2 by ~30,000 tons per year.

●UConn was recently ranked the most environmentally sustainable campus in the world due to the advancements that have been made within the past few years.

Exhaust Systems● Due to state and federal regulations restricting

emissions into the atmosphere the Co-gen plant has a system to reduce the NOX released into the atmosphere.

● To reduce the NOX that is a product of combustion of natural gas; NH3 along with a selective catalytic reduction catalysts to break the NOX into nitrogen gas and water vapor.

● The following reactions are the reactions that take place to break down the NOX.○4NH3+4NO +O2→4N2+6H2O ○2NH3+NO+NO2→2N2+3H2O ○8NH3+6NO2→7N2+12H2O

Exhaust & “Smokestack”

Exhaust●Although it looks as if there is a lot of smoke

coming from the plant, it is actually relatively cool steam and exhaust gases.

●The Co-gen plant uses all of the heat energy it can in the plant to make more electricity.

●This results in cool exhaust gases being released.

●~100,000 gallons of water are evaporated a day.

●Energy loss from aging piping system. This loss is due to steam leaking off due to small leaks and aging seals.

●The power plant in itself requires an enormous amount of energy (2-3MW).

Energy Losses

Monitoring the Plant●The plant is monitored through the control

room.●75% of the plant can be controlled by the

computers in the control room.●Live feed: energyservices.uconn.edu

Co-gen Plant Control Room●From the power plant control room, a team

of people monitor and control the various turbines, pumps, valves and actuators in the plant.

●One has the ability to view which turbines and pumps are online as well as view information pertaining to power output as well as the power being used due to the plant’s energy consumption.

Co-gen Plant Control Room

Electrical Overview

Steam System Overview

Insulation●Insulation prevents major changes in

temperature.●Most of the systems in the Co-gen plant

have insulation.●Often metal (Aluminum) coats the insulation

for the pipes, etc. to protect them from dents as well as to maintain the proper temperature.

Boiler Insulation●This is fire resistant

tile covering the inside of the boiler.

●These tiles are around 40 years old but they are still able to withstand the intense heat of the boiler.

Water Pipe insulation●Since it is important

that these pipes remain at a constant cold temperature, insulation is needed to make sure the air in the plant does not warm the water.

Steam Insulation●As you can see, the

tunnels go a long way.

●So to maximize the amount of steam we can use, the pipes are insulated so the steam does not leak or loses heat.

Pipe insulation

Gas Turbine Insulation●Along with the thick

metal surrounding the turbines, there is also insulation inside the metal so heat does not escape into the air in the plant.

Extra insulation outside the turbine

Soundproofing●As you can imagine, a power plant of this

scale creates quite a lot of noise.●The entire building is brick and has been

engineered for sound reduction.●Each turbine and generator is enclosed in a

thick metal box which greatly reduces noise.●Aluminum sound barriers are on the roof,

which are extremely effective, and virtually no sound escapes.

Soundproofing●This is the

Aluminum sound barrier surrounding the entire roof of the plant. Wall

Wall

Soundproofing●The interior walls of the Co-gen plant are

also soundproofed to the outside.

Cuts in the brick help to absorb the noise inside the plant.

Soundproofing

●For added safety, earplugs are given out at the door before entering the plant.

●The building is sound proof to the outside, but it is still very loud inside the plant.

Employees●Thanks to many

employees working in the Co-gen plant, the plant can be monitored and kept in check.

Tim

Safety Precautions●Hard hats, safety glasses, and ear protection

need to be worn inside the Co-gen plant.

Hard Hat

Safety Glasses

Ear Protection

Derek

References

[1] Anonymous Combined Cycle Journal, pp. 71-74, 2007.[2] J. W. Burns and D. J. Cooper, "Active NOX control of cogen gas turbine exhaust using a nonlinear feed forward with cascade architecture ," ISA, 2011.[3] (2010). Co-Generation Plant. Available: http://ecohusky.uconn.edu/energy/cogen.html.[4] (2012). Rankings Reveal Most Sustainable Campuses in the World. Available: http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/rankings-reveal-most-sustainable-campuses-world.[5] R. Gaudet, S. Nolan and S. Marks, "UCONN CEAB Presentation," 2010.[6] L. S. Langston, "Campus Heat and Power," Mechanical Engineering, December 2006.[7] (2013). GAS TURBINE OVERVIEW. Available: http://mysolar.cat.com/cda/layout?m=35442.

Sources[1]https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/energy-efficiency/a-greener-less-expensive-cogeneration-plant[2]http://combinedcyclejournal.com/5Q-Pacesetter/UConnCogen.pdf[3]http://www.ctenergy.org/pdf/CHPUCONN.pdf[4]http://mysolar.cat.com/cda/layout?m=35442[5]http://ecohusky.uconn.edu/energy/cogen.html[6]http://www.engr.uconn.edu/control/pdf/pow11.pdf[7]http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/rankings-reveal-most-sustainable-campuses-world