Integrating a Cogeneration System in Food Process Manufacturing

The goal of the project is to determine the benefits and drawbacks of implementing a combined heat and power (CHP) unit in a food processing plant. CHP system is an integrated energy system that produces electrical and thermal energy from a single fuel source. Different CHP technologies and vendors available were identified. The studied CHP technologies included steam and gas turbines, micro-turbines, reciprocating engines, and fuel cells. Of these technologies a 400 kW range reciprocating engine was deemed optimal due to physical size constraints, voltage output requirements (600 VAC), and costs. The plant’s thermally intensive units were studied at the tunnel heating system and the boiler unit system as potential places to recover the waste heat. Simulations of these two units were conducted with based case and each of the three vendor specified CHP units. Based on the data, it was found that the optimal recovery process is the boiler unit system that provides a higher increase in temperature and mitigates the risk of potential errors in calculations. Rigorous economic analyses show the payback period of the CHP unit to be 2 years and 1 month. Furthermore, there is no significant increase in GHG emissions through the implementation of the CHP unit and potential hazardous noise exposure can be mitigated through a sound attenuated enclosure.