Combined Heat & Power (CHP)

Although it is true to say that the PS integrated System is indeed a very significant improvement over a stand-alone generator, it is important to stress that engines still run hot and waste considerable energy that could be potentially put to work. It is a fact that on diesel engines, for every 1kW of electrical energy produced; 2kW of heat energy is subsequently lost to atmosphere. If a large percentage of this heat can be recovered and utilised, the efficiency of the diesel engine can be increased from 35% to in excess of 80%. The key aspect to remember is that the heat being captured and used is already paid for through the generation of power and so is effectively free. Also, in many cases, off-grid means remote, and the use of CHP dramatically reduces the consumption of diesel fuel and the need to refuel.

 

Diesel CHP systems deliver such high efficiencies because of the way they store and use the wasted heat energy from the engine. There are essentially two key areas where the heat energy is collected; from the exhaust gases via the exhaust manifold, and the water cooling jacket. From these two areas, on a 12kVA generator system, which produces a total heat output of 36.3kW, 12.2kW is used to create power, and an additional 20.9kW can be recovered. Using a temperature controlled heat store coupled with plate heat exchangers and control valves, inside the CHP system, different temperatures of water can be produced on demand for various applications simultaneously including those for washing basins, showers, and space heating. An important and very relevant feature of CHP systems is that they contain a very insulated heat store which means despite the generator running for a reduced amount of time (in the event that a PS System has been integrated), the vast amounts of heat energy are not lost but retained.

 

Renewable sources such as small wind turbines or solar panels can be connected into integrated PS Systems including those that are combined with CHP. This allows the battery pack of the system to be charged saving even more fuel from being burned and wasted by the generator over a working day. Besides, being used to recharge batteries, the renewable sources can also be used to provide free clean power to provide heating directly to the heat store.

 

We are able to offer customers power options up to 30kW (A typical electric shower requires between 7-9kW). Please contact us; we will have one of our friendly engineers size a system to provide your property with the optimum power and heat.