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Power-first Cogeneration
Heat-first Cogeneration
Cogeneration FAQs
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Heat-first Cogeneration
Many companies using steam to power their operations are missing a chance
to generate free electricity. In a typical application, a boiler creates
high-pressure steam which is pumped through small, energy-efficient pipes to
where it is needed. Most processes, however, operate on low-pressure steam.
A pressure reducing valve (PRV) installed between the steam delivery pipes
and the process reduces the steam’s energy to an acceptable lower pressure,
but the valuable energy released by PRVs is not utilized.
EcoEnergy can harness that waste energy and turn it into electrical power,
increasing efficiency and reducing energy costs. A cogeneration plant
replaces existing PRVs with steam-driven electrical generators, using the
high-pressure steam to produce electricity and sending the resulting
low-pressure steam to processes. A steam turbine doesn’t “use up” the
high-pressure steam; it simply reduces its pressure – the original duty of
the PRVs – and produces electricity as a valuable “byproduct.”
Heat-first cogeneration has helped improve the efficiency of a variety of
facilities, from ethanol plants to health care facilities to paper mills and
even vegetable canneries.
While EcoEnergy engineers seek to maximize environmental and financial
efficiency of new projects through cogeneration technology, we also evaluate
existing power systems for cogeneration capability. Whether re-engineered or
built originally as a cogeneration project, we can handle every stage of the
process from initial evaluation to completion.
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