Combined Heat and Power
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) or cogeneration is a power facility which uses the heat produced in electricity generation as heating for both residential and industrial buildings. Traditional power stations simply waste this useful heat by releasing it as steam. Combined heat and power has enormous potential as any industrial process which creates heat as a bi produt of its activities has the potential to contribute useful heat.
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| The process of combined heat and power is called cogeneration. The process of combined heat and power is a recycling process which combines both heat and power for producing energy. This process is carried out in specific combined heat and power generating stations where the heat produced during power generation and the exhaust heat are used up heating up water or for other specific purposes. The combined heat and power plants are otherwise called the CHP plants. The steam which is also produced during power generation can be used to drive the steam turbine. The efficiency of steam turbines is about eighty percent which is much higher than other power generating stations.
There are different types of combined heat and power stations like the gas turbine plants which use the waste heat from the flue gases of the gas turbines, steam turbine plants which uses the waste heat from the steam turbines for the operation of steam condensers. The steam and other hot waste gases consist of less carbon which also helps in controlling air pollution. These gases help in making the surroundings and the environment ecologically safe. This process also helps in conserving the natural resources because they do not consume additional fuel or resources. Many countries are adopting this principle of producing power because of is efficiency as well as the low consumption of resources. There also exist other two types of combined heat and power plants which are known as the mini and micro power plants. These mini power plants are capable of producing power between 5 KW to 500 KW which use Stirling engines, micro turbines and internal combustion engines. Discoveries have made it clear that the Stirling engine provide the best efficiency. These micro CHPs can produce only power of up to 5 KW. |
