- Heat utilization

PLANT DESIGN OPTIONS | HEAT UTILIZATION | OVERVIEW 


When electricity is produced centrally at large power plants, as much as 70% of the energy input is lost as waste heat (67%) and in transmission losses (3%). Due to this losses, in order to produce 35 units of electricity and 50 units of heat, in a conventional scheme where electricity is purchased from the grid and heat is produced separately with a individual fossil fueled boiler, requires roughly 189 units of energy input. In a biomass powered Combined Heat and Power application, the same units of electricity and heat can be produced with 100 units of renewable energy input.    

For each unit of electric energy generated, Turboden units generate approximately 4 units of thermal energy. Utilizing these large quantities of thermal energy, improves the financial performance and overall energy efficiency of a project (>80%), while adding significant environmental benefits.  

There are several different possibilities to utilize the heat produced from a Turboden ORC unit. 

 

I. DISTRICT HEATING & COOLING 


 There are over 70 plants in Europe where Turboden units power a local district heating network.

 

 


 


 

 


 

 

In addition to the economic and environmental advantages, biomass power plant used for district heating offer several benefits at the local level.

Local communities benefit by the establishment of local micro-economies centered around the supply of locally sourced biomass to the plant; energy money in recirculating in the local economy instead of flowing out for fossil fuels creating energy jobs. As a rule of thumb 70% of the money spent on biomass fuels stay in the local economy (compared to 10% for oil). 

Below are a few examples of Turboden ORC based biomass power plants powering local district heating networks.  


 II. COGENERATION/TRIGENERATION IN BUILDINGS 


When powered by a biomass CHP plant, buildings with large needs in electricity, heating and cooling such as hospitals, airports, hotels, universities, office buildings and the like, can effectively lower operating costs while drastically improving their environmental footprint. Typically done by the technically straightforward combination with an absorption chiller, the heat generated by the ORC can also be converted to cooling.

Below are a few examples of Turboden ORC based biomass power plants where heat is utilized for Combined Cooling Heat and Power in buildings.  

 

III. PROCESS HEAT & COOLING


Co-locating a biomass CCHP plant can significantly reduce operating costs in the main process facility by covering heating and cooling demand at virtually zero cost. Several facilities with large heating cooling requirements are suitable for such applications: food industry, wood processing plants, hydroponic greenhouses etc.  Additional benefits can be achieved if the waste generated by the main industrial process can be used as fuel in the biomass plant. 

Below are a few examples of Turboden ORC based biomass power plants where heat is utilized for process heat.  

 

IV. INTEGRATION WITH PELLET PRODUCTION


Raw material drying contributes as much as 30% to the total production costs in pellet plants. Utilizing the heat generated by the ORC in a belt dryer can lower production costs drastically.

Below are a few examples of Turboden ORC based biomass power plants where heat is utilized in pellet production.   

 

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