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The development of new "on-site" and "near-site" distributed power generation technologies, such as advanced combustion turbines and reciprocating engines, microturbines, and fuel cells, are opening up new opportunities not only for improving power reliability for buildings but also reducing energy costs. Equipment for distributed generation is commercially available from many U.S. companies, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Combustion (Oil and Gas) Turbines
- General Electric
- Westinghouse Electric
- Solar Turbine
- Micro- and Mini-Turbines
- Capstone Turbines
- DTE Energy Technologies
- Ingersoll Rand
- Reciprocating Engines
- Caterpillar
- Kohler
- Waukesha
Opportunities for reducing energy costs for buildings come from integrating buildings cooling, heating and electrical energy needs with distributed generation. The CHP systems also improve the economics of operating humidity management system for controlling indoor air quality. Thermally-activated equipment (e.g. absorption chillers and desiccant systems) for cooling, heating, and humidity control are also commercially available from many U.S. companies, including the following:
- Absorption Chillers
- American Yazaki
- Broad USA
- Carrier Corporation
- Dunham Bush
- Robur Corporation
- The Trane Corporation
- Desiccant Systems
- Munters Corporation
- ATS
- Kathabar
At present the distributed generation equipment and the thermally-activated equipment must be customized at each building site. Work is now in progress, by at least seven teams of US companies, for developing 'Ready to Go" modular packaged systems to reduce total system costs, improve overall energy efficiency, and reduce operating and maintenance costs. Designing plug-and-play systems for CHP systems is critical to reducing the time and effort required to integrate system components. Universal connection standards would greatly simplify installation and maintenance-and encourage acceptance of the technology by the architectural and engineering community. Simplified, pre-engineered, skid-mounted CHP equipment would make building owners responsible only for connecting power, piping, or ducting. Controls may be connected to a local network, permitting onsite personnel to operate the equipment directly from a desktop PC.
DOE is helping manufacturers work together not only to integrate their components into packages, but also to make the packages more readily available in the marketplace. Over $30 million have been allocated for the project, with industry contributing 43% of the funds. DOE's $18.5 million contribution goes to seven industry teams for research, development, and testing of First Generation Packaged Cooling, Heating and Power Systems for Buildings. The 7 teams receiving the DOE awards, include the following companies:
- Broad USA, NY
- Burns and McDonnell, MO
- Capstone Turbine Corporation, CA
- Carrier Corporation, NY
- DTE Energy Technologies, MI
- Gas Technology Institute, IL
- Ingersoll Rand
- NiSource Energy Technologies, IN
- Pratt & Whitney
- Solar Turbines
- The Trane Company
- United Technologies
- Waukesha Engines
A CHP Integration Test Center has been established at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. The objective of the center is to create a new understanding of how to integrate CHP into buildings. You are welcome to take a virtual tour of the test center. Partners in this test center include the following:
- DOE's Office of Power Technologies
- DOE Office of Distributed Energy Resources (DER)
- DOE CHP Program
- University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Energy Engineering
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- Brookhaven National Laboratory
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Broad USA
- Goettl Corporation
- ATS
- Kathabar
- Several gas utilities
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has also established the Midwest CHP Application Center (MAC) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Energy Resources Center (ERC). The Center is a partnership between UIC/ERC and the Gas Technology Institute (GTI). Its mission is to provide application assistance, technology information, and educational support in the eight Midwest states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
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