What is Cogeneration

Cogeneration is the sequential production of thermal and electric energy from a single fuel source. In the cogeneration process, heat is recovered that would normally be lost in the production of one form of energy. That heat is then used to generate the second form of energy. For example, take a situation in which an engine drives a generator that produces electricity: With cogeneration, heat would be recovered from the engine exhaust and/or coolant, and that heat would be used to produce, say, hot water.

Making use of waste heat is what differentiates cogeneration facilities from central station electric power generation. The overall fuel utilization efficiency of cogeneration plants is typically 70-80% versus 35-40% for utility power plants, This means that in cogeneration systems, rather than using energy in the fuel for a single function, as typically occurs, the available energy is cascaded through at least two useful cycles.

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To put it in simpler terms: Cogeneration is a very efficient method of making use of all the available energy expended during any process generating electricity (or shaft horsepower) and then utilizing the waste heat.
A more subjective definition of cogeneration calls upon current practical applications of power generation and process needs. Nowhere more than in the United States is an overall system efficiency of only 30% tolerated as "standard design." In the name of limited initial capital expenditure, all of the waste heat from most processes is rejected to the atmosphere.
In short, present design practices dictate that of the useful energy in one gallon of fuel, only 30% of that fuel is put to useful work. The remaining 70% is rejected randomly.
If one gallon of fuel goes into a process, the designer may ask, "How much of that raw energy can I make use of within the constraints of the overall process?"
In this way, cogeneration may be taken as a way to use a maximum amount of available energy from any raw fuel process. Thus, cogeneration may be thought of as just good design.

How NEC meets your Cogeneration needs

NEC with its trained staff will undertake a complete and thorough study on the cogeneration installation in your facility.

If the facility already has an onsite generators, NEC will make full usage of the lost thermal energy by recuperating them and using them in any process/load needs.

Otherwise, NEC will design a complete system that would include both the on site distributed generation along the cogeneration option.

NEC teams up with global leaders from consultants to manufacturers in order to tailor made the best possible solution.

Cogeneration can be useful in the following cases:

• Absorption chillers and/or refrigeration
  
• Steam or hot water production
  
• Space heating
  
• Process heat utilization (furnaces, burners, drying processes)