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Houston Methodist Hospital, 4.6-MW CHP System- Case Study
Established in 1919, Houston Methodist Hospital is a recognized leader in several specialties, including cardiovascular surgery, cancer, diabetes, organ transplants, and neurology. The main campus is located at the heart of the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. A central utility plant serves the cluster of five buildings for its chilled water and steam needs. The most recent additions to the campus include a 1.1 million square foot research center and a 26-story, 1.6 million square foot outpatient center.
Quick Facts
- LOCATION: Houston, Texas
- MARKET SECTOR: Hospitals
- FACILITY SIZE: 1,000 bed hospital and four other buildings in complex
- FACILITY PEAK LOAD: 11 megawatts (MW) for two main buildings served by CHP plant
- EQUIPMENT: Combustion turbine (Solar Turbine Centaur 50S) with heat recovery steam generator, supplementary duct burner, 2800 ton steam driven chiller
- FUEL: Natural gas
- USE OF THERMAL ENERGY: Steam-driven chillers, hot water, space heating, and humidification
- CHP INCREMENTAL COST: $4.0 million
- ANNUAL ENERGY SAVINGS: $1.8 million
- PAYBACK: 2.2 years
- ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS: Reduced NOx emissions by 71% & CO2 emissions by 28%
- CHP IN OPERATION SINCE: 201
Project Description
In 2008, planned expansions at the Houston Methodist Hospital campus, including a new research building, made it necessary to expand the capacity of the existing Central Utility Plant. The expansions needed were additional steam and cooling tower capacity, and back-up power for the cooling system. A more traditional alternative (additional boiler, diesel generator, cooling tower, etc.) was compared with a CHP alternative. Despite its higher initial costs, the CHP alternative was chosen, mainly due to the added energy security/reliability benefits.
