Brigham Young University Rexburg, Idaho - 5.7 MW Gas Turbine CHP System - Case Study
Quick Facts
LOCATION: Rexburg, Idaho
MARKET SECTOR: University
FACILITY SIZE: Educates 34,000 students
FACILITY Total Electrical Energy Production: 38.4 million kWh/year
EQUIPMENT: 5.7 MW Solar Taurus 60 gas turbine with 50,000 lbs/hour heat recovery steam generator (HRSG)
FUEL: Natural gas-fired, with dual fuel oil-firing capability for both the gas turbine and HRSG
USE OF THERMAL ENERGY: Steam distribution loop plus 1,000-ton steam turbine-driven chiller.
PAYBACK: Estimated at 8 years
CHP IN OPERATION SINCE: August, 2015
Site Description
Brigham Young University---Idaho (BYUI) is a private, four-year university affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. BYUI is Idaho’s largest private University, educating a total of 34,000+ students on a 430 acre campus with a district heating loop providing space heating for 40 buildings. The University is located in Rexburg, Idaho, a city of 28,000 located about 50 miles from Yellowstone National Park.
Reasons for CHP
Historically, the University had purchased their electrical energy and relied upon coal and natural gas-fired boilers for steam production. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) were putting into place more stringent emissions regulations, which would have required the University to install scrubbers and other advanced emissions control equipment. This prompted the University to consider improving both energy efficiency and reducing emissions from their central heating plant. The university’s design team had the goals of becoming more energy efficient, eliminating dependence on coal, reducing emissions, and minimizing reliance on the electrical grid.
CHP met their requirements as the university ultimately constructed a new energy center adjacent to the old central steam plant, containing two Cleaver-Brooks 45,000 lbs/hour natural gas-fired water-tube boilers with low-NOx burners; a single 25,000 lbs/hour fire-tube boiler; and a 5.7 MW gas turbine with a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) capable of supplementary or fuel oil firing. The HRSG is rated to provide 50,000 lbs/hour when natural gas-fired duct burners are used. The auxiliary steam boilers are used to meet peak thermal demands plus provide redundancy as they provide a backup source of steam to the CHP system.
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