Earth Energy - Cogeneration Experiment

The objective of this project is to design, install, commission, and evaluate a ground source, sink, storage system to allow homeowners to generate their own electricity using a natural gas fuelled generator.

This project investigates the use of a ground coupled heat pump utilizing two vertical wells, which are deliberately sized to only satisfy the space cooling needs of the CCHT Test house. The heat pumps are therefore undersized for the peak heating loads of the house, thus leaving room in the energy balance to use waste heat from the cogeneration unit and/or take up heat previously rejected by the cogeneration unit to the ground.

A third vertical well is installed as a dedicated sink for waste heat from the cogeneration unit. This third well is located between the two wells serving the ground coupled heat pump, interacting with the heat pump in such a way that the waste heat from the cogeneration unit would migrate over time to the outer two wells in order to compliment the operation of the heat pumps when in space heating mode.

A key driver for this work is the possibility that the heating loads of the home could be served using less natural gas than is currently used by conventional space heating appliances by first applying the natural gas to generate electricity, then using a portion of this electricity to operate a ground coupled heat pump. As such, combined systems using cogeneration and heat pumps may represent the most effective use of natural gas in a carbon constrained world. A particular feature of the system being investigated is the inherent flexibility in the decision to operate the cogeneration unit (for example in response to time of day rates).

Key research priorities are to identify scenarios when it is economic to operate the cogeneration unit, and under such scenarios, how much heat can be recycled through the ground to benefit the homeowner.

This project is divided into four phases. Phases 1 and 2 were accomplished in 2006-7. Phase 3 is ongoing.

• Phase 1: Project design, installation and commissioning
• Phase 2a: Heat pump demonstration at the CCHT
• Phase 2b: Cogeneration unit testing under laboratory conditions
• Phase 3: Cogeneration unit demonstration at the CCHT
• Phase 4: Borefield Optimization

Papers

• Integration and monitoring of microCHP systems in residential application at the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology
  Manning, M.M. Szadkowski, F. Gusdorf, J. Entchev, E. Swinton, M.C. Douglas, M. Micro-Cogeneration 2008 (Ottawa, Ontario, 2008-04-29)
  pp. 8. 2008-04-29
  [Full citation / Référence complète]
  
• Yang, L.; Douglas, M.A; Gusdorf, J.; Szadkowski, F.; Limouse, E.; Manning, M.M.; Swinton, M.C.: "Residential Total Energy System Testing at the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology", Proceedings of PWR2007, ASME Power, July 17-19, 2007, San Antonio, TX, USA.
• Gusdorf, J.; Douglas, M.A.; Szadkowski, F.; Limouse, E.; Manning, M.M.; Swinton, M.C.; Yang, Y. "Residential Total Energy System Installation at the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology," Proceedings, World Energy Engineering Congress, 15-17 August 2007, Atlanta, GA, USA.