Application of Micro-CHP System for a Student Accommodation Building in North Cyprus

Increased use of fossil fuels is the primary source of the greenhouse gasses causing the global warming. This paved the way for increased research on renewable energies and energy efficient systems, for producing heat and power. With this regard, combined heat and power systems are used as energy efficient systems leading to a reduction in fossil fuel consumption. The objective of this study is to investigate the energetic (thermal and electrical) performance and economic feasibility of employing a 5.5kW Micro Combined Heat and Power (Micro-CHP) plant to a 400m2 student accommodation building in Cyprus. The analysis is carried out for two scenarios; i. Micro-CHP system following the thermal load of the building ii. Micro-CHP system following the electrical load of the building. The building’s constructions material’s thermophysical properties, building’s schedules (occupancy, lighting, electrical appliances, heating requirements and hot water use), are defined for the case study building. These parameters are required for the investigation and analysis. The investigation is done by carrying out dynamic simulations by the thermal simulation software Energy Plus. The simulations are done for the heating season (1st of November-28th of February). The parameters required for the simulations are explained extensively in the work. Monthly, daily and hourly results (energy produced by Micro-CHP plant) are presented for the simulation period and given for the two scenarios; Micro-CHP system following the thermal load and electrical load of the building. The results show that the maximum energy production by the Micro-CHP system for following the thermal load is in January with thermal energy production of 14680.57 MJ and electrical energy production of 6867.43 MJ. When the Micro-CHP follows the electrical load of the building, the maximum energy output is obtained again in January with electrical output of 6458.6 MJ and thermal output of 13976.49 MJ. Finally, an economic feasibility analysis of the Micro-CHP has been carried out at the end of this study for both cases; Micro-CHP following thermal load and following electrical load of the building. It has been shown that for following the thermal load 6539 kWh electrical energy is saved but 3654 kWh of more thermal energy is used with Micro-CHP compared with a conventional system. The overall energy saving is 2885 kWh. For following the electrical load, 6946.5 kWh of electrical energy saved but 8502 kWh of more thermal energy is used with Micro-CHP. The overall energy saving is - 1555 kWh. It is seen that when the thermal load is followed energy is saved but when the electrical load is followed there is no energy saving. Although there is energy saving while the Micro-CHP is following the thermal load of the building, the system is not feasible as Savings to Investment Ratio=0.4, Internal Rate of Return=0%, and Simple Payback Period= 23.8 years. This has several reasons such as the high installation cost in Turkish Lira, low oil prices causing lower electricity prices etc. It has been showed that if the Turkish Lira rate is stable such as it was 3 years ago and the electricity prices were at the same value as 3 years ago the project would be feasible with SIR=1.1, IRR=11%, and SPP=8.2 years. Keywords: electrical load of the building, thermal load of the building, Micro-CHP analysis, economic analysis.