Capstone microturbine CHP and CCHP solutions “reduce energy costs, ensure power availability, and have ‘a near-zero emissions profile’,” says Turner EPS, Capstone Turbine Corporation’s UK distributor.
Capstone microturbines ‘have just one moving part, no gearbox or other mechanicals, and use no lubricants or hazardous materials’. To produce 120 kW of hot water using 65 kW of electricity in a CHP application, they require 230 kW of fuel. To achieve the same electricity and hot water outputs, Turner EPS says some traditional energy sources use ‘up to 33% more fuel’. Many organisations have reportedly boosted energy efficiency and cut power costs using Capstone microturbines in CHP (or cogeneration) or CCHP (or trigeneration) applications. The company said: “As microturbines generate electricity, they produce exhaust heat. With CHP and CCHP, the waste heat is captured, rather than released to the atmosphere. This thermal power is then, for example, used to heat the building, provide warm water for the laundry, or heat swimming pool water. In a CCHP application, an absorption chiller is added. Steam can also be produced as a bi-product of the microturbine exhaust, through the absorption chiller.” Capstone is to supply two C200 microturbines to the Splo˘sna bolni˘snica Novo Mesto, a general hospital in Slovenia. Rooftop-mounted, they will operate in a CCHP application at the 377-bed regional hospital. The natural gas-fuelled, grid-connected microturbines will provide electricity, heating, and domestic hot water.
