The Significance of a Building’s Energy Consumption Profiles for the Optimum Sizing of a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) System—A Case Study for a Student Residence Hall

Khuram Pervez Amber, Antony R. Day, Naeem Iqbal Ratyal, Rizwan Ahmad and Muhammad Amar
Additional contact information
Khuram Pervez Amber: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST), Mirpur 10250 (AJK), Pakistan
Antony R. Day: Faculty of Engineering, Science and the Built Environment, London South Bank University, 103 Borough Road, London SE1 OAA, UK
Naeem Iqbal Ratyal: Department of Electrical Engineering, Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST), Mirpur 10250 (AJK), Pakistan
Rizwan Ahmad: School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Muhammad Amar: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST), Mirpur 10250 (AJK), Pakistan

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: University buildings, such as student residence halls with year-round consistent energy demands, offer strong opportunities for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems. The economic and environmental feasibility of a CHP project is strongly linked with its optimum sizing. This study aims to undertake such an assessment for a CHP system for a student residence hall located in London, the United Kingdom (UK). The study also aims to undertake a sensitivity analysis to investigate the effect of different parameters on the project’s economics. Necessary data are collected via interviews with the University’s Energy Manager. Modeling of the CHP system is performed using the London South Bank University (LSBU, London, the UK) CHP model. Results demonstrate that optimum sizing of CHP is crucial for achieving higher economic and environmental benefits and strongly depends on the authenticity of the energy consumption data, based on which the CHP is being sized. Use of incorrect energy data could result in an undersized or oversized CHP system, where an oversized system will result in higher negative results compared to an undersized system. Finally, Monto Carlo statistical analysis shows that electricity price is the significant factor that could affect the project’s economics. With an increasing spark gap, the payback period decreases, and vice versa.

Keywords: Combined Heat and Power; CHP; student residence hall; optimum sizing; economic feasibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/6/2069/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/6/2069/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:6:p:2069-:d:153149

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().