Ed Lewis, Senior Deputy Director

““Blending/Comparing Energy Produced Blending/Comparing Energy Produced By A Microturbine And Other Generation By A Microturbine And Other Generation

Devices At A Colorado Hog FarmDevices At A Colorado Hog Farm”

“5th Annual Microturbine Application Workshop”

January 26, 2005Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Office of Energy Management and Conservation Overview

• Serves people of Colorado through the demonstration and education of viable, real-world energy solutions

• Federally funded; No Colorado tax dollars• Founded in 1977

Colorado Pork, LLC.Lamar, CO Started production in October

of 1999 A typical breed-to-wean CAFO

with approx 6,300 sows & 1,200 gilts

Built to be both an energy- & water-efficient CAFOAD is the only one on a Colorado Farm. It is currently one of only around 40 in the US. Approx. another 70 are being built.

The biogas powers a Capstone 30 kW MT and/or a modified natural gas internal combustion, 80 kW reciprocating engine attached to a generator set

A 65 kW refurbished Vestas E-15 wind turbine is currently blending wind-powered electricity with that produced from biogas

A 55 kW STM Power Stirling engine is on site and in the process of being added to the biogas stream for demonstration purposes

STM Power StirlingEngine

Capstone MT

Caterpillar Recip, IC Engine

VestasWind Turbine

• 66% methane (with approximate BTU value of 661 per cubic foot)

• 31% CO2• 0.6% H2S (6,000ppm)

• Compares to 100ppm to 300ppm for human & cattle wastes

Biogas primary constituents*:*Approximate figures

Electrical Consumption

Recip engine and MT produce approx 30% of farm’s kWh

Colorado Pork pays approx $3,500 for electricity/month

Other local hog CAFOs of equivalent size pay between $10,000 - $11,000 per month

Additional Equipment Required For The MT• General Filters: ~$400

• Desiccant Dryers: ~$4,000

• Refrigerated Dryer: ~$4,000

• Fully-Automated Mixing Valve: ~$2,000 (*)

• Roots Meter (Gas input readings): ~ $3,000 (*)

(*) Also required for digester or other

electrical generating equipment

Additional Equipment Required For The MT (cont’d)• Compressor:~$4,800• Heat Exchanger: ~$12,000• Totalizer:~$2,800 (*)• Total system cost: ~ $60,000 **

** Total demo cost: > $100,000

Powerhouse and Generation Equipment

MT Problems • Treating high H2S content of gas (due largely to extremely high sulfate

count in water)• Types of treatment considered:

• At-the-well additive to bind up the sulfates (H2O analysis showed elemental sulfates to be 63% above Fed. Safe Drinking Water Act)

• Scrubbing the gas• Drying and lowering dew point of the gas

• Overcoming corrosion of internal parts of equipment contacted by the gas• “Original” equipment affected:

• Heat exchanger: (Added cost of original ~ $10,000) • Compressor (Added cost of original ~ $5,000)

“New” equipment used to replace original equipmentrequired the use of 316 stainless steel on internalsurfaces contacted by biogas.

MT Pluses When Compared To Recip Engine

MT:

• Is easier to maintain and operate• Has better emissions• Is generally quieter (high-pitched whine at 97K rpm)• Is somewhat more efficient• For other than foul gas, has a much smaller footprint

Emissions Performance (lb/kWh)

 

PowerCommand

NOx CO CH4 SO2 THC NH3 CO2

  30kW 0.0008 0.009 0.002 0.037 0.003 .0000006 3.45

 

 

 

Capstone 24kW 0.0009 0.01 0.003 0.039 0.003 Not Tested 3.61

Rated at 20kW 0.002 0.01 0.003 0.04 0.004 Not Tested 3.79

30kW 15kW 0.002 0.017 0.009 0.042 0.011 Not Tested 3.9

  45kW 0.012 0.05 0.112 0.023 AboveRange

.000004 1.97

 

Caterpillar

Rated at 38kW 0.006 AboveRange

0.114 0.024 AboveRange

Not Tested 2.07

75kW 30kW 0.002 AboveRange

0.15 0.03 AboveRange

Not Tested 2.21

USEPA Environmental Technology Verification Test

CHP Heat and Power Performance

PowerCommand

Net Power Net Heat Thermal Total

  Delivered (kW)

Power Recovery Efficiency CHP

    Efficiency (10³ BTU/hr) (%) System

    (%)     Efficiency

            (%)

  30kW 19.9 20.4 111 33.3 53.7

 

Capstone 24kW 19.3 20.3 116 35.8 56.2

Rated at 20kW 15 18.6 108 39.2 57.7

30kW 15kW 10.1 15.7 96.9 44.1 59.8

  45kW 44.7 19.7 250 32.4 52.1

Caterpillar

Rated at 38kW 37.5 17.1 227 30.3 47.4

75kW 30kW 29.6 13.8 219 30 43.8

USEPA Environmental Verification Test (cont’d)

MT Minuses When Compared To Recip Engine

MT:• For foul gas, costs too much for required additional equipment,

unless multiple units are ganged together

• Internal parts, particularly the fuel valve, can’t handle foul gas as readily

• Has far fewer technicians familiar with troubleshooting them or making repairs and technicians who can work on them are far removed from the facilities where the MTs are located

• Are generally much less familiar to the on-site operators, which makes the learning curve longer and steeper

• Likely will have a relatively lengthy maturation period before they reach acceptance and serviceability parity

Microturbine Technology is Very New to Agriculture

For example, just three years ago, Colorado Pork MT was:

•1st in the world to use biogas on a hog farm•1st in the Americas to use biogas in an active agricultural setting

Have since been showing up in numerous agricultural settings around the US and many other parts of the world.

Other OEMC MT ProjectsUniversity of Colorado at Boulder - Capstone 30 kW CHP

•Natural gas fired•Heats Recreation Center Pool •Powers the pool’s pumps•With what appears to be enough additional heat and power, plans are to pick up the center’s other pool•Used by engineering school students to learn about this technology•Total system cost: ~$75,000

Other OEMC MT Projects:

Idalex Coolerado

Ingersoll Rand 70 kW

Bowman Power 80 kW

Colorado Dept. Of Labor & Employment

•Base load, CHP project•Combines two MTs for direct comparisons•Demonstrates effects of supplying chilled air to MTs’ intakes•Expect to approach or reach full power requirement of facility

Plug Power GenCore 5kW UPS

Bowman Power 80 kW

Other OEMC MT Projects: Denver, Colorado, Police Station

•Base Load, CCHP Project Using MT•Backup Fuel Cell Power For Critical Systems•Switching Backup By Fuel Cell Between MT And Grid•Total cost unknown (in design phase), expect it to be ~$150,000

For More Information

Colorado Governor’s Office of Energy Management and Conservation225 East 16th Avenue, Suite 650

Denver, CO 80203Website: www.state.co.us/oemc

Phone: (303)866-2100 / (800)632-6662Fax: (303)866-2930