Benefits of thermal energy storage option combined with CHP system for different commercial building types

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A combined heat and power (CHP) system is investigated with and without a thermal energy storage option for eight different commercial building types located in Chicago, IL. The building’s electrical and thermal loads are simulated on an hourly basis over one year and a CHP system operating at a constant base load is modeled. The CHP system alone is compared with a CHP system which incorporates thermal storage in varying amounts. In each case, the CHP system reduces operational cost, primary energy consumption (PEC), and carbon dioxide emissions (CDE) with respect to the reference case without a CHP system. For six of the eight buildings, adding thermal storage provides further reductions in operational cost, PEC, and CDE. More thermal increases these benefits. However, the size of the supplemental boiler required by the building to satisfy the thermal load is not reduced except in the case of the large hotel. In addition, the sizing of the CHP system’s power generation unit is not significantly affected by the addition of thermal storage. Buildings which require higher ratios of power to heat will be less likely to benefit from the addition of thermal storage to a CHP system.