Micro combined heat and power

Micro combined heat and power (micro-CHP) is small-scale cogeneration that supplies electricity and useful heat from one fuel input, typically to an individual building or small site.

Cogeneration: The simultaneous production of electricity or mechanical power and useful heat from the same energy source. Micro-CHP is the small-scale form of this combined-production approach.
Building energy management system: A system that monitors and controls a building’s energy-consuming and energy-producing equipment. It can coordinate micro-CHP operation with heating, electricity use, and storage.
Boiler: A device that heats water or another fluid by transferring energy from fuel or electricity. A boiler supplies heat without producing electricity as a simultaneous product.
Primary energy: Energy in naturally occurring resources before conversion into electricity, fuels, or other usable forms. Comparisons with separate heat and power depend on the primary energy consumed by each system.
Reciprocating engine: A machine that converts pressure from expanding gases into rotating shaft motion through pistons moving in cylinders. Many micro-CHP systems use an engine to drive an electrical generator while recovering engine heat.
District heating: A system that distributes heat from centralized sources through networks of insulated pipes to multiple buildings. Micro-CHP serves heat near its point of production rather than through a district network.
Heat pump: A device that moves heat from a colder source to a warmer space using work, usually electricity. A heat pump consumes electricity to deliver heat, unlike micro-CHP’s combined production.
Carbon intensity: The greenhouse-gas emissions associated with a unit of energy or economic activity. Micro-CHP’s emissions depend on its fuel and on the electricity it displaces.
Stirling engine: A closed-cycle heat engine that produces mechanical work through cyclic compression and expansion of a working gas. External heating lets this engine generate electricity while its heat source and exhaust heat serve the building.
Residential heating: The systems and fuels used to maintain comfortable temperatures in homes. Micro-CHP can supply heat directly to a dwelling’s existing heating circuit.

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