Co-Generation Technology

It speaks about various co-generation technology that is used in the world. it is a process to increase the

performance of machines or rather heat engines. It is a thermodynamic concept and but its economical concepts are taken into consideration.

The concept of cogeneration can be considered as a system that is generating power not only thorough some direct mechanism, but also there is secondary or sometimes tertiary utility of the unit as a whole. Power in conventional system is generated by rotating an alternator in a magnetic field, the rotation is done through a mechanical system generally a turbine or reciprocating engine, which can be driven by steam or gas. But in many case there is some additional utilisation, like the waste hot gases coming out from a gas turbine or engine, can be utilised to generate steam. This steam has a further utility in captive process, in chilling units, in heating and sometimes even for secondary power generation. In many cases the water that is required to cool the various components of the plant just for proper operation find importance in many process where heat is required. Some time the fed steam from boilers into the turbine is used in the heat exchangers of process plants, as it comes out of the boilers as a low quality out i.e. an example of back pressure turbine. There are also cases that that shaft power available through mechanical prime mover is used in other process apart from rotating the alternator, even in other way the steam is utilised separately to run mechanical drives. So as a whole the cogeneration is a system which a dual utility, it produces power directly and indirectly also, and also find utility in some other different form