Comprehensive Study of Applications of Combined Heat and Power Systems in Tropical Locations

A simple payback and present worth analyses are conducted in this paper to evaluate the economical feasibility of small combined, heat and power (CHP) projects for the industry and business in hot and humid climates using the island of Puerto Rico as a reference case. Two fuels are considered in the analysis, diesel #2 and propane, along with a wide range of values for their cost and electricity rates. Several CHP scenarios are investigated including; power and cooling, power and steam, and power, cooling and steam. The CHP systems are compared with conventional methods used to supply the same power, cooling or steam loads. It was found from the analysis that for the cases in which the price of propane ranges from $1.3 to $1.5 per gallon, CHP systems are an excellent alternative over conventional grid connected generation.