Opportunity Analysis of Cogeneration and Trigeneration Solutions: An Application in the Case of a Drug Factory

Increasing the energy efficiency of a drug factory is the main purpose of this paper. Different configurations of cogeneration systems are analyzed to meet most of the heat demand and to flatten the heat load duration curve. Due to the variable nature of heat demand, there is a need for heat storage, but there is also a need for the fragmentation of power into two units of cogeneration to increase the operational flexibility in these plants. When the heat produced by the combined heat and power (CHP) unit is insufficient to meet the heat load, the heat stored can then be used to meet that demand. Heat storage plays a significant role in managing the heat supply and demand profiles in the CHP system, and in reducing its capacity and size. Trigeneration and heat storage are used as options to increase the operating time of cogeneration units and, implicitly, the amounts of heat and electricity generated in cogeneration. The results of this study demonstrate the economic and technical viability of the cogeneration and trigeneration solutions proposed. For the values of electricity and natural gas prices at the time of the analysis (2021), Scenario 4 is characterized as the optimal economical and technical option for the current rate of consumption, as it ensures the highest values of heat and electricity production and the shortest investment payback period (5.06 years). Compared with separate heat and power generation, we highlight a primary energy saving of 25.35% and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 241,138 kg CO2/year.