Cogeneration unit not turning on in E
Problem
I'm trying use a micro turbine cogeneration unit in E+ to track the service hot water loop in my building, but I cannot get it to turn on.
What I've tried doing
I've basically started by copying some objects from the E+ example HeatRecoveryPlantLoop.idf
, namely the Capstone C65 Generator:MicroTurbine
and all associated curves, as well as the ElectricLoadCenter:Generators
and ElectricLoadCenter:Distribution
!- =========== ALL OBJECTS IN CLASS: ELECTRICLOADCENTER:GENERATORS ===========
ElectricLoadCenter:Generators,
Capstone C65 Generator, !- Name
Capstone C65, !- Generator 1 Name
Generator:MicroTurbine, !- Generator 1 Object Type
65000, !- Generator 1 Rated Electric Power Output {W}
Always On Discrete, !- Generator 1 Availability Schedule Name
; !- Generator 1 Rated Thermal to Electrical Power Ratio
!- =========== ALL OBJECTS IN CLASS: ELECTRICLOADCENTER:DISTRIBUTION ===========
ElectricLoadCenter:Distribution,
Capstone ELCD, !- Name
Capstone C65 Generator, !- Generator List Name
FollowThermal, !- Generator Operation Scheme Type
0, !- Demand Limit Scheme Purchased Electric Demand Limit {W}
, !- Track Schedule Name Scheme Schedule Name
, !- Track Meter Scheme Meter Name
AlternatingCurrent; !- Electrical Buss Type
Then I've created a PlantLoop as follows:
- Supply side: a pump, and three branches in parallel with one
WaterHeater:Mixed
, oneGenerator:MicroTurbine
and one bypass - Demand side: a
WaterUse:Connections
object and a bypass
I've put the Generator:MicroTurbine
on the supply side of the PlantLoop according to the I/O reference guide for ElectricLoadCenter:Distribution that says:
The FollowThermal and FollowThermalLimitElectrical schemes are for heat following cogeneration and run the generators to meet the thermal demand. [...] For these schemes, the generator needs to be connected to the supply side of a plant loop and components that request hot water need to be on the demand side of the plant loop.
I've verified that there is a demand on the demand side of my plant loop.
I've added the Generator:MicroTurbine
as first in line for the plant equipment operation scheme.
I've tried switching the Generator:MicroTurbine Heat Recovery Water Flow Operating Mode between PlantControl
and InternalControl
.
I've also hard-sized my loop pump - and made it variable speed - to make sure it's enough to provide the maximum heat recovery water flow rate of the cogen unit as I initially noticed it was autosized to a value below the minimum heat recovery water flow rate of the cogen unit.
I've also tried to remove the WaterHeater:Mixed.
None of the above have managed to get the Generator to come online.
Any ideas?
Update
Here is the IDF File
This is a 'meta', but EnergyPlus appears as E in the title although it appears as EnergyPlus when I try to edit.
Yes, not the first time I've seen this, title not updating...
@Julien Marrec I am also trying to do the exact same thing with OpenStudio (modeling a building powered by gas CHP) and I used Capstone C65, these are screenshots of my HVAC
Plant Loop 1Plant Loop 2AirLoop But I am not that sure about it; eventhough it ran successfully, I still have some doubts, because I didn't find where I could specify that chp uses gas as fuel type, so the results are probably wrong..
I also posted a question about that here