Introduction to CCHP systems

Abstract

Combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) is a well-known technology of sufficient utilization of low-grade thermal energy with the principle of thermal cascading. During the power production process, the waste heat can be made available for heating and/or cooling applications using thermally activated technologies, such as absorption chillers and adsorption chillers. It has the high primary energy efficiency, the environmental benefits and economic feasibility. In recent years, many CCHP systems have been applied successfully in industries such as cement factory, paper mill, and pharmaceutical factory; in various kinds of commercial buildings such as hotels, offices, and hospitals; and in small-scale buildings such as residential users. CCHP system is one of the distributed energy systems. A distributed energy system is a small- and medium-sized multifunction energy conversion system, which directly provides various forms of energy according to the needs of users. The CCHP system is not a simple superposition of several thermodynamic processes. Based on a certain principle or idea for the organic integration and integration of the integrated system, it is usually aimed at achieving different functional objectives and application conditions. On the basis of the integrated cascade utilization and other systems' integration mechanism, the different processes of integration and the optimization of system integration selecting were selected, in order to realize different system functions. The researches in this field are very active in recent years. The concept, research status, hot spot of research and development trend of CCHP systems are introduced and analyzed in this chapter.