Performance Prediction of a Combined Heat and Power Plant Considering the Effect of Various Gas Fuels

The performance prediction software developed in this paper is a process analysis tool that enables one to foretell the behavior of processes when certain conditions of operation are altered. The immediate objective of this research is to predict the process characteristics of combined heat and power plant under varying operating conditions. A cogeneration virtual power plant that mimics the mechanical performance of the actual plant was constructed and the performance of the power plant was predicted in the following varying atmospheric conditions: temperature, pressure and humidity. This resulted in a positive outcome where the performance of the power plant under changing conditions were correctly predicted as well as the calorific value of low calorific gas fuel such as shale gas and PNG. The performance prediction tool can detect the operation characteristics of the power plant through the performance index analysis and thus propose the operation method taking into consideration the changes in environmental conditions.