Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
The use of thermal energy storage for energy
system based on cogeneration plant
Anna Volkova, Andres Siirde
Abstract—Usage of thermal energy storage together with
cogeneration technology provides an attractive solution by allowing
the production of electricity in the periods, when heat load is low and
later consumption of heat, when load is high. The purpose of the
paper was to investigate the perspectives of using heat storage in the
form of accumulator tank with cogeneration plants in Estonia. Two
alternatives were compared: the first alternative being an energy
system, which included small-scale cogeneration plant, thermal
energy storage equipment in the form of accumulator tank and peak
boilers, was compared with the second alternative: the traditional
energy system including only cogeneration plant and peak-load
boilers. The methodology offered for evaluation of these two
alternatives included the following steps: defining of the optimal
capacity by heat produced in cogeneration maximisation method;
simulation of district heating system operating; construction of heat
load duration curve taking into account thermal energy storage;
comparing of alternatives by technical and environmental parameters.
Keywords— CHP, cogeneration, energy efficiency, energy
system, thermal storage.
I. INTRODUCTION
R egarding the agreements within the bounds of EU
Directive 2004/8/EC on the promotion of cogeneration
based on a useful heat demand in the internal energy market,
Estonia should increase the share of electricity produced in the
cogeneration plants of gross electricity consumption.
According to this Directive strategic objectives for the
Estonian electricity sector have to ensure that by 2020 the
electricity produced in cogeneration plants forms 20% of the
gross consumption and at least 18% by the year 2015. At the
moment close to 15% from electricity gross consumption is
produced in the cogeneration mode.
Cogeneration is the simultaneous generation of heat and
electricity, therefore it is important to use both types of
produced energy appropriately. Concerning electricity, it may
be both used on the spot and transported across great
distances; heat, however, may only be used on site or very
close to it. Thus, the heat load is considered the determining
Manuscript received May 14, 2011. This work was supported by the
European Social Fund within the researcher mobility programme
MOBILITAS (2008-2015, 01140B/2009).
A. Volkova is with the Department of Thermal Engineering, Tallinn
University of Technology, Kopli 116, Tallinn, Estonia, 11712, phone
+3725582866; e-mail: anna.volkova@ttu.ee.
A.Siirde is with the Department of Thermal Engineering, Tallinn
University of Technology, Kopli 116, Tallinn, Estonia, 11712,
asiirde@staff.ttu.ee
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0
factor in selecting cogeneration plant capacity [1].
Heat demand usually is strongly time-varying or even
discontinuous. Usage of thermal energy storage together with
cogeneration technology provides an attractive solution by
allowing the production of electricity in the periods, when heat
load is low and later consumption of heat, when load is high
[2].
Usually cogeneration plant produces thermal energy to
provide base-load capacity and peak-load boilers have to be
utilised additionally. These boilers can be partly replaced by
thermal energy storage equipment charged during low-load
time and utilised in the peak-load time [3].
Thermal energy storage as a possibility to increase the
efficiency of cogeneration operation was discussed and
analysed in various researches and studies including both
short-term thermal storage [2-5] and long-term thermal storage
[6] use together with cogeneration.
There are cogeneration plants operating in Estonia, but the
technology of thermal energy storage is not used on these
plants. The perspectives for involvement of new cogeneration
plants are high and the use of thermal storage will make these
possibilities wider. At the moment there is only one research
where possibility of thermal storage together with cogeneration
plants in Estonia has been analysed [7].
There are three types of technologies which can be used for
heat storage: storage in water, storage in the ground and rock
and storage in form of chemical compound [6]. The most
common type of thermal storage is an accumulator tank made
of steel, which can maintain high temperature and has high
efficiency.
The purpose of the paper was to investigate the
perspectives of using heat storage in the form of accumulator
tank with cogeneration plants in Estonia. Case study is
presented, where energy system including small-scale
cogeneration plant, heat storage equipment and peak boilers,
has been compared with traditional energy system including
cogeneration plant and peak-load boilers. Alternatives were
evaluated from technical and environmental point of view.
As a case study, the heat load data for one typical little city
in Estonia were used. It is planned to install in this city a new
small-scale cogeneration plant based on gas engine
technology. One of the possible solutions can be an installation
of cogeneration plant coupled with thermal energy storage.
The efficiency of this solution was evaluated using offered
methodology.
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 Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
II. METHODOLOGY
When accumulator tank is used the cogeneration operating
regime can be changed. Cogeneration can operate all day long
with full capacity and boilers can be used less. It means that
when the heat produced by cogeneration cannot be used at the
same moment, it can be stored and then utilised when heat load
is higher than the heat produced in cogeneration.
The methodology algorithm was offered for evaluation of
thermal energy storage use possibility together with
cogeneration plant. This methodology included following
steps: defining the optimal capacity by heat produced in
cogeneration maximisation method; simulation of district
heating system operating; construction of heat load duration
curve taking into account thermal energy storage; comparing
of alternatives by technical and environmental parameters.
A. Defining the optimal capacity by heat produced in
cogeneration maximisation method
Before installation of a new cogeneration plant an energy
producer faces the basic question of how high the plant’s
installed capacity should be. One of the main issues for
cogeneration efficiency is heat use by consumer. The risks of
installed cogeneration capacity are related to two scenarios: if
a load is used that exceeds the optimum setting, the station will
not be able to operate during long period due to insufficient
heat load, while, should the load be installed below optimum,
the potential of utilising heat capacity will not be fully used
[1].
According to the method used in previous research, the
optimal capacity for cogeneration was selected based on the
amount of heat demanded by consumers [1, 8]. Heat load
values for residential buildings and load prevalence during the
year are visualised with a heating load duration curve. The
load for a district heating system consists of three main
contributions: heating load, domestic hot water and
distribution losses. The distribution losses are the heat losses
from the pipes to environment and they stay fairly constant
over the year. The domestic hot water load is also constant
over the year; it is reduced only during the night time and
during the summer months. The building heating load is the
dominating load for most of the year and it follows the
seasonal variations of the climate.
There are two possibilities for construction of the heat load
duration curve.
The first method is when the heating load duration curve is
derived from hourly loads to show all possible variations to the
system. These data can be available from the existing boiler
house operating data. The second method is heating load
deriving from monthly degree-days.
The optimal cogeneration facility is the one that is based on
the heat duration curve and produces the maximum amount of
heat year-round while working at full installed capacity. This
means that the cogeneration plant capacity is determined by
the largest area rectangle (maximum rectangle) inscribed in the
heat duration curve.
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0
This method supposes that the optimisation criterion is
calculated by equation (1).
Q·t→max,
if Q=f(t) (1),
where
Q=f(t) - heat load duration curve;
Q - heat load, kW;
t load duration hours per year, h.
The optimal cogeneration capacity is equal to such heat load
when the amount of heat produced by cogeneration is
maximal.
B. Simulation of district heating system operating
After defining the optimal heat capacity for installed
cogeneration plant, the operating simulation was made for a
district heating system, including consumer, cogeneration
plant, peak boiler and thermal energy.
Simulation model realised in the Excel software
environment was used for this simulation.
Heat load in thermal energy storage unit, i.e. accumulator
tank was calculated using equation (2)
QTESi = QTESi −1 ⋅ (1 − lTES ) + (Qi − QCOGi )
if QTESi ≥ 0; QTESi −1 ≥ 0; Qi − QCOGi ≥ QTESi −1 (2),
where
QTESi is heat load in thermal energy storage during i hour,
kW;
QTESi −1 is heat load in thermal energy storage during i-1
hour, kW;
lTES is heat losses per hour from thermal energy storage;
Qi is consumer heat load during i hour, kW;
QCOGi cogeneration heat load during i hour, kW.
Heat load of peak boiler is calculated by equation (3)
Q PBi = Qi − QCOGi − QTESi −1
if QTESi = 0; QTESi −1 ≥ 0; Qi − QCOGi ≤ QTESi −1 (3),
where
QPBi is heat load of peak boiler during i hour, kW.
Analysis of hourly load is required for evaluating the
thermal energy storage facility use. Typical winter, summer
and spring/autumn day has been analysed after simulation. As
a result of analysis, the operation seasons when cogeneration
plant and thermal energy storage should be used, have been
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 Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine

selected. The following indicators were selected for comparing and

C. Construction of heat load duration curve taking into
account the thermal energy storage
After simulation of each operating hour using equations (2-
3), a new heat load duration curve can be constructed.
The heat load can be calculated using equation (4)
Qi = QCOGi + QPBi (4).
evaluation: heat produced by cogeneration, cogeneration
operating time per year, electricity produced by cogeneration,
primary energy efficiency.
For the calculation of both cases a gas engine was used as
cogeneration technology.
Gas engine based cogeneration plants are widely-distributed
in the world, and particularly in Estonia. The main fuels for
gas engines are natural gas and light fuel oil.

The heat load duration curve, showing the cumulative
duration for different loads in the system within a full year, can
be cconstructed using the calculated hourly loads.
D.Comparing of alternatives
A district heating system consisting of cogeneration plant and
thermal energy storage has been compared with a system
including only cogeneration plant without any thermal energy
storage.
III. RESULTS
According to the part 2.B. the heat load duration curve for a
reference city was constructed based on real data for the years
2009-2010 (Figure 1). The optimal capacity was defined. The
solid line shows the heat load duration curve.
As it can be seen from the Figure 1, the maximum heat load is
7300 KW. The dash line shows the optimal capacity defining
process. The optimal capacity calculated by formula (1) is 2,58
MW, which is 0,353 from the maximal heat load.

Fig. 1 Heat load duration curve and optimal cogeneration capacity defining

For simulation of district heating system operating, including The parameters used for calculations are shown in Table 1
cogeneration plant coupled with thermal storage the following As it can be seen from the Figure 2A, the heat load during
assumptions were made: winter days is always higher than the maximum cogeneration
-Losses of thermal energy storage are equal to 0.5% per hour; plant heat capacity. The heat load is covered by the heat
-Thermal energy maximum storage heat capacity is 5 MWh. produced by cogeneration and peak boiler. It means that
during winter months the thermal energy storage utilities are
TABLE 1 not used.
THE PARAMETERS OF COGENERATION PLANT AND PEAK BOILER The Figure 2B shows typical spring/autumn day, when the heat
USED FOR SIMULATION
load during the day becomes little higher or lower, than the
Cogeneration plant Peak boiler installed cogeneration plant capacity. Using the thermal energy
(gas engine) storage capacity it is possible to supply the required heat
Capacity 2,18 MWel ;2,58 MWth 5 MWth without the peak boilers. In this case the produced heat is used
Efficiency ηel=39%, ηtotal=85% 90% by heat consumers but actually later, than it has been
Fuel natural gas natural gas produced.

ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0 73
 Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine

A B

Fig. 2 Simulation for heat load, cogeneration plant , thermal energy storage and peak boilers
A.Winter day B. Spring/autumn day

Using equation (4) the new heat load duration curve has As it can be seen, the cogeneration plant coupled with
been constructed. The Figure 3 shows this curve (the solid thermal energy storage equipment can operate during longer
line). The dash line shows heat, produced by cogeneration. period that without it, and it can produce more heat and
electricity.

Fig. 3 Heat load duration curve taking into account thermal energy storage

The different indicators were analysed for evaluating the
thermal energy storage use in district heating system with
cogeneration plant. The results of the evaluation are shown in
Table 2.
According to this table, the heat and electricity amount
produced by cogeneration can be increased by more than 26%
by using the thermal energy storage. The thermal energy
storage use provides the primary energy efficiency increasing
in comparison with separate power and heat production by
22.67 %, which is by 2.51% larger than in cogeneration
without the thermal energy storage use. Despite the additional
heat losses from the thermal energy storage unit this
technology makes operation of cogeneration plant more
effective.
Besides, the reduction of CO2 emissions is larger by 26%
with the thermal energy storage, than without it.

ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0 74
 Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
TABLE 2
COMPARISON OF INDICATORS FOR COGENERATION WITH AND WITHOUT ACCUMULATOR TANK
Cogeneration energy system
Indicator
without accumulator tank
Heat, produced by cogeneration 12544 MWhth
Electricity produced by cogeneration 10635 MWhel
Heat produced by peak boilers 12173 MWhth
Fuel consumption 40800 MWh
Primary energy efficiency increasing in
comparison with separate heat and power 20,16%
production
CO2 reduction comparison with separate heat
2070 t
and power production
IV. CONCLUSIONS
The usage of thermal energy storage together with
cogeneration technology allows the production of electricity in
the periods, when the thermal load is low and later
consumption of heat, when the load is high. At the moment the
thermal energy storage technologies are not used for efficient
cogeneration plant operation in Estonia. The purpose of the
paper was to analyse the perspectives of using the heat storage
coupled with cogeneration plants in Estonia.
The data about typical Estonian city were used for the
evaluation and analysis. Two alternatives were compared: the
first alternative being an energy system, which included small-
scale cogeneration plant, thermal energy storage equipment in
the form of accumulator tank and peak boilers, was compared
with the second alternative: the traditional energy system
including only cogeneration plant and peak-load boilers. The
methodology offered for evaluation of these two alternatives
included the following steps: defining of the optimal capacity
by heat produced in cogeneration maximisation method;
simulation of district heating system operating; construction of
heat load duration curve taking into account thermal energy
storage; comparing of alternatives by technical and
environmental parameters.
As results of the calculations showed, the thermal storage
use increased the heat and electricity production by
cogeneration plant by 26,6%. It was possible, because the
usage of accumulator tank prolonged the operation time of
cogeneration plant per year.
The primary energy efficiency increase in comparison with
separate heat and power production for cogeneration without
thermal energy storage was 20,16%, but with the heat
accumulator it became 22,67%.
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0 75
Cogeneration energy system with
∆
accumulator tank
15877 MWhth 3333 MWhth (+26.6%)
13460 MWhel 2825 MWhel (+26.6%)
-32441 MWhth
8873 MWhth
(-27.1%)
44371 MW 3571 MWh (+8,8%)
22,67% 2,51% (+12.45%)
2615 t 545 (+26%)
The installation of an accumulator tank is relatively cheap
measure for increasing the efficiency of energy system, which
can also be used in Estonia. According to Estonian local
obstacles, the thermal energy storage can be mostly used
during the spring and autumn time, when the heat load during
the day could be higher and lower than the installed
cogeneration plant capacity.
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