Cost penalties of near-optimal scheduling control of BCHP dystems: Part i - Selection of case study scenarios and data generation

This paper is the first of two papers which reports the research findings of an ASHRAE-funded project that assessed the impact in energy reduction and cost savings of optimal versus near-optimal operation of building combined heat and power (BCHP) plants. The optimal operation of these plants requires more careful and sophisticated equipment scheduling and control methods compared to those in industrial combined heat and power (CHP) plants due to the large variability in thermal and electric loads as well as the equipment scheduling issue. This paper describes the methodology adopted in selecting representative building types and geographic climates; performing careful design and sizing of the BCHP systems and equipment; using a detailed simulation program to generate hourly loads throughout the year; and, finally, selecting specific days during which to evaluate the penalty associated with near-optimal control as opposed to optimal. Seven buildings have been selected: three large buildings under real-time electrical pricing (hospital, school, and hotel) and four buildings (two large and two small) under time-of-use rates. A companion paper reports on the results of the optimization study in terms of the cost penalty ratios associated with nearoptimal versus optimal operation of the BCHP plants for each of the numerous specific scenarios described in this paper.