Abstract
This paper presents an assessment of the energy, economic and greenhouse gas emissions performances of a WhisperGen Mk IV Stirling engine μ-CHP unit for use in a conventional house in the Republic of Ireland. The energy performance data used in this study was obtained from a field trial carried out in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the period June 2004-July 2005 by Northern Ireland Electricity and Phoenix Gas working in collaboration with Whispertech UK. A comparative performance analysis between the μ-CHP unit and a condensing gas boiler revealed that the μ-CHP unit resulted in an annual cost saving of €180 with an incremental simple payback period of 13.8 years when compared to a condensing gas boiler. Electricity imported from the grid decreased by 20.8% while CO2 emissions decreased by 16.1%. The μ-CHP unit used 2889 kW h of gas more than the condensing gas boiler.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 465-474 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Energy Conversion and Management |
| Volume | 81 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2014 |
Keywords
- Condensing gas boiler
- Microgeneration
- Stirling engine
- WhisperGen
- μ-CHP