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WHAT WORKS
Princeton University Targets CO2
Reduction in Ongoing Project
T
BY PATRICIA BURNS SAKAL, FREELANCE WRITER
he facilities engineering team
at Princeton University is now
well into the second decade of a
capital investment program aimed at re-
ducing CO2 emissions by 2020 to below
1990 levels. What began as an effort to
reduce operating costs and secondarily,
lower emission levels, has now become
a preoccupation with lightening the uni-
versity’s carbon footprint in a cost-effi-
cient manner.
Throughout the entire upgrade project,
the team has been quick to acknowledge
that it will take a combination of technol-
ogies to reach the 2020 target. To achieve
this goal, the energy plant has recently
installed direct-contact heat recovery
equipment and is in the process of install-
ing solar photovoltaic (PV) generation.
Additionally, the energy plant features a
highly efficient use of combined heat and
power (CHP). All of these components
contribute to the university being well-
positioned for the successful reduction of
CO2 emissions.
Surprisingly, the Princeton campus has
had combined heat and power since 1876,
long before CHP became recognized as a
modern-day innovation. At that time, a
steam driven generator was coupled with
the campus’ first boilers, enabling the
exhaust steam to heat nearby buildings.
But it was in 1996 that the energy plant
really brought CHP to its current poten-
tial. It was then, after more than a decade
of research and design studies, that a new
facility, capable of meeting all the cam-
pus’ heat and power requirements, plus
environmental regulations, was built and
equipped for long-term needs.
Obsolete boilers were replaced by new
ones as part of a cogeneration system ca-
pable of generating 15 MW of power and
180,000 pounds of steam. These were
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followed by the acquisition of a highly ef-
ficient 2,500-ton electric chiller, bringing
the plant cooling capacity to 15,500 tons.
All chlorofluorocarbons in the chilled-
water plant were replaced with hydro-
chlorofluorocarbons, and chiller speeds
were increased to regain their original ca-
pacities. A few years after the plant went
into operation, a 40,000 ton-hr chilled-
water thermal storage system was added.
In 2006, the energy plant, ever on the
lookout for new ways to move closer to
the 2020 target, began researching direct-
contact heat recovery technology. Once
convinced that the technology offered
value in terms of performance, emissions
reductions and return on investment, the
team invested in a Percotherm direct-
contact heat recovery system. Custom-
designed by Sofame Technologies Inc.,
the system recovers residual heat con-
tained in the boiler’s flue gas and trans-
fers the heat to incoming make-up water
and returning condensate. The complete
system consists of a condensing econo-
mizer, an indirect-contact economizer,
four plate-and-frame heat exchangers,
four pumps, an induced-draft fan, three
control dampers plus digital controls.
The heat recovery system has been up
and running for three years, allowing
plant engineers to monitor performance
and assess results. The energy from ap-
proximately 300,000 lbs per hour of flue
gases is being recovered and turned into
usable energy. CO2 production has been
reduced by approximately 5,000 metric
tons/year while energy costs are propor-
tionately lower.
Currently, the facilities engineering
plant is also adding PV generation to its
mix of CO2 lowering, cost saving solu-
tions. The system provides a stable, long-
term, low cost supply of power that takes
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Princeton closer to its 2020 target. In fact,
based on a capacity of 5.3 MW produc-
ing 8.4 million KWh/year, PV generation
helps avoid the production of 3,091 met-
ric tons of CO2 per year. That amounts
to 9.4 percent of Princeton’s total CO2
reduction goal. It also provides Princeton
with Solar Renewable Energy Certificates
(SRECs). Until such time as the capital
investment has been paid off, the univer-
sity will sell the SRECs in the New Jersey
market. Once the system has been paid
for, the SRECs will be retired and the uni-
versity will claim avoided carbon emis-
sions itself.
Both technologies, direct-contact heat
recovery and PV generation, constitute
linchpins in a well-thought-out assault
on CO2 emissions, and each offers a
valid rationale for purchase. On one
hand, PV generation is highly effective
in eliminating CO2 emissions and the
SRECs are impressive incentives, but
the simple payback period can be from
seven to 10 years, and will occupy 27
acres of land. The Percotherm system, on
the other hand, reduces CO2 emissions
by 5,000 metric tons per year, takes no
additional real estate and has a payback
timeframe of two to four years. These are
just two of the many recent projects that
the university is implementing to lower
its carbon footprint and also save money
now and over the long term.
With less than a decade remaining
until the 2020 target date, Princeton
University is making the kind of in-
vestments that illustrate a sustained
commitment to its goal.
Author’s Note:
The author extends great appreciation to
Princeton University Energy Plant Manager Ted
Borer, PE, CEM, LEED AP, for his valuable input.
www.power-eng.com
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