Utilities

Co-Generation-Natural Gas, Heat and Electricity Overview
The whole concept behind co-generation at Brock is to use a fuel source-natural gas - and convert it to electricity and useful heat. Both products - heat and electricity must be captured and used efficiently to make the system economically viable.In Brock's case, for every 1 Kilowatt of electricity which is produced, approximately 1.3 Kilowatts of heat is generated. In order to ensure that Co-Generation is a cheaper alternative than simply purchasing the electricity and heat, both the electricty generated and the heat that is created during the process must be used.At the Brock Co-Generation plant, natural gas is burned in eight 1150 HP internal combustion engines. Each engine turns a generator that produces 820 Kilowatts of electricity at 4160 volts.The electricity is used for all the usual things you would expect - lighting, elevators, building fan systems, cafeterias etc. Any surplus electricity is pushed into the local utility's grid and sold to them at a predetermined rate. Likewise, any shortage of electricity is produced from Hydro.

The heat recovered from the cogeneration engines is used to:

• heat the buildings during winter.
• warm the domestic hot water (the water you shower and wash your hands in).
• heat the swimming pool.
• using our Lithium Bromide Absorption Chiller
  • produce cold water which is used in the air conditioning system.