Producing Power and Reducing Emissions on Campus

Cogeneration, which was added to the William R. Dickson Cogeneration Facility in 1995, meets about 80 percent of campus electric power requirements while reducing emissions by 40 percent. Cogeneration generates electrical and thermal power simultaneously by utilizing the waste heat from a 21-megawatt gas turbine to generate steam.

The equipment — the heart of the cogeneration plant is a ABB GT10A Combustion Turbine Generator set with a nominal turbine output of 21 MW. The turbine uses the ABB EV (Environmental) combustor, which uses a premixed, swirling combustion flow together with water injection to generate low NOx levels on both gas and liquid fuels.

In 2002, the natural-gas-powered facility, which provides electricity, steam heat, and chilled water to more than 100 MIT buildings, received the Energy Star Combined Heat and Power Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.

Utilities’ PowerMIT webpage tracks MIT’s electric energy demand and emissions in real time as well as cogeneration production and additional power drawn from the local utility.

FAQs

What’s the impact of the Cogeneration Plant?
Read a Tech Talk interview with Peter Cooper, Manager of Sustainable Engineering and Utility Planning.

What equipment is used in the CoGeneration Plant?

How Does Cogeneration Work? (an IAP PowerPoint presentation)