The University has a steamy new plan to keep energy costs from spinning out of control.
Facility Services has installed a state-of-the-art cogeneration electrical plant that will provide electricity, heat and air conditioning to campus and save the University money.
Dimitris Nikitopoulos, mechanical engineering professor and member of the Turbine Innovation and Energy Research Center, said cogeneration is a process that produces electricity by using natural gas to drive a turbine that is connected to a generator. The heat from the turbine’s rotation — heat that would normally be lost as waste — is captured in the form of steam that comes off the turbine at 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.
The steam is used to provide heat to campus, and some of the steam is cooled in chillers to make cold water for air conditioning.
The electrical plant will provide a substantial portion of the University’s energy needs.
“Depending on campus needs, the new plant will provide 50 to 75 percent of the campus’s electricity,” said Blake Hebert, executive director of Facility Services operations. “The steam will provide 85 percent of its heating.”
The plant initially cost the University $30 million dollars, but project engineers say they think the plant is a smart move.
The facility uses energy that would otherwise be lost, so less energy is wasted, and more money is saved.
“We expect the plant to save the University about $1 million dollars a year. In effect, the machine pays for itself,” Nikitopoulos said.
Nikitopoulos said that because the facility uses natural gas and state-of-the-art technology, the cogeneration plant is much cleaner than most electrical plants.
“This facility will minimize future price increases for energy production because it both heats and cools the campus,” said Peter Davidson, director of Facility Services energy services.
The plant will also serve as a research opportunity for engineering students. A classroom with access to real-time data collected from the turbine will be available to students this semester. Instructors will use this data to teach energy-conservation concepts to students.
Davidson said LSU is the only college campus in the country with access to multimedia data from a cogeneration facility like this one.
“Companies like [General Electric Co.] are jealous of the research data we are able to collect,” Davidson said.