Page 248 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

WHAT IS COGENERATION?
Cogeneration is the use of an engine to generate useful electricity and thermal energy at the same time. The by-product of thermal energy—either hot water or steam—is captured and either used directly or can also be used for various secondary functions like absorption chillers. The marker of a cogeneration engine—natural gas or biogas—is total efficiency. “Our top-of-the-line engines are around 43 to 44 percent electrically efficient,” says Marty Hopkins, Peterson Power commercial engines sales rep for Oregon/Washington who is spearheading the effort. “So if we do nothing else, we’re only using 43 percent of that fuel’s energy. But by capturing the exhaust and the jacket water, we can achieve over 80 percent total efficiency. So it’s all about efficiency.”
that provide 14 megawatts of power—with a typ- ical carbon-footprint reduction of 95 percent over earlier efforts.
Many large companies like Waste Management have their own in-house environmental staff, who know the rules intimately and can strategize the smartest usage of their assets. At their Altamont Pass landfill near Livermore, California, Waste Management switched out two 3116 diesel engines in 2012 for new natural-gas Cat G3306s. Peterson Power teamed up with Tractor’s fab shop manager, Jack Ravazza, to work out the details. “The new engines were larger because you can’t get the same amount of horsepower out of a gaseous-fueled engine,” explains George. “Ravazza’s team had to make a lot of modifications to make it all fit.”
The landfill’s truck tippers are now powered by Cat gaseous-fueled engines that run on the site’s own methane. “By re-engineering their tippers for a couple hundred thousand dollars to handle these new engines, Waste Management was able to low- er their fleet average and site tonnage, and run their D10 for three additional years.” That netted out to a half-million-dollar savings. It all boils down to staying educated on the state’s latest emissions regulations and being a good chess player.
EMISSIONS CONTROL WITHIN THE MARINE INDUSTRY
Strategizing the marine market comes with a dif- ferent set of challenges. “CARB’s Harbor Craft Rule [2007] requires that all engines of a certain age and size be switched out with new emissions compliant units,” explains Marty Wiemann, Peter- son’s marine product support and engine salesman for OR/WA (1998–2017). “If your engine is over ten years old, you can’t operate it in California any- more. But older engines in Oregon and Washing- ton are grandfathered in so we’re not forced to get rid of them. Customers don’t have to do anything unless they’re going to replace them. Then they
246 | PETERSON: 85 YEARS AND GOING STRONG