Saturday, July 5

University’s source of power hides right under our noses


Monday, 8/25/97 University’s source of power hides right under
our noses ENERGY: Cogeneration plant model of efficiency, reduced
pollutant output

By Cindy Choi Daily Bruin Contributor The 450-foot facade –
fashioned with scaled panels, a two-toned brick motif of blue and
red, irregular metal screens, soaring steam stacks, and exposed
piping – is the fitting exterior of a powerful industrial facility.
UCLA’s power plant, however, proudly defies the stereotypes of
being loud, polluting and unsightly. "Generally people have a
horrible concept of what a power plant is," said Nicholetta
Freeman, assistant to the director of the Energy Systems Facility.
"Our plant is in an urban setting that has thousands of people
walking by it. They don’t even know we’re here. We are here to
silently serve and support the university." Operating since January
1994, the Energy Systems Facility is the university’s sole source
of steam and chilled water and the supplier of 90 to 95 percent of
UCLA’s electricity. A cost-effective facility, incorporating
efficient engineering and meeting strict environmental standards,
the plant was the answer to the growing problem of UCLA’s old,
fuel-hungry utility plant. "We were driven primarily by a need to
offer reliable air conditioning and heating service to the campus,
couple that with electric cogeneration, to provide an efficient
process that would pay for itself," said David Johnson, director of
energy services/utility. Without adequate funds to replace or
repair the inefficient central boiler and dozens of unreliable
air-conditioning chillers, in 1987 the university decided to create
a central cogeneration/chiller plant. A self-sufficient system
providing steam, chilled water and electricity would cut costs
while reducing air pollution. Cogeneration is a highly efficient
means of generating electricity and thermal energy from a single
energy source. A typical power plant generates electricity by
burning fuel, and the heat resulting from that process is wasted
and released to the environment. But the cogeneration process
captures the waste heat to make steam. Moreover, UCLA’s Energy
System Facility added a central chilled water facility to harness
the steam to produce chilled water. Miles of underground pipes
distribute the steam and chilled water and return the water back to
the facility to repeat the cycle. Instead of paying the annual
$20-million-plus electricity bill to the Department of Water and
Power, the tremendous savings from generating electricity
efficiently at the cogeneration/chiller plant financed the
$188-million project without impacting the state budget or student
fees. In building the plant, UCLA avoided $40 million in repairs
and purchases to upgrade the existing energy service stations. "We
financed the project out of the savings obtained from the
efficiency of its operation. It has been an economic advantage to
all of us," explained Johnson. Besides the economics of this
engineering feat, the plant meets stringent environmental standards
and, in some cases, sets the standards themselves. "Definitely as a
university we felt an overriding responsibility to build a facility
that was not only economical, but committed to the environment and
to society," said Doug Hisey, the facility’s manager. "The design
and engineering abided by the ‘watchword’ ideals of the project:
clean, efficient and reliable," continued Hisey. The self-imposed
restrictions of lower and cleaner emissions have cut the airborne
contaminates by the campus in half. The plant eliminated the campus
use of CFCs (a chemical compound that damages the ozone layer) by
20,000 pounds, a 90 percent decrease, by retiring over 30
individual air-conditioning chillers. Whereas the old plant emitted
nearly 40 parts per million of nitrous oxide, a high yet "legal"
amount, the new facility lowered its emissions to six parts per
million, while burning twice the volume of fuel. Achieving the
benchmark six parts per million emission limitation established a
new standard for facilities of similar size and type in Southern
California, said Johnson. Moreover, the facility burns landfill gas
in conjunction with natural gas. Piped underground from the local
Mountain Gate community, one of Los Angeles’ oldest dumps located
six miles away, this methane gas offers numerous benefits as a fuel
source. The gas burns cleanly, passing through a sophisticated
emission control system at the facility. Landfill gas is also an
untapped energy source which would otherwise be flared as waste at
the landfill. In addition, burning the gas at UCLA lowers the
emissions from the landfill, continued Johnson. The facility has
also installed a system to collect 80,000 gallons per day of clean
used water from the hospital and other south campus buildings, said
Hisey. Water that would otherwise go down the drain is reused in
the plant’s operations. "The technology in this facility is very
basic. The combination of things that we do and the way that we
operate this facility gives it uniqueness," Johnson stressed. The
use of landfill gas and gray water, practices which have gained
national attention, are some of the plant’s notable innovations.
"We have tried to be a very influential entity. We share our
information and technology," said Johnson. For example, the
facility offers tours of the site and shares knowledge with other
universities, utility companies, foreign nations and organizations
interested in cogeneration. Two undergraduate mechanical
engineering courses on power plants have taken the initial step
toward realizing the full educational potential of the Energy
Systems Facility. "It is a fantastic educational tool," said
Stanley Jones, a doctoral candidate whose research team is working
to optimize the plant’s operation. "Here is an opportunity for
students to have hands-on experience on one of the latest and
greatest cogeneration facilities in the world," continued Jones.
Most recently, the plant has won the International District Energy
Association’s System-of-the-Year Award as an exemplary utility
system that is "reliable and efficient," said Tanya Kozel, program
director of IDEA, an organization for the promotion and the
exchange of knowledge of efficient and environmentally friendly
utility. Putting aside sound business and environmental methods,
the main goal of the facility is to serve the campus, said Johnson.
"The facility is not intended to be run purely from an economic
standpoint. Providing air conditioning, not only for comfort but
for research, is far more important than moment-to-moment concerns
about the cost of operation," Johnson continued. The plant is
managed by UCLA for the benefit of the campus community. The
plant’s invisibility confirms another level of excellence. The
design by Wes Jones of Holt Hinshaw Pfau Jones has won recognition
in the artistic arena. "The architects did something right. It
makes its own statement but blends in well," said Johnson. Previous
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