Cogeneration at Iowa Methodist Medical Center

Abstract

The Iowa Methodist Medical Center of Des Moines, Iowa, is installing two 1,500 kW Fairbanks-Morse turbocharged dual-fuel reciprocating engine-generators. The system will be installed with recovery of exhaust waste heat as steam and jacket, lube oil, and intercooler waste heat as hot water. During periods of high steam demand, the waste heat boilers will be supplementally fired for additional steam production. The paper will present the feasibility study, predesign report, and detailed design results. Both gas turbines and reciprocating engines in numerous configurations were considered. Sensitivity to breakdown, capital costs, and varying escalation rates were investigated. The conclusion was that reciprocating engines would meet the payback requirements with an acceptable level of risk. To further reduce the risk, a bid package for the engines was prepared during predesign. Upon selection of the engines, a major portion of the project cost was firmly established and final design was authorized. Scheduled completion is February, 1987.