Ronald Reagan Presidential Library andMuseum and Air Force One Pavilion

Q:How do you keep a massive exhibit buildingcontaining a retired Air Force One jet cool,comfortable and well lighted in the blazing Californiadesert?

A:Install natural gas-fired microturbines to generatenearly all of the building’s electricity, while capturingthe process heat to operate absorption chillers forenergy-efficient cooling or space heating throughsupplemental heat exchangers.

Reliable power source

This is how the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundationprovides reliable electric power for a 95,000-sq.-ft. structurethat houses a former presidential Boeing 707 as well as aMarine One helicopter, a genuine Irish pub, and specialexhibits relating to the life of the late president. Microturbine-generated power also serves the adjacent 100,000-sq.-ft.Ronald Reagan Library and Museum.

The cogeneration system consists of sixteen 60 kW microturbines that run on clean-burning natural gas and supply 95 percent of the electricity for both the new Air ForceOne Pavilion – which opened in October 2005 – and the original Ronald ReaganPresidential Library and Museum, both located in Simi Valley, California. Themicroturbine units generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 400 homes.

Natural Gas Cogeneration Supplies Power,Cooling and Heating for Key Presidential Facility

Sixteen 60 kWmicroturbines

Three 129-tonabsorptionchillers

195,000-sq.-ft.total coolingspace

Simi Valley,California

Natural gas-fired

microturbines generate

nearly all of the

building’s electricity,

while capturing the

process heat to operate

absorption chillers for

energy-efficient cooling

or space heating through

supplemental heat

exchangers.

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▼▼

Cary Garman, CFO of the Foundation, says hebegan investigating the possibilities of naturalgas-powered electric generation systems forthe project because of California’s powersupply issues and rolling blackouts severalyears ago.

Natural gas does the job

“Gas seemed to fit our need,” Garman says.“The nice thing about cogeneration is that wecan recapture all of the hot exhaust and pipethat into three chiller-absorber units. In thelong run, we anticipate that the cost ofproviding our own electricity and being able tocapture hot exhaust will be a positive netbenefit to the Foundation.”

Rick Lyons, P.E., Vice President of the Syska-Hennessey Group’s Energy Services Divisionof San Diego, which designed thecogeneration system, says his firm estimatedthis cogeneration package will save roughly$300,000 in annual operating cost compared tousing utility power.

The system also qualified for an $823,156Southern California Gas Self-GenerationIncentive Program that reduced the installationcost by about 30 percent. This programprovides qualifying businesses with incentivesof up to 50 per cent of the costs of buying andinstalling electrical generation systems.

The original RonaldReagan Presidential Librarywas designed as an all-electric building with aconstant minimum coolingload due to the very tightenvironmental constraintsin spaces housing importanthistorical documents,according to Lyons.

16 Microturbines canproduce 960 kW

The installed systemconsists of threePureComfort™ packages,each with four 60 kWCapstone microturbines andone 129-ton Carrierabsorption chiller. The

direct exhaust-fired absorption chillers capturethermal energy from the microturbines andcreate 387 tons of refrigeration for coolingboth the library and the pavilion.

Four PureThermal™ 60 kW units (three ofwhich are integrated with the Carrier chillers)help produce 960 kW of total generatingcapability. Exhaust from these turbines raisesthe temperature of water to heat the pavilionduring cooler periods, up to 1.2 MMBH.

Microturbines allow flexibility

Because the cooling and power requirementsof the complex vary greatly during the day, theuse of the sixteen smaller microturbine unitsallows for ramping up and down as needed,with each microturbine operating at full load.Supervisory control provided by UTC Powerallows the system to load follow in an efficientmanner and also integrates with the buildingmanagement system to provide the requiredcooling or heating.

“We can give them heat when it’s cool andchilling when it’s warm,” says John Fox,Product Manager for PureComfort Systems, adivision of UTC Power. “For hot water, theyrun the exhaust from the microturbinesthrough a heat exchanger.” A supplementalboiler produces additional hot water asrequired, he adds.

© Energy Solutions Center / March 2006 For more information, visit www.energysolutionscenter.org

Fox points out that the cogeneration system hasthe added benefit of being environmentallyfriendly.

“Microturbine exhaust is very clean,” Fox says.“The CCHP (combined cooling, heat andpower) system is over twice as efficient as acentral plant. We’re 80% efficient when youcapture the waste heat. It reduces theirgreenhouse gases – CO2 – by about 40%,relative to an average fossil-fueled centralgenerating plant.”

Reduced greenhouse emissionsFox says the Foundation’s microturbine systemalso reduces NOX emissions by 90% compared

to a utility power plant and, unlike coal, doesnot release SO2.

“It’s like adding 300 acres of forest to absorbCO2, and also equivalent to removing 500 cars

off the road in terms of NOX emissions,” Foxpoints out. “One of our key goals is positiveenvironmental impact.”

“All these units are so clean,” says Garman,adding that the Foundation installed an exhibitin the Air Force One Pavilion to explain howthe cogeneration system operates and how itbenefits the environment. It includes a viewingarea that offers visitors a look at this relativelynew technology.

© Energy Solutions Center / March 2006 For more information, visit www.energysolutionscenter.org

UTC Power195 Governors HighwaySouth Windsor, CT 06074

Energy Solutions Center Inc.400 N. Capitol Street, NW4th FloorWashington, DC 20001

Southern California Gas Company555 West 5th StreetLos Angeles, CA 90051-1011

Capstone Turbine Corp.21211 Nordhoff StreetChatsworth, CA 91311