Combined Heat & Power (CHP) Capacity Expansion

Client: University of Iowa (ENGIE North America)

Planning and designing campus utility expansion to address changing campus needs for over a decade.

Operating since 1927, the University of Iowa Main Power Plant faced aging equipment and growing demand for campus electricity and steam. Redundancy and reliability in steam and electricity production at this plant are critically important to support the Main Campus on both sides of the Iowa River, including the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) complex and University Research Facilities.

The Main Power Plant had a firm capacity of 350,000 pph using a combination solid fuel and natural gas-fired boilers. A new 175,000 pph boiler producing 535 psig and 750°F steam was constructed in the heart of the existing plant to maintain firm capacity. In addition, the aging steam turbine generators No. 1 and No. 2 were replaced with a new back-pressure steam turbine generator (500 psig inlet and 155 psig back pressure) and a new combination back-pressure-condensing steam turbine generator. This double-ended unit has two turbines (Both turbines at 155 psig inlet and the back-pressure turbine at 20 psig outlet) on a double-ended generator with a clutch.