Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Optimal structural design of residential cogeneration systems in

consideration of their operating restrictions
Tetsuya Wakui*, Ryohei Yokoyama
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 29 May 2013
Received in revised form
22 August 2013
Accepted 2 October 2013
Available online 22 November 2013

An optimal structural design model of a residential cogeneration system, known as combined heat and
power, considering various kinds of operating restrictions is developed from the energy-saving viewpoint. As principal operating restrictions of cogeneration units, a constant power output operation, a
daily startestop operation, and a continuous operation are focused on. The developed model results in a
mixed-integer linear programming problem and the selection and multi-period operation are simultaneously optimized. Moreover, the model is applied to the structural design of a residential cogeneration
system, consisting of a cogeneration unit and its peripheral devices, for simulated energy demands in a
Japanese residence. The candidates for a cogeneration unit are a gas engine employing a constant power
output operation, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell employing a daily startestop operation, and a solid oxide
fuel cell employing a continuous operation, and the candidates for peripheral devices are an electric
water heater and an air-cooled heat exchanger. The optimization results reveal that the selection of the
cogeneration unit is inuenced more by their operating restrictions than by the consistency in the heatto-power ratios of the cogeneration unit and energy demands. In addition, it is found that the selection of
the peripheral devices varies with the selected cogeneration unit and energy demands.

2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Cogeneration
Optimization
Structural design
Operation planning
Energy savings
Residential use

1. Introduction
1.1. Background of the study
Energy savings is strongly required not only in industrial and
commercial sectors but also in residential sector for global environment and resources. Cogeneration, which is known as combined heat and power, is an effective energy supply method to
achieve energy savings and cost reduction. Recently, small-scale,
high performance cogeneration units have been developed for
residential use [1]. In Japan, following a 1-kWe gas GE-CGU (engine-based cogeneration unit) [2] and a 0.75-kWe PEFC-CGU
(polymer electrolyte fuel cell-based cogeneration unit) [3], a 0.7kWe SOFC-CGU (solid oxide fuel cell-based cogeneration unit)
was released [4]. A 1-kWe Stirling engine-based cogeneration unit
and a 1-kWe Rankine cycle-based cogeneration unit are also
available in other countries [5]; however, these two types of
cogeneration units have heat-to-power supply ratios higher than
six and are not appropriate for residential use in Japan where the
heat-to-power demand ratio is generally low.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 81 72 254 9232; fax: 81 72 254 9904.

E-mail address: wakui@ese.me.osakafu-u.ac.jp (T. Wakui).
0360-5442/$ e see front matter
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.10.002

The three types of residential cogeneration units released in

Japan have different heat-to-power supply ratios and operating
restrictions. The GE-CGU has the highest heat-to-power supply
ratio among them and must be always operated under the rated
power output in order to maintain a high generation efciency. The
PEFC-CGU has a higher generation efciency than the GE-CGU and
adopts a daily startestop operation, in which they can be started
and stopped up to once a day. The latter is due to thermal degradation of the stacks [6] and the input energies for start-up. The
SOFC-CGU has the highest generation efciency among them;
however, it must be operated continuously because its high operating temperature requires a long warm-up time and a large
amount of input energies. Moreover, the electric power export from
residential cogeneration units to commercial electric power systems is not permitted in Japan. Thus, to obtain benets including
energy savings, CO2 emission reduction, and cost reduction, residential cogeneration units must be appropriately operated in
response to variations in residential energy demands. However, the
PEFC-CGU and SOFC-CGU may have minimum electric power outputs because of the decrease in their generation efciencies.
Furthermore, a storage tank must be installed along with the residential cogeneration units to meet the mismatch between production and demand [7]. If the electric power export from
residential cogeneration units can be conducted, residential

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T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

Nomenclature

Indices/sets
iI
candidates of cogeneration unit
kK
sampling times
lL
candidates of peripheral devices
mM
representative days
nN
divided parts for inputeoutput relationship
Binary variables
selection of candidates of system components
operating status of candidates of system components
stored status lower than upper limit
migration from standby state to operating state
migration from operating state to standby state
stored status equal to upper limit

g
d
dL
dSTA
dSTO
dU

Continuous variables
E
electric power [kWh/h]
ED
electric power demand [kWh/h]
EP
purchased electric power [kWh/h]
Ea
electric power consumed in auxiliary machines
[kWh/h]
F
natural gas consumption [m3/h]
Q
heat ow rate of hot water [kWh/h]
QDH
hot water heating demand [kWh/h]
QDS
hot water supply demand [kWh/h]
in
QST
heat ow rate of hot water stored into storage tank
[kWh/h]
out
QST
heat ow rate of hot water supplied from storage tank
[kWh/h]
S
stored energy [kWh]
SL
stored energy lower than upper limit [kWh]
SU
stored energy equal to upper limit [kWh]
X
ow rate of input energy [kWh/h]
Y
ow rate of output energy [kWh/h]
x
continuous variable to linearize nonlinear term
Objective function
annual primary energy consumption of residential
JCGS
cogeneration system [MJ]

cogeneration units can operate in response to variations in heat

demand; it is called heat demand following operation [8,9]. However, in a residential cogeneration unit without electric power
export, its heat output varies in response to its electric power
output that follows the electric power demand [10]. Because heat
demand in a residence is not always synchronized with electric
power demand and intermittently arise as shown in Ref. [11], the
surplus heat output generated by the residential cogeneration unit
must be stored in the storage tank. On the other hand, if instantaneous heat demand exceeds the heat output of a residential
cogeneration unit, the shortage in the heat must be supplemented
from a storage tank [5]. In light of these features of residential
cogeneration units without electric power export, peripheral devices may also be required, including an air-cooled heat exchanger
to waste surplus hot water [10], an electric water heater to consume
surplus electric power [11], and a gas-red boiler to compensate for
the shortage in hot water supply from a storage tank [10,11].

Performance variables
JCO
annual primary energy consumption of conventional
energy supply system [MJ]
a
reduction rate of annual primary energy consumption
by utilizing residential cogeneration system [%]
Parameters
a; b
performance characteristic values [e, kWh/h]
c
specic heat of water [kWh/(kg  C)]
EaSB
standby electric power consumed in auxiliary
machines [kWh/h]
ESTA
electric power to start up [kWh/h]
F STA
natural gas consumption to start up [m3/h]
p; q; s; u performance characteristic values [(kWh/h)/(m3/h),
kWh/h, (kWh/h)/(m3/h), kWh/h]
rE
ratio of varied annual demand to original annual
demand for electric power
rQ
ratio of varied annual demand to original annual
demand for heat
Dt
sampling time [h]
V
storage tank volume [L]
W
number of representative days in typical year
q
temperature [ C]
k
installation energy [MJ]
L
energy loss rate [1/h]
r
water density [kg/m3]
fE
conversion factor for primary energy of purchased
electric power [MJ/kWh]
fG
conversion factor for primary energy of natural gas
[MJ/(m3)]
;
upper and lower limits
Subscripts
CGU
cogeneration unit
F
feed water
PD
peripheral device
ST
storage tank
Superscripts
O
original value
Abbreviation
GE-CGU gas engine-based cogeneration unit
PEFC-CGU polymer electrolyte fuel cell-based cogeneration unit
SOFC-CGU solid oxide fuel cell-based cogeneration unit

Combining these peripheral devices with the above-mentioned

residential cogeneration units increases the exibility of the system structure; thus, an optimal design of the residential cogeneration systems, consisting of cogeneration units and their
peripheral devices, for various energy demands is strictly required
to archive their potential benets.
1.2. Review of previous works
The previous works for the optimal design of energy supply systems including the residential cogeneration systems were broadly
classied into the optimal sizing and the optimal structural design.
1.2.1. Optimal sizing of energy supply systems
In the optimal sizing, the system structure was previously
dened and the sizes of system components including the cogeneration units are determined so as to maximize the above-

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

mentioned benets. Generally, there are two types of approaches

for the optimal sizing: a parametric analysis approach and optimization approach.
In a parametric analysis approach, the benet of various sizes of
system components is parametrically analyzed by conducting a
simulation or optimal operation planning, and then the optimal
size is determined from the result. Hourly simulation was
employed for performance analyses of 1e5-kWe PEFC-CGUs [12],
1e5-kWe SOFC-CGUs with a storage tank [13], 2e6-kWe GE-CGUs
[14], 1e5-kWe GE-CGUs [5], MWe-class GE-CGUs [15], and 1e4MWe GE-CGUs with a storage tank [16]. Moreover, optimal operation planning based on mixed-integer linear programming was
conducted for the economically optimal sizing of a PEFC-CGU [17]
and a MWe-class GE-CGUs with an absorption chiller for a hospital [18]; in Ref. [17], a daily start constraint of a PEFC-CGU, which is
only part of the daily startestop operation, was modeled. Furthermore, a sparse sequential quadratic programming [19] and mixedinteger nonlinear programming [20] were employed to optimize
the operation planning of the residential cogeneration units with
nonlinear performance characteristics. In these previous works
[12e20], the cogeneration units could be operated exibly to obtain
the reported benets because electric power export could be conducted. On the other hand, Wakui et al. conducted optimal operation planning of GE-CGUs [21] and SOFC-CGUs [22] by using mixedinteger linear programming; they were assumed to be installed in a
Japanese housing complex and a microgrid using them was constructed without the electric power export.
In an optimization approach, not only the multi-period operation but also the sizes of system components are considered as
decision variables. In some previous works, the optimal sizing
models were developed as linear programming for district energy
supply systems [23,24] and residential cogeneration units including
a GE-CGU, a PEFC-CGU, and an SOFC-CGU [25]. Beihong et al. [26]
employed binary variables expressing the oneoff status of the
system components and developed an optimal sizing model by
using mixed-integer nonlinear programming, which is often hard
to solve. To avoid the difculty in the optimization calculation, a
simple calculation approach to estimate the optimal sizing of
cogeneration units was also developed [27].
1.2.2. Optimal structural design of energy supply systems
In the optimal structural design, the optimal system components are selected from candidates in a previously dened superstructure so as to maximize the above-mentioned benets in
consideration of multi-period operation of the selected candidates;
thus, the selection and operation planning of the system components are simultaneously optimized. Generally, the selection from
the candidates, whose sizes are previously xed, and their installation number are expressed by binary variables and integer variables, respectively. Yokoyama et al. developed an optimal structural
design model of energy supply systems by using mixed-integer
linear programming [28]. Furthermore, they developed an
optimal structural design model that considers discreteness of sizes
of system components [29]. Other previous works [30e38] were
also based on mixed-integer linear programming. Buoro et al. [30]
developed an optimization model of a residential energy supply
system, in which 1 and 3-kWe GE-CGUs and 1 and 3-kWe Stirling
engine-based cogeneration units were candidates. Lozano et al. [31]
developed an optimization model of a trigeneration system, which
consists of a GE-CGU and an absorption chiller, by considering some
Spanish legal constraints for grid-connected cogeneration. Carvalho et al. [32] developed an optimization model of a trigeneration
system from the environmental viewpoint; the CO2 emission in the
production process of system components is considered. Casisi
et al. [33], Mehleri et al. [34], and Weber et al. [35] developed

721

optimal layout models of distributed energy supply systems; in

these works, the installation location of system components and
the piping network deployment were optimized by considering
their multi-period operation. Recently, multi-objective optimization models from the economical and environmental viewpoints
were developed by Bracco et al. [36] and Buoro et al. [37]. An
automated superstructure-based optimization model was also
developed by Voll et al. [38].
1.3. Objective of the study
With such a background and review of previous works, the
present study develops an optimal structural design model of residential cogeneration systems, considering various kinds of operating restrictions, from the energy-saving viewpoint; this model is
based on mixed-integer linear programming. The reason why the
optimal structural design is focused on is because the sizes of the
residential cogeneration units released in Japan have been already
xed as shown in Refs. [2e4] and the current sizes of GE-CGU and
SOFC-CGU are suitable for the residential use in Japan according to
the optimal sizing analyses by Wakui et al. [21,22].
In some previous works on the optimal structural design
[31,32,34,35], the electric power output of the cogeneration units is
modulated from 0 to 100%; this is not realistic operating restriction.
The other previous works on the optimal structural design [28e
30,33,36e38] considered the oneoff status of the cogeneration
units; however, residential cogeneration units have various kinds of
the operating restrictions other than the oneoff status, as stated in
SubSection 1.1. Moreover, the performance characteristics of
various kinds of the cogeneration units were distinguished only by
the difference in the energy conversion efciencies in these previous works [28e38]. Hence, the present study uniquely focuses on
various kinds of the operating restrictions of residential cogeneration units, including the constant power output operation, the
daily startestop operation, and the continuous operation with a
minimum power output. As a result, residential cogeneration units
can be distinguished by not only the difference in the energy
conversion efciencies but also their inherent operating restrictions. Furthermore, although the previous works employed a
sparse sequential quadratic programming [19] and mixed-integer
nonlinear programming [20] to model the nonlinear performance
characteristics of cogeneration units under partial-load conditions,
the developed model employs piecewise linear equations [39] and
results in mixed-integer linear programming.
This paper consists of four sections. Following this section to
state the introduction, the optimal structural design model of residential cogeneration systems in consideration of their operating
restrictions is uniquely developed in Section 2. In Section 3, the
developed model is applied to the structural design of a residential
cogeneration system without the electric power export for simulated energy demands in a Japanese residence. Finally, the derived
results and future studies are summarized in Section 4.
2. Optimal structural design model of residential
cogeneration systems
2.1. Framework of optimal structural design model
The framework of the optimal structural design model of residential cogeneration systems from the energy-saving viewpoint,
developed in this study, is shown in Fig. 1. The developed optimal
structural design model is basically an extension of the superstructure approach developed by Yokoyama et al. [29]. A superstructure for a residential cogeneration system, which expresses
the inputeoutput relationships of all the system components

722

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

Fig. 1. Framework of developed optimal structural design model of residential cogeneration systems.

considered as candidates for selection and their feasible connecting

relationships, is previously created. Operating restrictions of system components are also previously considered in their inpute
output relationships. In the optimization calculation, a real structure is created by selecting the system components from the candidates, and multi-period operation of the selected system
components are determined in accordance with their operating
restrictions; the multi-period operation is separately determined
on each representative day in order to consider seasonal and hourly
changes in residential energy demands. The input data for this
calculation are the performance characteristic values of the candidates, residential energy demands, and conversion factors for
primary energy. Consequently, the structure and multi-period
operation of the residential cogeneration system are

simultaneously optimized so as to minimize the annual primary

energy consumption. Moreover, the energy-saving effect of the
optimal system structure can be evaluated from the minimized
objective function.
For the multi-period operation, a typical year is divided into M
representative days; the index for the representative days is
designated by m. Each representative day is divided into K sampling
times, with an interval of Dt (i.e., Dt 24/K), and the index for the
sampling times is designated by k. The operation of a residential
cogeneration system with a storage tank cannot be determined
independently at each sampling time; thus, a daily cyclic operation
is considered, assuming that the energy demands change cyclically
with a period of 24 h on each representative day.
2.2. Decision variables
The decision variables in this optimal structural design model
are classied into two types: design variables and operation variables. The selection of the system components is expressed by binary variables, classied as the design variables; the design
variables do not depend on representative days and sampling
times. For the operation variables, continuous variables are used to
express energy ow rates of inputs and outputs of energy conversion devices and stored energies of energy storage devices at the
kth sampling time on the mth representative day, and the operation
status of the system components at the kth sampling time on the
mth representative day is expressed by binary variables.
2.3. Constraints

Fig. 2. Superstructure for selection of cogeneration unit.

The constraints consist of the selection and the inputeoutput

relationship of each system component, and the energy balance
relationships.

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

2.3.1. Selection of system components

The selection of the system components is formulated using
the design variables. As an example, a simple superstructure
for the cogeneration unit, which has I candidates for the selection, is shown in Fig. 2; the index for the candidates is
designated by i. For any candidate, the input is the natural gas
because fuel cell-based cogeneration units are driven by
hydrogen reformed from natural gas in built-in fuel reformers;
and the outputs are the electric power and hot water. Generally, one cogeneration unit is installed per single-family residence; thus, the constraint for the selection is formulated as
follows:
I
P
i1

9
=

gCGUi  1

gCGUi f0; 1g

i 1; 2; /; I

(1)

723

9
N
P
>
n
>
ECGUi k; m
ECGUi
k; m
>
>
>
>
n1
>
>
>
>
>
N
>
P n
>
>
QCGUi k; m
QCGUi k; m
>
>
>
>
n1
>
>
>
>
>
N
>
P
>
a
an
aSB
ECGUi k; m
ECGUi k; m ECGUi fgCGUi  dCGUi k; mg =
n1
N
P

FCGUi k; m

dCGUi k; m

n1
N
P
n1

>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;

n
FCGUi
k; m

dnCGUi k; m

dCGUi k; mf0; 1g

i 1; 2; /; I;k 1; 2; /; K;m 1; 2; /; M

where gCGUi denotes the binary variable (design variable)

expressing the selection of the ith candidate for the cogeneration
unit. Equation (1) indicates the possibility that no cogeneration unit
is selected in the optimal system structure. This constraint can also
be applied to other system components, which are selected from
multiple candidates.
2.3.2. Inputeoutput relationships of system components
considering their operating restrictions
2.3.2.1. Cogeneration unit. Some cogeneration units can be
operated under partial-load conditions; however, the generation and heat recovery efciencies depend on their load
factors. Because the inputeoutput relationship of the cogeneration units may have nonlinear characteristics, it is modeled
using piecewise linear equations [39]. The inputeoutput
relationship of cogeneration units between their minimum and
rated outputs is divided into N parts; the index for the
divided parts is designated by n. The inputeoutput
relationship in the nth part of the ith candidate at the kth
sampling time on the mth representative day is formulated as
follows:

(3)
where dCGUi denotes the binary variable expressing the oneoff
aSB denotes the standby electric
status of the ith candidate; and ECGU
power consumed in the auxiliary machines.
The optimal structural design model developed in this study is
featured by considering the following operating restrictions: a
constant power output operation, a daily startestop operation, and
a continuous operation with a minimum power output. For a
cogeneration unit employing the constant power output operation,
N is set to be 1 and the following condition is additionally
considered.
1

F 1CGUi F CGUi

i 1; 2; /; I

To model the daily startestop operation, the binary variables

expressing the migration from standby state to operating state and
STA

dnCGUi k;

STO
dSTA
CGUi k; m dCGUi k; m  gCGUi

>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;

dSTA
CGUi k; mf0; 1g
dSTO
CGUi k; mf0; 1g

F nCGU and F CGU denote the lower and upper limits of natural gas
consumption in the nth part, respectively; dCGU denotes the binary
variable expressing whether the current output is included in the
an
nth part; and the coefcients pnCGU , qnCGU , snCGU , unCGU , pan
CGU , and qCGU
express the performance characteristic in the nth part of the linear
equations. The actual electric power output, ECGUi , heat ow rate
of hot water output, QCGUi , electric power consumed in the
a
, and natural gas consumption, FCGUi , of
auxiliary machines, ECGUi
the ith candidate at the kth sampling time on the mth representative day are expressed by summing up those at N parts as
follows:

(5)

i 1; 2; /; I;k 1; 2; /; K;m 1; 2; /; M

(2)

n
n , Ean , and F n
where ECGU
, QCGU
CGU
CGU denote the electric power
output, heat ow rate of the hot water output, electric power
consumed in auxiliary machines including a water pump and
blower, and natural gas consumption in the nth part, respectively;
n

9
>
>
>
>
>
=

STO
dCGUi k; m  dCGUi k  1; m dSTA
CGUi k; m  dCGUi k; m >
>

mf0; 1g
n 1; 2; /; N; i 1; 2; /; I;
k 1; 2; /; K; m 1; 2; /; M

STO

that from operating state to standby state, dCGU and dCGU , are
employed. The relationship between the binary variables expressing the state migration and the binary variable expressing the one
off status is formulated as follows:

n
n
ECGUi
k; m pnCGUi FCGUi
k; m qnCGUi dCGUi k; m 9
>
n
n
n
>
QCGUi
k; m snCGUi FCGUi
k; m unCGUi dCGUi k; m >
>
=
n
an
an
n
an
ECGUi k; m pCGUi FCGUi k; m qCGUi dCGUi k; m
>
>
n
>
n
n
n
;
F nCGUi dCGUi k; m  FCGUi
k; m  F CGUi dCGUi k; m >

(4)

In Eq. (5), if the cogeneration unit is started at the kth sampling

STA
time, dCGUi k; m 1 and dCGUi k  1; m 0; thus, dCGUi k; m 1
STO

and dCGUi k; m 0. On the other hand, if the cogeneration unit is

stopped at the kth sampling time, dCGUi k; m 0 and
STO
dCGUi k  1; m 1; thus, dSTA
CGUi k; m 0 and dCGUi k; m 1. In

addition, assuming the daily cyclic operation, the oneoff status in

the initial state is considered to be equal to that in the terminal
state on each representative day. The constraint for the daily starte
stop operation is formulated by providing the upper limit to the
number of times for the state migration on each representative day
as follows:
K n
P
k1

STO
dSTA
CGUi k; m dCGUi k; m  2gCGUi

i 1; 2; /; I;m 1; 2; /; M

(6)

724

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

Furthermore, the constraint to create an association between the

design variable and the operation variables is considered to prevent
the operation of the cogeneration units that are not selected. This
constraint is separately formulated for the cogeneration units with
and without the continuous operation as follows:

dCGUi k; m  gCGUi without continuous operation

dCGUi k; m gCGUi with continuous operation

)
(7)

i 1; 2; /; I;k 1; 2; /; K;m 1; 2; /; M
By formulating Eq. (7), the constraint for the continuous operation
is also modeled.
The electric power output, ECGU , heat ow rate of hot water
output, QCGU , electric power consumed in the auxiliary machines,
a
ECGU
, and natural gas consumption, FCGU , of the selected cogeneration unit at the kth sampling time on the mth representative day are
expressed by summing up those for all the candidates as follows:

ECGU k; m

I
P

9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=

ECGUi k; m

i1

QCGU k; m

I
P

QCGUi k; m

i1

I n
P

o>
>
a
STA dSTA k 1; m >
>
ECGUi
k; m ECGUi
>
CGUi
>
>
i1
>
>
>
n
o
>
I
>
P
STA
STA
>
FCGUi k; m FCGUi dCGUi k 1; m >
FCGU k; m
;

a
ECGU
k; m

(8)

i1

k 1; 2; /; K;m 1; 2; /; M
In Eq. (8), the additional electric power and natural gas consumpSTA and F STA , are
tion to start up the ith cogeneration unit, ECGUi
CGUi
considered. They are consumed at one sampling time before the
STA
start-up; thus, the daily cyclic operation is applied to dCGUi .

2.3.2.2. Storage tank. The storage tank is selected along with the
cogeneration unit, and its capacity depends on the selected cogeneration unit; the optimal sizing of the storage tank is an issue for future
studies. Although storage tanks generally have temperature stratications in the vertical direction [40], an energy balance relationship
based on heat ow rates is applied to express the inputeoutput
relationship in the storage tank; this model is dened as an ideal
stratication model by Celador et al. [7]. Moreover, in order to express
the full storage state that is used to express the operating condition of
an air-cooled heat exchanger, the stored energy is divided into two
parts: stored energy smaller than its upper limit and stored energy
equal to its upper limit. By introducing the binary variables expressing
L
U
the two parts of the stored energy, dST and dST , the inputeoutput
relationship of the ith storage tank at the kth sampling time on the
mth representative day is formulated as follows:

in and Q out
where SST denotes the energy stored in the storage tank; QST
ST
denote the heat ow rates of hot water stored into and supplied from
the storage tank, respectively; L denotes the energy loss rate of the
storage tank; SLST and SU
ST denote the stored energy lower than and
equal to the upper limit; and SST and SST denote the lower and upper
limits of the stored energy, respectively. The upper limit of the stored
energy in the storage tank varies according to the selected cogeneration unit and the representative day. It is calculated by the following
equation:

SSTi m rcVSTi fqSTi  qF mg

i 1; 2; /; I;k 1; 2; /; K;m 1; 2; /; M
(10)
where r and c denote the density and specic heat of water,
respectively; VST and qST denote the volume of the storage tank and
hot water temperature in the storage tank, respectively; and qF
denotes the feed water temperature and depends on the representative day. Furthermore, based on the assumption of the daily cyclic
operation, the energy stored in the initial state is considered to be
equal to that stored in the terminal state on each representative day.
2.3.2.3. Peripheral devices. Peripheral devices are operated only
when they are selected and their operating conditions are satised.
They consist of L types and their index is designated by l. The
inputeoutput relationship of the lth peripheral device at the kth
sampling time on the mth representative day is formulated by the
linear equation using the ow rates of the input and output energies, XPDI and YPDI , as follows:

YPDI k; m aPDI XPDI k; m bPDI dPDI k; m

X PDI dPDI k; mgPDI  XPDI k; m  X PDI dPDI k; mgPDI ;

l 1; 2; /; L;k 1; 2; /; K;m 1; 2; /; M
(11)
where gPDI denotes the binary variable (design variable) expressing
the selection; dPDI denotes the binary variable (operation variable)
expressing the oneoff status that is associated with its operating
condition; X PDI and X PDI denote the lower and upper limits of the
ow rate of the input energy; and the coefcient aPDI and bPDI
express the performance characteristic in the linear equation. For
the peripheral devices, the association between the design variable
gPDI and the operation variable dPDI is not considered unlike Eq. (7)
for the cogeneration unit. This is because the operating condition of
the peripheral devices is associated with the operation of other
system components. The inputeoutput relationship of the

SSTi k; m  SSTi k  1; m
in
out
QSTi
k; m  QSTi
k; m  Li SSTi k  1; m
Dt
SSTi k; m SLSTi k; m SU
STi k; m
L

SSTi mdSTi k; m  SLSTi k; m  SSTi mdSTi k; m

U

d
SU
STi k; m SSTi m STi k; m
dLSTi k;

mf0; 1g

dUSTi k;

mf0; 1g

dLSTi k;

U
m dSTi k; m gCGUi

9
=

i 1; 2; /; I; k 1; 2; /; K; m 1; 2; /; M

9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;

(9)

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

725

peripheral devices can also be formulated using piecewise linear

equations as in the case of the cogeneration units.

mixed-integer linear programming problem, this nonlinear term is

replaced by the continuous variable xPDI as follows:

2.3.3. Energy balance relationships

The energy balances are considered at the connecting points
between the system components and at the boundaries of the
residential cogeneration system, meaning the supply points to the
energy demands.

xPDI k;m dPDI k;mgPDI l1;2;/;L;k1;2;/;K;m1;2;/;M

Many evaluation criteria, including energy savings, CO2 emission

reduction, and cost reduction, are required to quantify the benets of
using a cogeneration system. First, a cost reduction should be discussed on the basis of the total cost consisting of initial and operational costs of selected system components. The operational costs can
be calculated from purchased electric power and natural gas consumption. However, a cost reduction by utilizing fuel cell-based
cogeneration units is not currently expected because of their high
initial costs. Second, CO2 emission reduction can be calculated form
purchased electric power and natural gas consumption; however, the
CO2 emission factor for electric power purchased from an electric
power company must be estimated appropriately. In Japan, two
methods for estimating the CO2 emission factor for purchased electric
power have been discussed for several years. One method is based on
the average CO2 emission of only thermal power plants in the electric
power system, and the other method is based on the average CO2
emission of all power plants. Because this discussion remains
inconclusive, the feasibility study from the perspective of reducing
CO2 emission is regarded as a future study. However, the Act on the
Rational Use of Energy of Japan [41] ofcially states that the conversion factor for the primary energy of purchased electric power shall
be calculated on the basis of the average consumption of only thermal
power plants. Therefore, this study focuses on the energy savings by
utilizing a residential cogeneration system as the rst phase.
The objective function to be minimized is the annual primary
energy consumption, which is calculated from purchased electric
power and natural gas consumption in the cogeneration unit and
peripheral devices on each representative day. The objective
function, JCGS , is expressed by the following linear equation:

JCGS

M
P

Wm

m1

K
P

fE kEP k; mDt

k1

fG

K
P

"
FCGU k; m

k1

I
P
i1

gCGSi

dPDI gPDI  xPDI k; m  dPDI gPDI

9
=

dPDI k; m dPDI gPDl  1  xPDI k; m  dPDI k; m ;

2.4. Objective function

(13)
Moreover, the following constraint for xPDI is introduced:

L
P

L
P

FPDI k; m Dt

i 1; 2; /; I;k 1; 2; /; K;m 1; 2; /; M
(14)
where dPDI and dPDI denote the lower and upper limits of dPDI ,
respectively, and they are set as 0 and 1, respectively. In Eq. (14), if
gPDI 0, xPDI 0, or else if gPDI 1, xPDI dPDI . Thus, this procedure can linearize Eq. (13) without any approximation [29].
The reformulated problem is coded using the algebraic
modeling language, GAMS distribution 23.1 [42], and is solved using the optimization solver for large-scale problems, CPLEX version
12.2 [43]. The solver can evaluate the lower bound of the objective
function by using linear relaxation during computation. All of the
solutions in this study are derived under the condition that the
value of the objective function completely coincides with its lower
bound. Hence, it is guaranteed that the results obtained by using
this solver are optimal.
3. Case study
As a case study, the developed optimal structural design model
is applied to the structural design of a residential cogeneration
system without electric power export for simulated energy demands in a Japanese residence. First, the superstructure of the
residential cogeneration system targeted in this study is shown,
then the input data for the optimal structural design are stated.
Finally, the derived results are discussed.
3.1. Superstructure of residential cogeneration system
The superstructure of the residential cogeneration system
investigated as a case study is shown in Fig. 3. It consists of a
cogeneration unit, a storage tank, an electric water heater, an aircooled heat exchanger, and a gas-red boiler. There is no electric
power export from the cogeneration unit to the commercial electric

l1

gPDI

l1

(12)
where W denotes the number of the representative days in a typical
year; EP denotes the purchased electric power; FPDI denotes the
natural gas consumption in the lth peripheral device; and fE and fG
denote the conversion factors for the primary energy of purchased
electric power and natural gas, respectively. fE may vary hourly
because of variations in the thermal power plant conguration. To
avoid installing the system components when they are not operated on any representative day, a negligible energy for their
installation, k, is added in the objective function.
2.5. Solution method
The formulated model has the nonlinear term, which is the
product of dPDI and gPDI in Eq. (10). To reformulate this model as a

Fig. 3. Superstructure of residential cogeneration system.

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T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

power system. The surplus electric power generated by the cogeneration unit is used in the electric water heater, while the shortage in
the electric power is supplemented by purchasing from an electric
power company. These constraints are considered in the energy
balance relationship. The hot water produced by the cogeneration
unit and electric water heater is stored in the storage tank. The
surplus energy of hot water produced by the cogeneration unit is
wasted in the air-cooled heat exchanger. The hot water supply demand is met by supplying from the storage tank and gas-red boiler.
For the winter days, the two methods of heating are separately
employed: heating by electric air conditioners and that by hot water.
Candidates for the cogeneration unit comprise a GE-CGU
employing the constant power output operation, a PEFC-CGU
employing the daily startestop operation, and an SOFC-CGU
employing the continuous operation with a minimum power
output; i.e., I 3. Only the GE-CGU can directly supply hot water to
the heating demand. The storage tank is selected along with the
cogeneration unit and its volume depends on the cogeneration
unit. As candidates for peripheral devices, the electric water heater,
air-cooled heat exchanger, and gas-red boiler are considered; i.e.,
L 3. The electric water heater is operated only when the surplus
electric power is generated under the minimum power output
operation of the cogeneration unit. The air-cooled heat exchanger is
operated only when the energy stored in the storage tank reaches
1
U
its upper limit. Thus, the binary variables, dCGU and dST , are
employed to express the oneoff status of the electric water heater
and the air-cooled heat exchanger, respectively. The gas-red boiler
is preselected by preliminarily setting the binary variable to select
the gas-red boiler to 1; thus, the negligible energy for the installation of the gas-red boiler is not considered in Eq. (12). As a
consequence, the selection of the cogeneration unit with the storage tank, electric water heater, and air-cooled heat exchanger is

determined in this case study. If no cogeneration unit is selected

based on Eq. (1), the electric power demand is met only by purchasing electric power, and the hot water supply and heating demands are met by supplying only from the gas-red boiler.
3.2. Input data
3.2.1. Performance characteristics of system components
The performance characteristics of the system components are
listed in Table 1, and the generation and heat recovery efciencies
of the three types of cogeneration units as a function of the electric
power output, calculated using the higher heating value of natural
gas, are shown in Fig. 4. These are estimated on the basis of Ref. [2]
for the GE-CGU, Ref. [3] for the PEFC-CGU, and Ref. [4] for the SOFCCGU. The rated electric power outputs of the GE-CGU, PEFC-CGU,
and SOFC-CGU are 1.0, 0.75, and 0.7 kW, respectively. The inpute
output relationship of the PEFC-CGU and SOFC-CGU is divided into
three (N 3) and ve (N 5) parts, respectively; the divided parts
include the part of the minimum power output operation (n 1).
The performance characteristics of the cogeneration units are
summarized as follows: the GE-CGU has the highest heat-to-power
supply ratio at the rated electric power output; the PEFC-CGU has
high generation efciency under partial-load conditions; and the
SOFC-CGU has the smallest minimum and rated electric power
outputs and the highest generation efciency at the rated electric
power output. For the PEFC-CGU, the electric power and natural gas
consumed for the start-up are considered [3]. The load-following
characteristic [6] of the PEFC-CGU and SOFC-CGU is not considered. This is because the sampling time of the residential energy
demand is 1 h as described later, and the electric power output of a
prototype SOFC-CGU follow the variations in the electric power
demand of an actual residence very well according to the

Table 1
Performance characteristics of system components.
System component

Item

Value

Gas engine-based
cogeneration unit (GE-CGU)

Rated electric power output

Rated hot water output
Rated natural gas consumption
Power consumption of auxiliary machines during
Power consumption of auxiliary machines during
Temperature of generated hot water
Rated/minimum electric power output
Rated/minimum hot water output
Rated/minimum natural gas consumption
Power consumption of auxiliary machines during
Power consumption of auxiliary machines during
Electric power for start-up
Natural gas consumption for start-up
Temperature of generated hot water
Rated/minimum electric power output
Rated/minimum hot water output
Rated/minimum natural gas consumption
Power consumption of auxiliary machines
Temperature of generated hot water
Volume (GE-CGU)
Volume (PEFC-CGU)
Volume (SOFC-CGU)
Heat loss rate (GE-CGU)
Heat loss rate (PEFC-CGU)
Heat loss rate (SOFC-CGU)
Rated hot water output
Hot water supply efciency (HHV)
Hot water heating efciency (HHV)
Rated power consumption of auxiliary machines
Maximum electric power input
Heating efciency
Maximum heat discharge rate
Power consumption of auxiliary machines

1.0 kW
2.50 kW
0.337 m3/h
0.050 kW
0.005 kW
75  C
0.750/0.250 kW
0.940/0.200 kW
0.167/0.0617 m3/h
0.03 kW
0.005 kW
0.400 kW
0.0600 m3/h
60  C
0.700/0.150 kW
0.640/0.240 kW
0.135/0.0533 m3/h
0.020 kW
70  C
90 L
200 L
90 L
1.20%/h
0.090%/h
1.20%/h
41.9 kW
90.0%
84.0%
0.205 kW
0.950 kW
90.0%
1.00 kW
0.005 kW

Polymer electrolyte fuel cell-based

cogeneration unit (PEFC-CGU)

Solid oxide fuel cell-based

cogeneration unit (SOFC-CGU)

Storage tank

Latent heat recovery type gas-red boiler

Electric water heater (EH)

Air-cooled heat exchanger (AC)

operation
standby

operation
standby

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

727

Fig. 4. Generation and heat recovery efciencies of three types of cogeneration units.

demonstration [44]. The lower limit of the stored energy, SST , is set
to be 10% of SST to consider unusable hot water because of actual
temperature stratication. For the gas-red boiler, a latent heat
recovery type, which is more efcient than a conventional type, is
employed. The power consumption of pumps to send hot water
from the gas-red boiler to demands is set to be proportional to the
heat ow rate of the hot water output.
3.2.2. Residential energy demands
This study focuses on the simulated energy demands of a typical
single-family residence in Japan, as dened by the Institute for
Building Environment and Energy Conservation in Japan [45]. The

calculation condition to simulate the energy demands of the singlefamily residence was particularly described in Ref. [39]. In the
current study, these energy demands are rearranged for the
following ve representative days, i.e., M 5: a summer day, a
summer day with peak demand, a mid-season day, a winter day,
and a winter day with peak demand. The numbers of a summer day,
a summer day with peak demand, a mid-season day, a winter day,
and a winter day with peak demand in a typical year are 105, 17,
122, 104, and 17, respectively. The energy demands on each
representative day are estimated at 24 sampling times; i.e., K 24
and Dt 1 h. The time evolution of the energy demands is shown in
Fig. 5; the electric power demand depends on the winter heating

Fig. 5. Time evolution of simulated energy demands.

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T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

methods, while the hot water supply demand is the same for the
both winter heating methods. From Fig. 5, the features of the energy demands are summarized as follows: (1) the electric power
demand increases in the morning and at night; (2) the hot water
supply demand is mostly concentrated at night; (3) there is the hot
water heating demand in the morning and after the evening; and
(4) the variations in the hot water supplying and heating demands
are not always synchronized with that in the electric power demand. The annual electric power demand and the annual heat
demand that is the sum of the annual hot water supply and heating
demands in the case of the winter heating by electric air conditioners are 21.5 and 15.7 GJ/y, respectively, and those in the case of
the winter heating by hot water are 17.9 and 26.0 GJ/y, respectively;
they are calculated by considering the number of the representative
days in a typical year. From Ref. [45], the feed water temperatures in
summer, mid-season, and winter are set to be 24, 16, and 8  C,
respectively.
In order to analyze the optimal structure of the residential
cogeneration system for a wide range of the energy demands, the
energy demands at each sampling time are varied from the original
demands, shown in Fig. 5, in proportion to the annual energy demands parametrically varied as follows:
O k; m
ED k; m rE ED
O k; m
QDS k; m rQ QDS
O k; m
QDH k; m rQ QDH

9
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
;

k 1; 2; /; K; m 1; 2; /; M

(15)

where ED , QDS , and QDH denote the electric power demand, the hot
water supply demand, and the hot water heating demand,
respectively; rE and rQ denote the ratio of the varied demand to the
O,
original demand for electric power and heat, respectively; and ED
O , and Q O denote the electric power demand, the hot water
QDS
DH
supply demand, and the hot water heating demand, respectively,
which are originally simulated. For the residence employing the
winter heating by electric air conditioners, rE is varied in the range
of 0.23e1.40 and rQ , in the range of 0.16e1.91. For the residence
employing the winter heating by hot water, rE is varied in the range
of 0.28e1.40 and rQ , in the range of 0.15e1.92.
3.2.3. Conversion factors for primary energy
The conversion factors for the primary energy of purchased
electric power and natural gas are listed in Table 2. For the purchased electric power, the thermal power average conversion factor
described previously is introduced; this has two values, depending
on the time period, because the conguration of the thermal power
plant in the electric power system varies [41]. For natural gas, the
value of the conversion factor is reported as the statistics by Japanese gas companies [46].
3.3. Results and discussion
In this optimal structural design problem, the numbers are as follows: equation, 18,900; continuous variables, 13,120; and binary variables, 3847. As numerical results, the optimal structure of the
Table 2
Conversion factors for primary energy.
Energy source

Value

Purchased electric power (8:00 to 22:00)

Purchased electric power (22:00 to 8:00)
Natural gas

9.97 MJ/kWh
9.28 MJ/kWh
45.0 MJ/m3

Fig. 6. Optimal structures of residential cogeneration system.

residential cogeneration system and the correlation between its

optimal structure and operation planning are rst analyzed. Then, the
energy-saving effect of its optimal and suboptimal structures is
analyzed.
3.3.1. Optimal structure analysis
The optimal structures of the residential cogeneration system
are plotted in Fig. 6, showing the relationship between the annual
electric power and heat demands, and the heat-to-power supply
ratio of the three types of cogeneration units at the rated electric
power output. The detail of the optimal structures of the residential
cogeneration system, which have ve types, is listed in Table 3.
The distribution of the optimal structures in the relationship between the annual electric power and heat demands is almost the
same for both the winter heating methods. Moreover, there is weak
correlation between the selected cogeneration units and the heat-topower supply ratio of the three types of cogeneration units, although
the consistency of the heat-to-power ratios of the cogeneration unit
Table 3
Detail of optimal structures of residential cogeneration system.
Selected (S)/not selected (NS)
Optimal structure

GE-CGU

PEFC-CGU

SOFC-CGU

EH

AC

No CGU
GE
PEFC-A
PEFC-B
SOFC-A
SOFC-B

NS
S
NS
NS
NS
NS

NS
NS
S
S
NS
NS

NS
NS
NS
NS
S
S

NS
S
S
NS
S
NS

NS
NS
NS
NS
S
S

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

729

case of considerably high annual demands for both the electric power
and heat, the PEFC-CGU whose heat-to-power supply ratio is higher
than that of the SOFC-CGU is selected; the corresponding demands
are indicated by PEFC-A and PEFC-B in Fig. 6. The electric water heater
is not selected for considerably high annual electric power demands,
which are indicated by PEFC-B in Fig. 6. Moreover, Table 3 shows that
the air-cooled heat exchanger is not selected along with the GE-CGU
and PEFC-CGU. This result indicates that the GE-CGU and PEFC-CGU
with high heat-to-power supply ratios need to effectively utilize the
generated hot water to achieve energy savings.

and energy demands is generally regarded as important for the

design of cogeneration systems. In the case of considerably low
annual demands for both electric power and heat, no cogeneration is
selected; the corresponding demands are indicated by No CGU in
Fig. 6. In the case where the annual electric power demand is quite
low, but the annual heat demand is relatively high, the GE-CGU with a
high heat-to-power supply ratio is selected; the corresponding demands are indicated by GE in Fig. 6. The electric water heater is
selected along with the GE-CGU, as shown in Table 3. In the case
where the annual heat demand is quite low, but the annual electric
power demand is relatively high, the PEFC-CGU, which has high
generation efciencies under partial-load conditions, is selected
along with the electric water heater; the corresponding demands are
indicated by PEFC-A in Fig. 6. The electric water heater is required to
operate the PEFC-CGU under the electric power demand lower than
its minimum electric power output (0.25 kW). For higher annual
demands for electric power and heat than the demands indicated by
PEFC-A, the SOFC-CGU that has the smallest rated electric power
output but the highest generation efciency at the rated electric power output is selected; the corresponding demands are indicated by
SOFC-A and SOFC-B in Fig. 6. The air-cooled heat exchanger is
certainly selected along with the SOFC-CGU employing the continuous operation. The electric water heater is selected along with the
SOFC-CGU only in low annual electric power demands, which are
indicated by SOFC-A in Fig. 6, because the minimum electric power
demand on the representative days is lower than the minimum
electric power output of the SOFC-CGU (0.15 kW). Furthermore, in the

3.3.2. Correlation analysis between optimal structure and operation

planning
Fig. 6 shows the following distinctive result: for the same annual
electric power demand, the SOFC-CGU with a low heat-to-power
supply ratio is selected in a high annual heat demand, indicated
by demand (B) in Fig. 6(a), while the PEFC-CGU with a high heat-topower supply ratio is selected in a low annual heat demand, indicated by demand (A) in Fig. 6(a). To analyze this result, for demand
(A) where rE 0.5 and rQ 0.4, the optimal operation planning of
the PEFC-CGU and the SOFC-CGU on the representative summer
day are shown in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively. The result for the SOFCCGU is derived by preliminarily setting the binary variable to select
the SOFC-CGU to 1. First, the operation of the PEFC-CGU is
concentrated in the nighttime with a high heat demand due to
employing the daily startestop operation. Although the result is
not shown here, all the heat demand is met by the supply from the

Fig. 7. Optimal operation planning of PEFC-CGU on representative summer day

(Winter heating by electric air conditioners: rE 0.5, rQ 0.4).

Fig. 8. Optimal operation planning of SOFC-CGU on representative summer day

(Winter heating by electric air conditioners: rE 0.5, rQ 0.4).

730

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

storage tank. On the other hand, the electric power output of the
SOFC-CGU employing the continuous operation is always varied in
response to the electric power demand indicated by the solid line.
The surplus electric power is used in the electric water heater, and
the surplus energy of hot water output is wasted at the air-cooled
heat exchanger. However, due to wastage of surplus energy of hot
water, the annual primary energy consumption for the SOFC-CGU
(35.1 GJ/y) is larger than that for the PEFC-CGU (34.3 GJ/y); thus,
the PEFC-CGU is selected as the optimal cogeneration unit. For
demand (B) where rE 0.5 and rQ 0.85, the operation time of the
PEFC-CGU is increased with the amount of the heat demand, while
the wastage of surplus energy of hot water generated by the SOFCCGU is decreased. Since the latter provides a greater contribution to
energy savings, the annual primary energy consumption for the
SOFC-CGU (38.8 GJ/y) is smaller than that for the PEFC-CGU

(39.8 GJ/y); thus, the SOFC-CGU is selected as the optimal cogeneration unit.
As shown in Fig. 6, the GE-CGU with the highest heat-to-power
supply ratio is selected only in considerably low annual electric
power and heat demands and not selected in high annual heat
demands with high heat-to-power demand ratios. To analyze this
result, for demand (C) where rE 1.0 and rQ 1.55, the optimal
energy supply planning for the PEFC-CGU and the GE-CGU on the
representative winter day are shown in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively.
Although the heat-to-power ratios of the GE-CGU and the demand
(C) are identical, the PEFC-CGU is identied as the optimal cogeneration unit. The PEFC-CGU operates continuously because of the
high heat demand; however, its electric power output is modulated
in response to the electric power demand. On the other hand, the

Fig. 9. Optimal energy supply planning in the case of PEFC-CGU on representative

winter day (Winter heating by hot water: rE 1.0, rQ 1.55).

Fig. 10. Optimal energy supply planning in the case of GE-CGU on representative
winter day (Winter heating by hot water: rE 1.0, rQ 1.55).

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

731

electric power supply from the GE-CGU employing the constant

power output operation is modulated by utilizing the electric water
heater. The GE-CGU operates in the morning and nighttime with
high heat demand. However, its operation time is insufcient to
meet the daily heat demand because further operation under a low
electric power demand is unfavorable from the perspective of
saving energy. Since the reduction in the amount of the purchased
electric power greatly surpasses the increase in the hot water
supply from the gas-red boiler, the primary energy
consumption for PEFC-CGU (83.2 GJ/y) is smaller than that for GECGU (86.8 GJ/y).
These analyses reveal that the selection of the cogeneration unit
is inuenced more by their operating restrictions than by the
consistency in the heat-to-power ratios of the cogeneration unit
and energy demands. Moreover, the GE-CGU and PEFC-CGU with
high heat-to-power supply ratios aim to operate so as to meet the
daily heat demand by their hot water output but their operation is
limited by low electric power demands. The SOFC-CGU with the
high generation efciency and continuous operation constraint is
operated in the electric demand following mode.
3.3.3. Energy-saving analysis of optimal structures
The energy-saving effect of the residential cogeneration system
with the optimal structure is analyzed. The reduction rate of the
annual primary energy consumption by utilizing the residential
cogeneration system, a, is dened as:

JCO  JCGS
 100
JCO

(16)

where JCO denotes the annual primary energy consumption of a

conventional energy supply system, in which the electric power
demand is met only by purchasing electric power, and the heat
demand is met only by supplying from a conventional gas-red
boiler. The hot water supply and heating efciencies of the conventional gas-red boiler based on the higher heating value of
natural gas are assumed to be 80 and 75%, respectively. The positive
value of this reduction rate indicates the energy savings by utilizing
the residential cogeneration system.
The reduction rate of the annual primary energy consumption,
a, by utilizing the optimal structure is plotted in Fig. 11, showing the
relationship between the annual electric power and heat demands,
and the heat-to-power supply ratio of the three types of cogeneration units at the rated electric power output. All the results for a
have positive values; thus, all the optimal structures reduce the
annual primary energy consumption as compared with the conventional energy supply system. The system in which no cogeneration unit is selected has also an advantage in the energy savings
because the latent heat recovery type gas-red boiler is installed
unlike the conventional energy supply system. a increases with
both the annual electric power and heat demands because of the
change in the energy-saving effect of the three types of cogeneration units with different heat-to-power supply ratios and operational restrictions. a has high sensitivity to the annual energy
demands in low electric power and heat demands. On the other
hand, a slightly decreases in considerably high annual electric power and heat demands because the amount of the purchased
electric power and hot water supplied from the gas-red boiler is
increased to compensate for the shortage in the supplies from the
cogeneration unit. The highest value of a in the case of the winter
heating by electric air conditioners, i.e., 19.2%, is derived in the
energy demands where the annual electric power and heat demands are 17.6 and 14.8 GJ/y, respectively, and a in the case of the
winter heating by hot water, i.e., 19.0%, is derived in the energy
demands where the annual electric power and heat demands are

Fig. 11. Reduction rate of annual primary energy consumption for a wide range of
energy demands.

16.1 and 24.3 GJ/y, respectively; these energy demands are plotted
in Fig. 11. For the highest value of a, the SOFC-CGU is selected along
with the air-cooled heat exchanger in the both winter heating
methods, as shown in Fig. 6 and Table 3.
3.3.4. Energy-saving analysis of suboptimal structures
To conduct the sensitivity analysis for the optimal structure of
the residential cogeneration system, the energy-saving effect of
its suboptimal structures is also investigated. First, the suboptimal structures for the cogeneration units are focused on. Table 4
shows the reduction rate of the annual primary energy consumption, a, of the optimal structure in the case where each
cogeneration unit is intentionally selected and the energy supply
system without the cogeneration units, for the original energy
demands (rE 1.0 and rQ 1.0); the results are derived by
preliminarily xing the binary variable to select the corresponding system components.
For both the winter heating methods, the difference in a between the SOFC-CGU (the optimal cogeneration unit) and the PEFCCGU is around one percentage points. The GE-CGU also greatly
reduces the annual primary energy consumption as compared with
the energy supply system without the cogeneration units, especially in the case of the winter heating by hot water. However, a of
the GE-CGU is smaller than those of the SOFC-CGU and PEFC-CGU
for both the winter heating methods. This is due to limiting the
operation of the GE-CGU under low electric power demands, as
shown in Fig. 10. In the case where the SOFC-CGU is selected, the
air-cooled heat exchanger is selected, but the electric water heater
is not selected because the minimum electric power demand on the
representative days exceeds the minimum electric power output.

732

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

Table 4
Energy-saving effect and optimal structure of preliminarily selected cogeneration unit in original energy demands.
Winter heating

Cogeneration unit

Electric air conditioners

Hot water

SOFC-CGU (optimal)
PEFC-CGU
GE-CGU
No CGU
SOFC-CGU (optimal)
PEFC-CGU
GE-CGU
No CGU

Reduction rate of annual

primary energy consumption %

Selected (S)/not selected (NS)

EH

AC

18.3
17.3
10.4
2.81
18.8
17.5
13.1
4.49

NS
S
S
NS
NS
S
S
NS

S
NS
NS
NS
S
NS
NS
NS

On the other hand, in the case where the GE-CGU or the PEFC-CGU
is selected, the electric water heater is selected, but the air-cooled
heat exchanger is not selected. This system structure aims at the
operation of the cogeneration units under a low electric power
demand and at the effective utilization of the hot water produced
by the cogeneration units with high heat-to-power supply ratios.
Second, the energy-saving effect of the suboptimal structures
for the peripheral devices is investigated. a of the residential
cogeneration systems with the preliminarily selected peripheral
devices for each cogeneration unit is listed in Table 5; the original
energy demands, in which the winter heating is conducted by the
electric air conditioners, are focused on. In the case where the
SOFC-CGU is selected, installing the air-cooled heat exchanger increases the reduction rate of the annual primary energy consumption by two percentage points. This is because the load factor
of the SOFC-CGU without the air-cooled heat exchanger is reduced
so that surplus hot water is not generated. However, installing the
electric water heater does not inuence the reduction rate at all.
This means that the electric water heater is not operated. On the
other hand, in the case where the GE-CGU or PEFC-CGU is selected,
a is slightly increased by installing the electric water heater. This
result shows that the operating time of the GE-CGU and PEFC-CGU
without the electric water heater is limited so that surplus electric
power is not generated. However, installing the air-cooled heat
exchanger scarcely increases the reduction rate because the GECGU and PEFC-CGU with high heat-to-power supply ratios need
to effectively utilize the produced hot water in order to achieve
energy savings. Although the result is not shown, it was conrmed
that the result in the case of the winter heating by hot water has the
same tendency as that of the winter heating by electric air
conditioners.

Table 5
Energy-saving effect of residential cogeneration system with preliminarily selected
peripheral devices in original energy demands (Winter heating by electric air
conditioners).
Cogeneration
unit

Reduction rate of annual

primary energy
consumption %

Selected (S)/not selected (NS)

EH

AC

SOFC-CGU

18.3
16.3
18.3
16.3
17.0
17.3
17.3
17.0
9.78
10.4
10.4
9.76

NS
S
S
NS
NS
S
S
NS
NS
S
S
NS

S
NS
S
NS
S
NS
S
NS
S
NS
S
NS

PEFC-CGU

GE-CGU

These sensitivity analyses reveal that not only the cogeneration

units but also the peripheral devices should be appropriately
selected for a high energy-saving effect.

4. Conclusions
An optimal structural design model of residential cogeneration
systems that considers various kinds of operating restrictions was
developed from the energy-saving viewpoint. As principal operating restrictions of cogeneration units, a constant power output
operation, a daily startestop operation, and a continuous operation
were focused on. Moreover, the variation in the generation and heat
recovery efciencies of cogeneration units under partial-load conditions was formulated using piecewise linear equations. The
developed model results in a mixed-integer linear programming
problem and the selection and multi-period operation are simultaneously optimized. The suboptimal structure could be also
analyzed by preliminarily xing the binary variables to select the
corresponding system components.
The developed model was then applied to the structural design of
a residential cogeneration system, consisting of a cogeneration unit
without the electric power export, a storage tank, a gas-red boiler,
and peripheral devices, for simulated energy demands in a Japanese
residence. The candidates for a cogeneration unit are a GE-CGU
employing the constant power output operation, a PEFC-CGU
employing the daily startestop operation, and an SOFC-CGU
employing the continuous operation, and the candidates for peripheral devices are an electric water heater and an air-cooled heat
exchanger. The results revealed that the selection of the optimal
cogeneration unit is inuenced more by the operating restrictions of
the cogeneration units than by the consistency in the heat-to-power
ratios of the cogeneration unit and energy demands. In addition, it
was revealed that the selection of the peripheral devices varies with
the selected cogeneration unit and energy demands. Furthermore,
the energy-saving analysis of the residential cogeneration systems
with the optimal and suboptimal structures showed that the
optimal structural design of the residential cogeneration system is
important to achieve a high energy-saving effect and that the
developed model is a powerful tool for the optimal structural design.
In a further study, the optimal structure of the residential
cogeneration system, in which a battery is newly considered to be a
candidate, will be analyzed because a residential cogeneration unit
with a battery can operate more exibly even without the electric
power export. The fuel cell-based cogeneration units focused in this
study have high energy-saving effects for a wide range of the
annual energy demands; however, a total cost reduction by utilizing them is not currently expected due to their high initial costs.
Moreover, the optimal structural design from only the energysaving viewpoint may select many peripheral devices that are
operated on limited days. Hence, the important issue of future

T. Wakui, R. Yokoyama / Energy 64 (2014) 719e733

studies is to develop the optimal structural design model considering the capital recovery constraint of the system components;
this method can also optimize the sizing of the system components.
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