#STEM #computer #education #microgrid #stmu

Abstract: The combustion engine is the dominant prime mover of society, and has held this distinction since before even the earliest days of the public grid. Its preeminent market share remains largely unchallenged in spite of notable advances in the technology and market for both renewable energy and electrochemical storage. Furthermore, there is no clear successor to combustion's predominance, even while stresses to the grid as well as by the grid to the environment seem inexorably poised to presuppose one.

 

Microgrids provide a very different approach to securing electricity than the traditional grid. Carving out a privately controlled volume affords the plant's owner the freedom to pursue different combinations of technologies, combustion and otherwise, than what is of necessity implemented by investors in public grid electricity-generating assets. This freedom provides an artistic canvas for the kind of innovation and creativity that is in high demand but that is structurally unsupported by a price-driven, inertia-constrained big grid.

 

This talk develops a detailed case study of the economics, physics, and engineering for a local, San Antonio-based 1.8 MW combined heat and power (CHP) microgrid that is in active development. The entire microgrid asset lifecycle is covered, from site prospecting and sources of funding, to permitting and detailed engineering questions, to operational concerns, potential alterations, and eventual decommissioning. We conclude with a numerical analysis of the site's carbon emissions index as well as some changes and innovations under consideration to which we believe this ratio will be particularly sensitive.

 

Bio: Mr. Blair Labatt is an entrepreneur with a small company that builds and operates industrial-scale combined heat and power microgrids. Prior to this, he managed a team of software developers and analysts for a local food distribution company. He holds a degree in English from Princeton, where he also had a concentration in Computer Science. Since starting his own business, he has taken numerous courses in Math, Physics, and Electrical and Chemical Engineering. He has served for several years on the Steering Committee for the School of Science, Engineering and Technology at St. Mary's University.