Total Energy Systems

TLDR: The concept of total energy is well established in Britain and elsewhere, though not always known by this name or widely publicised as mentioned in this paper, and has been applied to combined heat and power systems where onsite generation and heat recovery optimise the use of fuel within the site, usually to provide the bulk of the energy requirements.

Abstract: Total Energy is the marketing name for a practice, well established in Britain and elsewhere, though not always known by this name or widely publicised. A total energy system meets all the energy requirements of a site with fuel by on-site generation of electricity, waste heat recovery from the prime-movers and the provision of supplementary heat as required. Fig. 1 shows this concept in a diagrammatic form: fuel is supplied to a prime-mover to generate electricity and a proportion of the heat in the exhaust gases and cooling water is recovered and used as hot water, hot gases or steam. The term is also applied more generally to combined heat and power systems where on-site generation and heat recovery optimise the use of fuel within the site, usually to provide the bulk of the energy requirements.