MICRO FUSION

MICRO FUSION SYSTEM ECONOMICS:

The following economic analysis is based on the published residential end user prices for: number 2 fuel oil supplied by Ultramar and regulated price plan electricity supplied by Hydro One to normal density customers. The rates are those that applied in Ontario in July 2009. Future rate changes will change the value of the Micro Fusion technology calculated herein.

ENERGY INPUT AND THERMAL OUTPUT:
A Micro Fusion System sinks 25 kWe of electricity per Micro Fusion unit and sources 250 kWt of recoverable heat per Micro Fusion Unit.

FINANCIAL VALUES OF MICRO FUSION SYSTEM OUTPUTS:
The financial values of the heat and electricity outputs of a Micro Fusion System are set by the cost to an end user of obtaining the same amounts of heat and electricity from alternate sources.

COMPARATIVE COSTS OF HEATING OIL AND ELECTRICITY:
 
Number 2 Fuel Oil:
Assume that Number 2 fuel oil is burned in a mid-efficiency boiler with a heat recovery efficiency of 0.85.
The cost of Number 2 fuel oil as supplied by Ultramar is $.779 / litre plus GST.
The chemical energy content of Number 2 fuel oil is 38.2 X 10^6 J / litre (published value)
Then the marginal cost of 1kWt-h of heat from Number 2 fuel oil is:
3.6 X 10^6 J / kWt-h X (1 lit / 38.2 X 10^6 J) X $.779 / lit X (1 / .85)
= $.08637 kWt-h + GST
 
Electricity:
Assume that the marginal cost of 1 kWe-h of electricity supplied by Hydro One to a normal density residential customer is:
= $0.155 / kWe-h + GST

HEATING APPLICATIONS (INCLUDING ABSORPTION COOLING):
Consider a Micro Fusion Unit with a thermal output of 250 kWt and an electrical consumption of 25 kWe. If this unit is continuously fully loaded and if it displaces oil heating then the ongoing energy cost saving that it produces is:
{(250 kWt X $.08637/kWt-h) – (25 kWe X $.155/ kWe-h)} X 730.5 h/month
= {($21.5925 / h) – ($3.785 / h)} X 730.5 h/month
= $13,008.38 / month + GST

LOAD FACTOR:
Assume that the thermal output of the Micro Fusion Unit is connected to a real load such as the space heating and domestic hot water heating systems of a large (250 suite) multi-residential building.
 
Assume a 6 month non-heating season weekly average load factor (LF) of 60% (DHW heating with storage, LF = 100% Sunday, LF = 70% Saturday, LF = 50% Monday to Friday), then the average load factor during the non-heating season is:
(1 + .70 + 2.5) / 7 = 0.6
 
Assume a heating season 6 month load factor of 100% = 1. Then the average annual heating load factor is:
(0.6 + 1.0) / 2 = 0.8

INSTALLED MICROFUSION SYSTEM VALUE:
If the displaced heat was originally derived from fuel oil then the monthly energy cost savings per Micro Fusion Unit operating at a load factor of 0.8 are:
.8 X $13,008.38 / month = $10,406.70 / month + GST
 
These energy cost savings will support an installed capital value of:
25 months X $10,406.70 /month = $260,167.57 plus GST
together with an ongoing all inclusive service contract of:
.01 X $260,167.57 / month
= $2601.67 / month plus GST

The net simple payback period for the building owner is:
Capital cost / Cost saving per month
= ($260,167.57) / ($10,406.70 / month - $2601.67 / month)
= (4 / 3) X 25 months
= 33.33 months.

If allowance is made for a six month installation period involving equal progress payments, then the Micro Fusion system purchaser achieves about a 36 month = three year payback period. This payback period allows the purchaser to arrange five year lease financing.

In the above calculations it is assumed that the building owner already owns the real estate on which the Micro Fusion unit is to be installed and that for the purpose of energy cost saving calculations this real estate has zero carrying cost.

However, there is a problem. If the installed value of a Micro Fusion unit exceeds $260,167.57 + GST, which is likely, then the price of heating oil must increase for the Micro Fusion system to make business sense for the supplier. A component of this heating oil price increase could be fossil carbon emissions tax.

BIOFUEL PRODUCTION:
The heat output from a Micro Fusion System installed at an agricultural site can be used for concentrating fuel alcohol. Each Micro Fusion unit provides a thermal output of 250 kWt.

Various biological processes produce ethanol at a concentration of about 10%. For use as an automotive fuel the ratio of ethanol to water has to be increased from 0.1 to at least 200. This increase in ethanol purity is accomplished using a process known as pervaporation which requires a suitable separation membrane and at least four evaporation-vacuum condensation steps. Each evaporation-vacuum condensation step requires about 1000 BTU / lb, or 10,000 BTU / imperial gallon. Thus a 4 step pervaporation separation requires 40,000 BTU / imperial gallon fuel ethanol produced.

A thermal power of 250 KW allows production of:
(250 kW) X (3414.4 BTU / kWh) X (1 imp gallon / 40,000 BTU) X (4.54 lit / imp gal)
= 96.9 lit ethanol / hour

This ethanol has the same chemical energy for automotive use as a gasoline flow of about:
96.9 lit ethanol / hr X .6594 lit gasoline / lit ethanol = 63.90 lit gasoline / hour

The cost to the farmer of the heat required to concentrate this ethanol is about:
($10,406.70 / month) / (730.5 h / month) = $14.246 per hour
Thus, the cost of heat from Micro Fusion for ethanol concentration is equivalent to a gasoline cost component of:
($14.246 / h) / (63.90 litre gasoline / h)
= $.223 / litre gasoline + GST

Since the retail cost of gasoline is now consistently in excess of $.90 / litre + GST, use of Micro Fusion for ethanol concentration should be be viable for many farmers.

Ideally biofuel should be used to displace gasoline that would otherwise be consumed at or near the agricultural site. The key to improving the profitability of biofuel production is to minimize feedstock and product transportation costs and to use the heat rejected by the biofuel concentration process to displace fossil fuel heat for other purposes.

SUMMARY:
The best application for Micro Fusion Systems is for displacing fuel oil for base load heating in markets served by the electricity grid.

EFFECT OF CARBON TAX ON MICRO FUSION:
The web page titled Carbon Tax shows that within the forseeable future there should be a carbon tax of about $200 / emitted tonne CO2 in order to prevent use of coal for electricity generation and to prevent use of natural gas for tar sands extraction. A carbon tax of $200 / emitted tonne of CO2 causes the cost of heat from fuel oil to increase by about $.0512 / kWt-h. Implementation of such a fossil carbon emissions tax would substantially improve the financial viability of Micro Fusion.

EFFECT OF CCA CLASS 43.2 ON MICRO FUSION:
At this time a favourable Capital Cost Allowance ruling (CCA Class 43.2) for Micro Fusion systems is being sought from Finance Canada. Such a ruling would allow investors with high taxable incomes to use investments in Micro Fusion systems to defer payment of income tax. Investment in a Class 43.2 asset allows claiming 50% per annum depreciation as compared to 4% per annum for investment in a building.

This web page last updated September 13, 2009