Case Study: Changsha Huanghua International Airport achieves reliable, energy-efficient trigeneration with Cummins

Providing Enhanced Assurance for Power Supply via CCHP to the First Airport in China That Uses a Distributed Energy System

Changsha Huanghua International Airport in Hunan, China needed a reliable way to provide uninterrupted electricity, cooling, hot water, and winter heating for its growing terminal operations. Cummins supplied two 1160 kW C1160N5C lean-burn gas generator sets as part of a combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) system to support the airport’s daily energy demands.

Cummins implemented a trigeneration solution that uses natural gas generation plus waste-heat recovery, with a flue-gas and hot-water absorption chiller and remote-control PowerCommand PCC3.3 management. The system delivers about 2.3 MW of power, provides roughly 3 MW of recovered heat, and can run in island mode during utility outages. According to the case study, the project improved total natural gas utilization to more than 90%, generated over RMB 5 million in annual electricity sales, and reduced CO2 emissions by around 4,400 tons.

Changsha Huanghua International Airport

Liu Guolin

Deputy President