To meet its need for reliable, cost-efficient power to fuel production processes, Kuntz Electroplating, Kitchener, Ontario, is using four Caterpillar natural gas engines in a cogeneration application. Kuntz is one of the industry's largest independent electroplating plants, serving original equipment manufacturers of steel and aluminum wheels and bumpers. The original 1997 installation included three Caterpillar G3516 low-emission, natural gas engines. A fourth engine was added after Kuntz had realized significant operational savings from the first three. Each Caterpillar engine is capable of producing 815 kW of continuous power running 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. With 3.2 MW of total power, the engines produce electric power for the electro-chemical plating process and thermal energy for process heating. This represents nearly half of the electricity consumed by Kuntz; the remainder comes from the local utility.
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