Integration of Solar Process Heat in Industries: A Review

Abstract

Industrial manufacturing approaches are associated with processing materials that consume a significant amount of thermal energy, termed as industrial process heat. Industrial sectors consume a substantial amount of energy for process heating over a wide range of temperatures (up to 400 °C) from agriculture, HVAC to power plants. However, the intensive industrial application of fossil fuels causes unfavorable environmental effects that cannot be ignored. To address this issue, green energy sources have manifested their potential as economical and pollution-free energy sources. Nevertheless, the adoption of solar industrial process heating systems is still limited due to a lack of knowledge in the design/installation aspects, reluctance to experience the technical/infrastructural changes, low price of fossil fuels, and lack of relative incentives. For successful solar process heat integration in industries, a proper understanding of the associated design factors is essential. This paper comprehensively reviews the integration strategies of solar industrial process heating systems, appraisal of the integration points, different aspects of solar collectors, installed thermal power, and thermal storage volume covering case studies, reports and reviews. The integration aspects of solar process heat, findings, and obstacles of several projects from the literature are also highlighted. Finally, the integration locations of SHIP systems are compared for different industrial sectors to find out the most used integration point for a certain sector and operation. It was found that for the food, beverage, and agriculture sector, 51% of solar process heat integration occurs at the supply level and 27.3% at the process-level.

Modeling of a Solar Thermal Plant to Produce Hot Water and Steam for a Brewery Factory

“…Thus, Q process can also be seen as the sum of solar heat and auxiliary heat (Q aux ). To quantify the viability of the solar plant, it is common practice to use the concept of solar fraction (𝑆𝑆 𝑓𝑓 ), which can be understood as the relation between the solar heat delivered to the process 𝑄𝑄 𝑢𝑢 and the process heat demand 𝑄𝑄 𝑝𝑝𝑣𝑣𝑜𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑣𝑣𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑆𝑆 𝑓𝑓 = 𝑄𝑄 𝑢𝑢 𝑄𝑄 𝑝𝑝𝑣𝑣𝑜𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑣𝑣𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (11) Every time when the set temperatures could not be reached using solar heat only, the auxiliary heating systems were employed to provide additional heating and meet the requirement. Thus, 𝑄𝑄 𝑝𝑝𝑣𝑣𝑜𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑣𝑣𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 can also be seen as the sum of solar heat and auxiliary heat (𝑄𝑄 𝑎𝑎𝑢𝑢𝑚𝑚 ).…”

“…Just like for any other industrial process, the integration of solar heat into a brewing process can be performed at the supply level or process level. Supply-level integration is usually easier because the solar heat is supplied to the central boiler for hot water or steam production, providing more flexibility for the set temperature of the solar thermal system [11]. In addition to the field of solar collectors, the integration project will also need a thermal energy storage system (TES) because solar radiation is intermittent by nature.…”

Dynamic Modeling and Analysis of Solar Industrial Process Heating (SIPH) for the Food industry

“…The most prevalent equipment used for generating process heat steam and water in the industrial sector are boilers and furnaces, which constitute a substantial portion of energy consumption. A wide range of major industries relies on fossil fuels process heat production, including food and paper processing, petroleum refining, and drying for many applications [5]. Currently, fossil fuels play a significant role in fulfilling the energy demands of various processes, contributing to the global increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.…”

Assessing the Uncertainties of Simulation Approaches for Solar Thermal Systems Coupled to Industrial Processes

“…Energies 2022, 15, 3333 2 of 29 Renewable energy technologies have been proposed as a promising alternative to reduce greenhouse gases emissions in industrial systems [5,6]. In particular, solar thermal technologies have been recognized by several authors as a reliable option for providing process heat to industrial processes [2,7].…”