Integration of a parabolic trough solar collector with an energy-intensive multi-effect evaporator: A move towards industrial decarbonization

Abstract

The current study analyzes the potential of an environmentally benign integration of a parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) with a heat-intensive multi-effect evaporator (MEE) used in pulp and paper industry. Actual plant data was used to simulate the MEE and estimate the steam economy (SE) and steam consumption (SC), which are used to judge the performance of PTSC-MEE system. Four distinct alternatives for the integration are investigated with Self-adaptive Differential Evolution (SaDE) utilized for optimization. Initially, a normal PTSC with four different model configurations of MEE, basic or with energy reduction schemes (ERSs) are tested and found that SE is slightly increased for each. Next, a geometrically optimized/combinatorial optimized PTSC with basic MEE is examined, a rise of ∼3.4% in SE is noted for both, with current integration outperforming one out of three ERSs. Subsequently, geometrical plus combinatorial optimized PTSC with basic MEE is inspected, increase in SE reached 7.59% and two of the three ERSs outperformed. Economic analysis is conducted to estimate the steam saving with different PTSC-MEE systems and corresponding payback periods. The possibility of decarbonization with the various integration possibilities is also explored by evaluating the fuel savings and related CO2 savings.