Integration of Solar Process Heat in Industries: A Review

Nahin Tasmin,Md Rashed Hossain,Santu Golder,M A Parvez Mahmud,Shahjadi Hisan Farjana

doi:10.3390/cleantechnol4010008

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.

Highlights

IntroductionIndustrial process heat refers to the thermal energy used for the treatment or preparation of substances to process manufactured products [1]
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralIndustrial process heat refers to the thermal energy used for the treatment or preparation of substances to process manufactured products [1]
Solar process heat integration in industries has the potential for creating a carbon-free environment, but the process is at its early stage

Summary

Introduction

Industrial process heat refers to the thermal energy used for the treatment or preparation of substances to process manufactured products [1]. The most widely used thermal energy sources in industries are fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, oil, natural gas, etc.). Two weighty concerns evolving from the conventional fuel-based industrial processes are global warming and the limited sources of fossil fuels. Reckoning the adverse effects of conventional energy sources on the environment, there is already a growing tendency to introduce renewable energy in industrial process systems from developed to developing countries. Heat energy is consumed mainly for three purposes: process/space heating, generation of steam/hot water, and product manufacture. Some common industrial applications include heating/cooling, dyeing, drying, cooking, and currying [3,4]

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