Time-dependent integration of solar thermal technology in industrial processes

Abstract

Solar energy is currently an underutilized renewable energy source that could fulfill low-temperature industrial heat demands with significant potential in high solar irradiance counties such as Malaysia. This study proposes a new systematic method for optimization of solar heat integration for different process options to minimize the levelized cost of heat by combining different methods from the literature. A case study from the literature is presented to demonstrate the proposed method combined with meteorological data in Malaysia. The method estimates capital cost and levelized cost of solar heating considering important physical constraints (e.g., available space) and recovery of waste heat. The method determines and optimizes important physical dimensions, including collector area, storage size, and control design. As the result of the case study, the solar thermal integration with Clean-In-Place streams (hot water) gives the lowest levelized cost of heat with RM 0.63/kWh (0.13 EUR/kWh) due to its lowest process temperature requirement. The sensitivity analysis indicates that collector price and collector efficiency are the critical parameters of solar thermal integration.