IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i5p1087-d1345206.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Continuous Solar Thermal Energy Production Based on Critical Irradiance Levels for Industrial Applications

Author

Listed:
  • Guillermo Martínez-Rodríguez

    (Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Guanajuato, Guanajuato 36050, Mexico)

  • Héctor H. Silviano-Mendoza

    (Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Guanajuato, Guanajuato 36050, Mexico)

  • Amanda L. Fuentes-Silva

    (Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Guanajuato, Guanajuato 36050, Mexico)

  • Juan-Carlos Baltazar

    (Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 3581, USA)

Abstract

The design of a solar thermal installation is based on the lowest irradiance levels that occur during winter. However, there are consecutive days with irradiance levels well below those used for the design, which are called in this work “critical irradiance levels”. To solve this challenge, a statistical analysis is carried out to find a representative percentile of 22 years of consecutive days with “critical irradiance levels”. A case study of a cotton-dyeing industrial process requires 18.5 m 3 of hot water and operates for 2.75 h at temperatures between 40 and 90 °C. Environmental variables for 22 years were analyzed and validated to design a solar thermal installation (solar collector network and storage system) and a coupled heat pump. The fifth percentile, with three consecutive days and low irradiance levels, was the most repetitive. For this case, a storage system of 46.5 m 3 guaranteed heat load at target temperature. The simple payback was 14.1 years, and the energy cost was 0.094 USD/kWh, which was competitive against the energy cost from using fossil fuels, 0.064 USD/kWh. The design based on critical environmental conditions guarantees a continuous supply of energy to the industrial process and defines the minimum availability of solar energy to supply a process.

Suggested Citation

  • Guillermo Martínez-Rodríguez & Héctor H. Silviano-Mendoza & Amanda L. Fuentes-Silva & Juan-Carlos Baltazar, 2024. "Continuous Solar Thermal Energy Production Based on Critical Irradiance Levels for Industrial Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:5:p:1087-:d:1345206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/5/1087/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/5/1087/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vahidinia, F. & Khorasanizadeh, H., 2021. "Development of new algebraic derivations to analyze minichannel solar flat plate collectors with small and large size minichannels and performance evaluation study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    2. Martínez-Rodríguez, Guillermo & Baltazar, Juan-Carlos & Fuentes-Silva, Amanda L., 2023. "Heat and electric power production using heat pumps assisted with solar thermal energy for industrial applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    3. Karki, Saroj & Haapala, Karl R. & Fronk, Brian M., 2019. "Technical and economic feasibility of solar flat-plate collector thermal energy systems for small and medium manufacturers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    4. Gao, Datong & Gao, Guangtao & Cao, Jingyu & Zhong, Shuai & Ren, Xiao & Dabwan, Yousef N. & Hu, Maobin & Jiao, Dongsheng & Kwan, Trevor Hocksun & Pei, Gang, 2020. "Experimental and numerical analysis of an efficiently optimized evacuated flat plate solar collector under medium temperature," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    5. Guillermo Martínez-Rodríguez & Amanda L. Fuentes-Silva & Juan R. Lizárraga-Morazán & Martín Picón-Núñez, 2019. "Incorporating the Concept of Flexible Operation in the Design of Solar Collector Fields for Industrial Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-20, February.
    6. Zheng, J. & Febrer, R. & Castro, J. & Kizildag, D. & Rigola, J., 2024. "A new high-performance flat plate solar collector. Numerical modelling and experimental validation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    7. Guillermo Martínez-Rodríguez & Cristobal Díaz-de-León & Amanda L. Fuentes-Silva & Juan-Carlos Baltazar & Rafael García-Gutiérrez, 2023. "Detailed Thermo-Economic Assessment of a Heat Pump for Industrial Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-12, March.
    8. Guillermo Martínez-Rodríguez & Juan-Carlos Baltazar & Amanda L. Fuentes-Silva & Rafael García-Gutiérrez, 2022. "Economic and Environmental Assessment Using Two Renewable Sources of Energy to Produce Heat and Power for Industrial Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-16, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Martínez-Rodríguez, Guillermo & Baltazar, Juan-Carlos & Fuentes-Silva, Amanda L., 2023. "Heat and electric power production using heat pumps assisted with solar thermal energy for industrial applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    2. Martínez-Rodríguez, Guillermo & Fuentes-Silva, Amanda L. & Velázquez-Torres, Daniel & Picón-Núñez, Martín, 2022. "Comprehensive solar thermal integration for industrial processes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    3. Stanek, Bartosz & Grzywnowicz, Krzysztof & Bartela, Łukasz & Węcel, Daniel & Uchman, Wojciech, 2021. "A system analysis of hybrid solar PTC-CPV absorber operation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 635-653.
    4. Luo, Rongrong & Wang, Liuwei & Yu, Wei & Shao, Feilong & Shen, Haikuo & Xie, Huaqing, 2023. "High energy storage density titanium nitride-pentaerythritol solid–solid composite phase change materials for light-thermal-electric conversion," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    5. Ma, Ruihua & Ma, Dongyan & Ma, Ruijiang & Long, Enshen, 2022. "Theoretical and experimental analysis of temperature variation of V–Ti black ceramic solar collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 1153-1162.
    6. Eliana Gaudino & Antonio Caldarelli & Roberto Russo & Marilena Musto, 2023. "Formulation of an Efficiency Model Valid for High Vacuum Flat Plate Collectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-12, November.
    7. Gao, Datong & Li, Jing & Ren, Xiao & Hu, Tianxiang & Pei, Gang, 2022. "A novel direct steam generation system based on the high-vacuum insulated flat plate solar collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 966-977.
    8. Selikhov, Yuriy & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Kapustenko, Petro & Arsenyeva, Olga, 2022. "The study of flat plate solar collector with absorbing elements from a polymer material," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    9. Zhang, Tongtong & She, Xiaohui & You, Zhanping & Zhao, Yanqi & Fan, Hongjun & Ding, Yulong, 2022. "Cryogenic thermoelectric generation using cold energy from a decoupled liquid air energy storage system for decentralised energy networks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    10. Junaid Ahmed & Laveet Kumar & Abdul Fatah Abbasi & Mamdouh El Haj Assad, 2022. "Energy, Exergy, Environmental and Economic Analysis (4e) of a Solar Thermal System for Process Heating in Jamshoro, Pakistan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-18, November.
    11. Chen, Liangqi & Yue, Huifeng & Wang, Jiangfeng & Lou, Juwei & Wang, Shunsen & Guo, Yumin & Deng, Bohao & Sun, Lu, 2023. "Thermodynamic analysis of a hybrid energy system coupling solar organic Rankine cycle and ground source heat pump: Exploring heat cascade utilization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    12. Juan R Lizárraga-Morazán & Guillermo Martínez-Rodríguez & Amanda L Fuentes-Silva & Martín Picón-Núñez, 2021. "Selection of solar collector network design for industrial applications subject to economic and operation criteria," Energy & Environment, , vol. 32(8), pages 1504-1523, December.
    13. Gao, Datong & Wu, Lijun & Hao, Yong & Pei, Gang, 2022. "Ultrahigh-efficiency solar energy harvesting via a non-concentrating evacuated aerogel flat-plate solar collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 1455-1468.
    14. Ana Cristina Ferreira & Angela Silva & José Carlos Teixeira & Senhorinha Teixeira, 2020. "Multi-Objective Optimization of Solar Thermal Systems Applied to Portuguese Dwellings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-23, December.
    15. Laveet Kumar & Junaid Ahmed & Mamdouh El Haj Assad & M. Hasanuzzaman, 2022. "Prospects and Challenges of Solar Thermal for Process Heating: A Comprehensive Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-27, November.
    16. Qian, Suxin & Wang, Yao & Xu, Shijie & Chen, Yanliang & Yuan, Lifen & Yu, Jianlin, 2021. "Cascade utilization of low-grade thermal energy by coupled elastocaloric power and cooling cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    17. Agnieszka Jachura & Robert Sekret, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of the Use of Phase Change Material in an Evacuated Solar Tube Collector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    18. Stanislav Boldyryev & Mariia Ilchenko & Goran Krajačić, 2024. "Improving the Economic Efficiency of Heat Pump Integration into Distillation Columns of Process Plants Applying Different Pressures of Evaporators and Condensers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-33, February.
    19. Ding Ding & Wenjing He & Chunlu Liu, 2021. "Mathematical Modeling and Optimization of Vanadium-Titanium Black Ceramic Solar Collectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-20, January.
    20. Olaf Boeckmann & Drin Marmullaku & Micha Schaefer, 2024. "Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of a Facade-Integrated Adsorption System for Solar Cooling of Lightweight Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-29, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:5:p:1087-:d:1345206. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.