Solar thermal applications have long known to be associated with residential water heating purposes but what is not known is its potential to cater to the various industrial process heat requirements. The technology for harvesting the maximum heat energy out of the sun’s incident radiation has developed considerably and offers tremendous opportunities for industries to make a shift from furnace oil and electricity driven process applications to solar thermal applications. The abundant solar radiation available in many regions of India makes solar thermal an attractive proposition for industries that require medium temperature heating requirements.
Efficient and environmentally benign process that utilized parabolic collectors and Fresnel solar concentrators are offering the highest thermal energy output per square km. The simplicity of operations coupled with good safety, ensures minimum maintenance requirements. What makes these solar thermal concentrators even more attractive is the fact that they could be retrofitted to the conventional boilers and heaters available in industries.
Industries and potential applications for which solar thermal could be used, is summarized below
|
Industry |
Applications |
| Textile Industry | Bleaching, drying, heat treatment, mercerizing etc. |
| Plastic / Polymer Industry | Extrusion, drying, effluent treatment etc. |
| Automobile Industry | Cleaning, paint drying, degreasing etc. |
| Chemical Industry | Heat treatment, drying, extraction, galvanizing, effluent treatment, boiling, distillation etc. |
| Pharmaceutical Industry | Drying, process heating and cooling, sterilization etc. |
| Paper and Pulp Industry | Bleaching, drying, kraft pulping, etc. |
| Service sectors such as Hotels | Washing, laundry, cooking, building air cooling etc. |
| Food Processing Industry | Concentration, dehydration, drying, pasteurization, sterilization etc. |
Now the question is to understand the efficiency and energy yields from these systems and their applicability for the various processes. EAI has worked on this niche sector and could provide you with comprehensive information on the viability of solar thermal for industrial process heat requirements and the suppliers of these technology. The comprehensive market intelligence report on the off grid solar sector from EAI would help you with valuable inputs and analysis of the solar thermal based industrial applications, based on the authentic information obtained after extensive study about the commercial and research efforts in the solar thermal sector.
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