Source: Airlight Energy SA
Abstract:
Although the concept and functionality of solar thermal technologies have been repeatedly proven, their large-scale utilization is mostly identified with electricity generation. Solar heat, however, offers a high potential for the implementation in industrial processes, which often rely on fossil fuels as heat source. Motivations may stem from an economic point of view with respect to worldwide increasing gas prices, or from a more environmental point of view with respect to the massive carbon-dioxide footprint of the respective industrial sectors. As it may be natural, despite the high potential, there are also challenges to face, such as the maximum attainable temperatures of the respective solar technologies (mainly concentrated solar power, CSP), the seasonal and daily transience in solar heat supply, the integration with the industrial processes, the scarcity of space in some regions, and, finally, the feasibility with respect to the solar incidence of certain locations, only to mention a few. The intricacies behind these questions form the basis for this PhD thesis by addressing these same questions with the aid of modern process design, energy conversion and system modelling. The project is carried out in cooperation with Airlight Energy, a high-tech producer of novel solar concentration systems (both CSP and, concentrator photovoltaics, CPV).
Keywords:
- Solar heat
- Industrial integration
Contact: Anna Sophia Wallerand
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