Solar Process Heat

The application of solar thermal systems to cover the heat demand of industries is aa relatively new and developing field. The heat demand in industry worldwide is huge and is needed to drive many different processes. Temperature requirements, demand profiles and integration complexities shown in the chapter vary from case to case. For temperatures above the typical 50–80 ℃ of a solar thermal hot water system, improved medium temperature collectors have been developed. For these collectors the thermal efficiency at higher temperatures between 100 ℃ and 400 ℃ is achieved by vacuum technologies, improved transparent covers or by optical concentration. A direct and strong economic competition to renewable supply of heat is the optimization of heat recovery potentials using a well-known tool like Pinch technology. Energy efficiency and renewable energies have to be considered in parallel to arrive at the best solution. Up to now the standardization level is low, leading to individual engineering solutions. The philosophies cover direct supply of solar thermal heat to individual processes looking for the best match of technology and process, to the integration of solar thermal heat into existing supply and distribution systems. A classification and characterization of the solar integration using different types of heat exchangers is shown. This is also demonstrated and described in some detail for real installations.