Experimental performance of a parabolic trough collector system for an industrial process heat application

Abstract

Manufacturing is responsible for 60% of the fuel consumption in Cyprus and the industrial sector is the second biggest fuel consumer, mainly for steam production. Thus, the use of parabolic trough collector (PTC) systems for the production of steam or hot water can be a promising solution for the industrial sector. This study presents the first industrial PTC system in Cyprus, installed at the biggest soft drinks factory. The system consists of 288 m2 of PTC, a steam generator and concrete thermal energy storage (CTES) in order to keep the system dispatchable. To achieve that, two operation strategies are developed which are controlled automatically by the main processor of the system. The first strategy is enabled when there is a steam demand and the second when the energy can be stored directly to the CTES. Both strategies are tested, and it is shown that under Strategy 1 the PTC system can produce 940 litters of steam per day, and under Strategy 2 it can store 107.3 kWhth. In two months period tests, it is proved that it can supply the required amount of steam to the factory even when solar radiation is low, with the support from the CTES.