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Industrial Applications

Process Heating Needs

IST systems are intended to support thermal loads for industrial and commercial applications. These systems are not intended to provide electric generation. If you are interested in electricity generation, please see Abengoa Solar’s CSP division.

There are many applications for which trough systems can be used to provide process heating, including:

• Domestic Hot Water Generation
• Process Hot Water Generation
• Steam Generation
• Food Processing
• Desalination

Below is schematic of a system being used for water heating

Hot Water Heating

A solar domestic hot water heating system typically delivers potable hot water to the load at temperatures ranging from 120 F (49 C) to 180 F (82 C). Storing hot water in an unpressurized tank up to about 200 F (93 C) is economical making feasible the delivery of solar-heated water around the clock.

The diagram shows a typical Abengoa Solar design of a water heating system. The solar fluid is water or in a freezing climate a mixture of water and glycol anti-freeze. The only pump in the system circulates solar fluid through the collectors and delivers the solar energy to coils immersed in the water of the tank. Heat is transferred and the static body of water in the tank increases in temperature. Another set of coils in the tank heats domestic water before it flows into the backup conventional water heater. For safety reasons, it may be necessary to temper the hot water as it leaves the tank if it is hotter than the required hot water temperature. If the solar-heated water is delivered at the needed load temperature, then no fossil fuels are consumed. If the solar-heated water temperature is less than the load temperature, then because of the pre-heat supplied, the amount of fossil fuel needed is reduced.

A solar water heating system with storage can easily supply 50 to 70% of the annual domestic hot water requirement for applications such as hospitals, prisons, military barracks and large hotels. Similarly, such a system can provide hot water for process applications in industry for cleaning and sterilization, and chemicals and metals processing.

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