Energy, Exergy, Environmental and Economic Analysis (4e) of a Solar Thermal System for Process Heating in Jamshoro, Pakistan

Junaid Ahmed, Laveet Kumar (), Abdul Fatah Abbasi and Mamdouh El Haj Assad ()
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Junaid Ahmed: Directorate of Postgraduate Studies, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro 76062, Pakistan
Laveet Kumar: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro 76062, Pakistan
Abdul Fatah Abbasi: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro 76062, Pakistan
Mamdouh El Haj Assad: Department of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: With an expected annual increase of 1.2%, the industrial sector already consumes over 54% of all the energy generated globally. The majority of industrial sectors presently relies on fossil fuels to fulfil their needs for heat energy, but renewable sources, especially solar energy, can be substituted for them. For an underdeveloped country such as Pakistan, its industrial sector is important for the country’s economic development and long-term growth. The use of solar thermal energy potentially offers a significant and cheap alternative to fossil fuels. The current study focuses on a process heating system based on flat-plate solar collectors, developed to provide low to moderate temperature process heat. The innovative model’s thermal efficiency and economic feasibility have undergone a thorough investigation and analysis through TRNSYS simulations. The system portrayed a 79% thermal energy efficiency and 4.31% exergy efficiency during peak hours. The optimized system for three different temperatures of 60 °C, 70 °C, and 80 °C was designed and evaluated. The system presented a total of 82 tons of CO 2 prevention annually. The economic analysis consisting of three parameters, NPV, IRR and PBP, also deemed the FPC-based solar thermal system economically profitable.

Keywords: flat-plate collector; solar thermal system; TRNSYS; process heat; GHG reduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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