Low-Pressure Steam Generation with Concentrating Solar Energy and Different Heat Upgrade Technologies: Potential in the European Industry

Jorge Payá (), Antonio Cazorla-Marín, Cordin Arpagaus, José Luis Corrales Ciganda and Abdelrahman H. Hassan
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Jorge Payá: Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ingeniería Energética, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Antonio Cazorla-Marín: Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ingeniería Energética, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Cordin Arpagaus: Institute for Energy Systems, Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, CH-9471 Buchs, Switzerland
José Luis Corrales Ciganda: TECNALIA, Basque Research and Tecnology Alliance (BRTA), Area Anardi 5, 20730 Azpeitia, Spain
Abdelrahman H. Hassan: Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ingeniería Energética, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-22

Abstract: The industry is currently responsible for around 21% of the total CO 2 emissions, mainly due to heat production with fossil fuel burners. There are already different technologies on the market that can potentially reduce CO 2 emissions. Nevertheless, the first step for their introduction is to analyze their potential on a global scale by detecting in which countries each of them is more attractive, given their energy prices and resources. The present work involves a techno-economic analysis of different alternatives to replace industrial gas boilers for low-pressure steam production at 120 °C and 150 °C. Solar Heat for Industrial Processes (SHIP) was compared with Electric Boilers (EBs), High-Temperature Heat Pumps (HTHPs), and Absorption Heat Transformers (AHTs). SHIP systems have the potential to reach payback periods in the range of 4 to 5 years in countries with Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) values above 1400 kWh/m 2 /year, which is reached in Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Romania. HTHPs and AHTs lead to the lowest payback periods, Levelized Cost of Heat (LCOH), and highest CO 2 emission savings. For both AHTs and HTHPs, payback periods of below 1.5 years can be reached, particularly in countries with electricity-to-gas price ratios below 2.0.

Keywords: high-temperature heat pumps; concentrating solar energy; SHIP; absorption heat transformers; techno-economic analysis; waste heat recovery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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