International Journal of Applied Research and Studies (iJARS) ISSN: 2278-9480 Volume 2, Issue 5 (May - 2013) www.ijars.

in

Review Paper

Study of Medium Temperature Solar Thermal Applications

Authors:
1

Parimal S. Bhambare*, 2Dr. G. V. Parishwad

Address For correspondence: Mechanical Engineering Department, MIT Academy of Engineering, Alandi(D), Pune 2 Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Pune

Abstract Solar energy is widely used for a variety of process heat and electricity generation applications. It is essential to apply solar energy for a wide variety of applications and provide energy solutions by modifying the energy proportion, improving energy stability, increasing energy sustainability, conversion reduction and hence enhance the system efficiency. In the work presented here, a brief study of a few medium temperature solar thermal applications up to 2400C pertaining to domestic and industrial applications has been considered. Typical applications in the range included here are water heating, air drying and dehydration, refrigeration and air conditioning, steam generation system and solar cookers. A brief description about the solar thermal technology utilised, fundamentals and applications in industry has been presented here. Keywords Medium temperature, concentrator, collector, process heating. I. INTRODUCTION Solar thermal energy is used as process heat for different domestic and industrial applications [1,2] in medium and medium to high temperature ranges. These applications includes: hot water supply, desalination, sterilization, pasteurization, drying, space heating and cooling, refrigeration, distillation, washing and cleaning and polymerization. All these applications lies in temperature range between 60 to 2800C [3]. Solar thermal collectors are used for harnessing this solar energy. These collectors are special type of heat exchangers, which absorb the solar radiations, and convert it to heat which is further transferred to the fluid flowing through the collector. These are of two types: concentrating or sun tracking (Single and two axis) and non-

concentrating or stationery type (Refer Table 1). A nonconcentrating collector has the same area for intercepting and for absorbing solar radiation, whereas a sun-tracking concentrating solar collector usually has concave reflecting surfaces to intercept and focus the suns beam radiation to a smaller receiving area, thereby increasing the radiation flux. A detailed review of these collectors is presented by Soterius Kaliogirou, 2004 [4]. Non-concentrating or stationery collectors are suitable for low (Flat Plate, FPC and Advanced Flat Plate Collector, AFP) to medium (Evacuated tube, ETC and Compound Parabolic, CPC) temperature applications while concentrating type are suitable for medium (Parabolic trough (PTC), Fresnel, Scheffler and Cylindrical trough) to high temperature (Paraboloid and Heliostat) applications as they produce higher temperature [4, 5]. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the current status of utilization of solar energy in industrial and domestic applications.
TABLE I Type of solar collectors [3]
Motion Collector Type Absorber Type Flat Flat Tubular Tubular Tubular Tubular Tubular Tubular Concentration Indicative Ratio Temperature Range 1 30-80 1 50-200 1-5 60-240 10-40 15-45 10-50 100-1000 100-1500 60-250 60-300 60-300 100-500 150-2000

Stationary Flat Plate Collectors (FPC) Evacuated Tube Collector (ETC) Compound parabolic collector (CPC) Single-axis Linear Fresnel reflector (LFR) tracking Parabolic trough collector (PTC) Cylindrical trough collector (CTC) Two-axes Parabolic dish reflector (PDR) tracking Heliostat field collector (HFC)

Note: Concentration ratio is defined as the aperture area divided by the receiver/absorber area of the collector

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Fig. 1 shows the optimum collector area for different type of solar collectors with demand temperature ranges.

energy is utilized to run different subsystems, controller units, switches, etc. in the system for its operation. Solar thermal energy can be utilized directly as a source of energy, partly or completely, for running a process in the system.

Fig. 1 Optimum collector area for different collectors and demand temperatures [3]

II. SOLAR THERMAL CONVERSION SYSTEM A Solar thermal conversion system can be of direct or indirect type. Direct heating system heats up the heat transfer fluid (HTF) utilizing solar irradiation, which is further to the application as process heat. HTF forms the working fluid for the system. On the contrary an indirect system has two working fluids used in the system. As shown in Fig.1, a typical indirect heating system consists of mainly five major components namely, solar collector, HTF storage tank, boiler, pump for circulating the HTF and a heat engine to convert heat to mechanical energy [4, 6]. The efficiency of a solar thermal conversion system is about 70% when compared to a solar electrical direct conversion system which has an efficiency of 17% [7].

Fig. 3 Block diagram of typical industrial energy system [6, 8]

Fig. 2 Schematic of Indirect Solar Thermal Conversion System [4]

Thus solar thermal conversion system plays a very important role in domestic as well as industrial sector [7]. System shown in Fig. 2 is used for producing power from solar energy. For process heat applications boiler and the heat engine will be replaced by the respective application system. III. INDUSTRIAL ENERGY SYSTEM An Industrial system composed of four major components namely: power supply, production plant, energy recovery and cooling systems [6, 8]. Fig. 3 shows the block diagram of the industrial energy system. Power supply provides energy to the system with use of either electrical, gas, coal or gas. This

IV. SOLAR THERMAL APPLICATIONS Solar thermal systems not only harness solar irradiations but also store and provide, heat to HTF (usually air or water) used in domestic and industrial applications. Table II gives an overview of solar energy applications, system technologies and type of systems commonly used in industry. Industry utilizes fossil fuels for satisfying their thermal energy requirements partially or completely. About 13% of thermal industrial applications require low temperatures thermal energy up to 1000C, 27% up to 2000C and the remaining applications need high temperature in steel, glass and ceramic industry [6]. Table III shows few of potential industrial processes and the required temperatures for their operations. Industrial energy analysis shows that solar thermal energy has enormous applications in low (i.e. 202000C), medium and medium-high (i.e. 802400C) temperature levels [3]. Almost all industrial processes require heat in some parts of their processes. Most common applications for solar thermal energy used in industry are the solar water heaters, solar dryers, space heating and cooling systems and water desalination. With solar thermal energy replacing the fossil fuels for industrial processes not only reduces dependency on conventional fuels but also minimizes greenhouse emissions such as CO2, SO2, NOx [8]. Nevertheless, there are some challenges for integration of solar heat into a wide variety of industrial processes due to the periodic, dilute and variable nature of solar irradiation [9].

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TABLE II Solar energy applications, system technologies and type of systems commonly used in industry [3] Solar Energy Solar system technology Type of system applications SWH Thermo syphon systems Passive Integrated collector storage Passive Direct circulation Active Indirect water heating systems Active Air systems Active Space heating and cooling Space heating and service hot water Air systems Water systems Heat pump systems Absorption systems Adsorption systems Mechanical systems Adsorption units Absorption units Industrial air and water systems Steam generation Solar stills Multi stage flash (MSF) Multi effect boiling (MEF) Vapor compression Parabolic trough collector systems Parabolic tower systems Parabolic dish systems Solar furnaces Solar chemistry systems Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Passive Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active

Industry Dairy

Process Pressurization Sterilization Drying Concentrates Boiler feed water Sterilization Pasteurization Cooking Bleaching Bleaching, dyeing Drying, degreasing Dyeing Fixing Pressing Cooking, drying Boiler feed water Bleaching Soaps Synthetic rubber Processing heat Pre-heating water Washing, sterilization Cooking Washing, sterilization Pasteurization Sterilization Thermo diffusion beams Drying Pre-heating water Preparation pulp Curing Preparation Distillation Separation Extension Drying Blending

Temperature (oC) 60-80 100-120 120-180 60-80 60-90 110-120 60-80 60-90 60-90 60-90 100-130 70-90 160-180 80-100 60-80 60-90 130-150 200-250 150-200 120-180 60-90 60-90 90-100 60-80 60-70 60-80 80-100 60-100 60-90 120-170 60-140 120-140 140-150 200-220 140-160 180-200 120-140

Tinned food

Textile

Solar refrigeration

Industrial heat demand process Solar desalination

Paper

Chemical

Solar thermal power systems

Meat

Beverages

All solar thermal applications in industry can be classified in following manner [6], 1. Hot water or steam demand process 2. Drying and dehydration process 3. Preheating 4. Concentration 5. Pasturization and sterilization 6. Washing and cleaning 7. Chemical reactions 8. Industrial space heating 9. Textile 10. Food 11. Building 12. Plastic 13. Chemistry 14. Business establishment A. Solar Water Heating (SWH) System SWH system provides an effective technology for converting solar energy into thermal energy. Flat plate collectors are the central component of any solar water heating system. The efficiency of the system depends on the performance of the flat plate collector.
TABLE III Heat demand in industries with temperature ranges [6]

Flours and by-products Timber by-products

Bricks and blocks Plastics

Hence all the research in SWH is focussed on performance improvement of flat plate collectors [7]. The flat plate collector absorbs solar radiations and converts it into heat energy. This heat is then absorbed by HTF flowing through the tubes of the collector. This heat can be then stored or used directly. In solar water heating systems, potable water can either be heated directly in the collector (direct systems) or indirectly by a heat transfer fluid that is heated in the collector, passes through a heat exchanger to transfer its heat to the domestic or service water (indirect systems). Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 show both

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the systems [3]. The heat transfer fluid is transported either naturally (passive systems) or by forced circulation (active systems). Natural circulation occurs by natural convection (thermosyphoning), whereas for the forced circulation systems pumps or fans are used. Except for thermosyphon and integrated collector storage (ICS) systems, which need no control, solar domestic and service hot water systems are controlled using differential thermostats. Fig. 4 shows a typical SWH system [3]. Five types of solar energy systems can be used to heat domestic and service hot water: thermosyphon, ICS, direct circulation, indirect, and air. The first two are called passive systems as no pump is employed, whereas the others are called active systems because a pump or fan is employed in order to circulate the fluid [4]. Most of the industries use low pressure hot water for different applications below 1000C depending on their heat requirements. When temperatures above 1000C is required pressurized system is required which makes system cost to increase. For medium temperature applications (above 1000C) mineral oils are used. However, higher cost, tendency of cracking and oxidation are few issues associated with such systems [9].

Fig. 5 Direct circulation SWH system, DT: Differential Thermometer [4]

Fig. 6 Indirect circulation SWH system, DT: Differential Thermometer [4]

The system saved about 261 kL of furnace oil per year. The system saved environment from emissions gasses viz., 9.45 tons of SO2, 675 tons of CO2, and 562.5 tons of CO produced from burning of furnace oil annually [12]. The system is shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 4 Block diagram of SWH system [5]

SWH systems are used in textile industries to supply hot water up to 800C for dyeing, bleaching and washing purposes [6]. Built in storage type solar water heaters are introduced in Pakistan textile industries saving about 17.13 MJ of fossil fuel energy and subsequently improving the performance [10]. Balaji Foods and Feeds Industry from India installed a 1MW SWH system with thermal energy storage system for getting about 11000 litre/day of hot water for an egg powder making plant. The process consists of washing, pasteurizing, fermenting and maintaining a room at 550C. The temperature requirement of hot water varies between 40 to 800C at different stages of process.

Fig. 7 Solar-oil integrated heating plant, S: storage tank, C: solar collector bank [11]

SWH systems supply hot water for washing and cleaning of bottles in bottle washing plant. Fig. 8 shows a process layout of the plant with temperature ranges [8]. Active SWH systems has been used in dairy industries for washing and cleaning, pasteurization, boiler feed water (60

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850C), sterilization (1301500C) and even for drying milk to produce powder. In the production, milk and whey are spraydried in huge towers with air, which is heated from 1200C to 1800C [3, 13 &14]. Fig. 10 shows the layout out of SWH system for dairy application. Domestic SWH systems are used for supplying hot water for washing clothes, dishwashing, bathing and other cleaning processes with temperature up to 650C.

Fig. 10 Dairy plant with SWH [13]

Fig. 8 System layout of bottle washing plant [8]

Fig. 8 System layout of bottle washing plant [8]

Fig. 9 Control system layout, Balaji Foods and Feeds Industry, India [12]

India holds about 3.53 million square metres of SWH systems are installed till June 2010 as per MNRE statistics [15]. Compared to world total SWH installations in 2005 was about 2.1% of world installations and India has way to go ahead in this area [16].

B. Solar Air Drying and Dehydration Drying (or dewatering) is a simple process of excess water (moisture) removal from a natural or industrial product in order to reach the standard specification moisture content. It is an energy intensive operation. Moisture content of foodstuff is around 2580%, but generally for agricultural products it is around 70% [17, V Belesolis]. Moisture content of the food stuff is reduced to increase its longer shelf life. Another case of drying (or dewatering) is the total removal of moisture until food has no moisture at all. Dehydrated food, when ready to use, is re-watered and almost regains its initial conditions. Convective drying, i.e. drying by flowing heated air circulating either over the upper side, bottom side or both, or across its mass is the widest among drying methods used worldwide. Hot air heats up the product and conveys released moisture to atmosphere. Two basic moisture transfer mechanisms are involved in drying [17]: 1. Migration of moisture from the mass inside to the surface. 2. Transfer of the moisture from the surface to the surrounding air, in the form of water vapour. Agricultural products drying using solar energy is the oldest method used by mankind for preserving them. Generally these methods can be classified into two categories: (a) Direct, or open-air sun drying, the direct exposure to the sun. (b) Indirect solar drying or convective solar drying. Temperature is one of the major factor that affect taste, colour, flavour, texture or nutritional values of the product. Few products require pre-treatment before solar drying to keep their flavour and texture. Drying rate is an important factor for agricultural and other food products drying. Fig. 11 shows the drying rate curve for agricultural products. This shows three phases of drying: AB is the time spent to heat up the material until drying temperature is attained, BC is the constant-rate drying, CE the

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falling rate drying where mass flow of moisture from interior is decreased continuously. C is the critical point where surface is not any more saturated and the falling rate period starts. In point E there is still moisture inside the product, moisture content movement takes place slowly by diffusion and drying can stop e.g. at point D when the final moisture content is reached [17].

Copra Com Cotton French beans Garlic Grapes Green forages Hay Longan Medicinal plants Oats Onions Peanuts Pepper Potato Pyrethrum Rice Rye Sorghum Soybeans Spinach leaves Sweet potato Tea Virgin Tobacco Wheat

75 28-32 25-35 70 80 74-78 80-90 30-60 75 85 20-25 80-85 45-50 80 75-85 70 25 16-20 30-35 20-25 80 75 75 85 18-20

5 10-13 5-7 5 4 18 10-14 12-16 20 11 12-13 8 13 10 10-14 10-13 12 11-13 10-13 11 10 7 5 12 11-14

35-40 43-82 -75 55 50-60 -35-45 -35-50 43-82 50 35 55 70 -43 -43-82 61-67 -75 50 35-70 43-82

Fig. 11 Drying rate curve for phase I, II and III [17]

Direct or open air solar drying technique is used for millennia by mankind for preserving food and agricultural products. This is a simple technique with few major disadvantages such as uncontrolled and slow rate of operation, environmental and weather condition dependency, contamination, dusting, fermentation, attacks by birds and insects and other unfavourable conditions. On the other hand indirect air heating has only disadvantage as higher initial cost. It involves some thermal energy collecting devices and dryers of special techniques. Higher drying rate, controlled drying, increased productivity; no losses at all in terms of quality are the few advantages of the technique to mention [17]. Temperature plays important role in solar drying processes. Average temperature of agricultural product drying is around 600C but it may reach to about 800C for a few. Table IV shows drying data before and after solar drying for few agricultural and food products with drying air temperature [18].
Table IV Drying data for few agricultural products before and after solar drying [18] Product Bananas Barley Beets Cardamom Cassava Chilies Coffee seeds Moisture Percent (wb) Initial 80 18-20 75-85 80 62 90 65 Final 15 11-13 10-14 10 17 20 11 Drying Air Temperature (oC) 70 40-82 45-50 70 35-40 45-50

Solar dryers can be classified into different categories. Fig. 12 shows the different types [19]. Literature reviewed shows numerous types of solar dryers have been designed and implemented for drying of agricultural and food drying applications. A brief review of them has been presented by Arun Mujumdar [18] and A.A. El-Sebaii et.al [19].

Fig. 12 Classification of solar dryer [17]

Solar energy for wastewater sludge drying is another area of application for solar drying. Both direct and indirect methods of solar drying are used for the process. Fig. 13 shows the schematic of solar assisted wastewater sludge dryer [20].

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Fig. 13 Schematic of covered solar assisted wastewater sludge dryer [20]

A silk cocoon solar assisted drying has been presented by Panna Lal Singh [21]. The optimum temperature for the process is about 60-800C. The tenacity of the silk thread obtained for solar dried cocoon and electrical dried cocoon were about 0.77 N and 0.75 N respectively. The NPV (net present value) of solar dryer is found to be more stable as against the escalation rate in electricity as compared to the same for electrical dryer. Fig. 14 shows the schematic of the system. Industries which involve drying process usually use hot air or gas with a temperature range between 1400C and 2200C. Solar thermal systems can be integrated with conventional energy supplies in an appropriate way to meet the system requirements. Heat storage seems to be necessary when system is required to work in the periods of day when there is no irradiation [3].

C. Solar Refrigeration and Air Conditioning With solar thermal energy absorption, adsorption, solid and liquid desiccant and solar-electrical technologies are used for solar refrigeration and air conditioning system. The main advantages of solar cooling systems concern the reduction of peak loads for electricity utilities, the use of zero ozone depletion impact refrigerants, the decreased primary energy consumption and decreased global warming impact [22] though reduction of green house gases up to 50% [23]. Absorption refrigeration systems are adopted most frequently for solar cooling over other systems. It requires very low or no electrical input and for the same cooling capacity, the physical dimensions of an absorption refrigeration system are usually smaller than that of an adsorption refrigeration system due to the high heat and mass transfer coefficient of the absorbent. In addition, the fluidity of the absorbent gives greater flexibility in realizing a more compact and/or efficient system [24]. It was counted that about 59% of the solar cooling systems in Europe were solar absorption cooling systems. In China, almost all the largescale solar cooling demonstration projects during the last twenty years were based upon absorption systems [22]. The most usual combinations of fluids include lithium bromide-water (LiBr H2O) where water vapour is the refrigerant and ammoniawater (NH3H2O) systems where ammonia is the refrigerant. Fig. 15 shows the basic principle of operation for absorption refrigeration system. The NH3H2O system is more complicated than the LiBr H2O system. The NH3H2O system requires generator temperatures in the range of 1251700C with air-cooled absorber and condenser and 951200C when water-cooling is used. The coefficient of performance (COP), which is defined as the ratio of the cooling effect to the heat input, is between 0.6 and 0.7 [4]. The LiBrH2O system operates at a generator

Fig.15 Basic principle of absorption refrigeration system [4]

Fig. 14 Schematic of forced convection solar assisted silk cocoon dryer [20]

Temperature in the range of 70950C with water used as a coolant in the absorber and condenser and has COP higher

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than the NH3H2O systems. The COP of this system is between 0.6 and 0.8. A disadvantage of the LiBr H2O systems is that their evaporator cannot operate at temperatures much below 50C since the refrigerant is water vapour. Commercially available chillers for air conditioning systems, use LiBr-H2O absorption systems with hot water or steam as the heat source. In market two types of chillers are available, the single and double effect. Single effect chillers operate with pressurized hot water temperature ranging from 80 to 1500C. The COP of the system varies little with heat source. On the other hand double effect chillers operate with higher temperature of heat source which ranges from 155-2050C. COP of double effect chillers is higher and it is about 0.9-1.2 [4]. Fig. 16 shows a single-effect absorption cooling system

shows the structure of silica gel-water adsorption chiller system. Hot water temperature is in the range of about 40850C but below 1000C to prevent degradation of silica gel.

Fig. 18 Structure of silica gel-water adsorption chiller [26]

Fig. 16 Single-effect absorption cooling system[22]

Storing cool energy during sunshine hours in a cool thermal energy storage tank, either in a sensible heat form or in a latent heat using Cool Thermal Energy Storage (CTES) is used in industries for process cooling, food preservation and building air conditioning systems [25]. Fig. 18 shows the solar absorption chiller system with storage tank. Compared to absorption, adsorption refrigeration system shows advantages like no distillation (NH3-H2O system), corrosion or crystallization (Li-Br system) problem, lower equipment cost and more effective when lower grade energy such as solar energy is used. Zhang et al. [26] presented a simulation study of silica gel-water solar adsorption refrigeration system using MATLAB Simulink as tool. Fig. 19

Fig. 19 Solar assisted air conditioning system [27]

Fig. 17 Solar absorption chiller with storage tank [25]

Solar assisted air conditioning systems generally based on solar absorption refrigeration. Sabina et al. [27] from their performance evaluation study shown that integrating chilled water storage tanks with the solar assisted air conditioning system it is possible to save 30% of water consumption, 20% of electrical consumption and about 1.7 tons of CO2 throughout the summer period. Schematic of the system is shown in Fig. 19. A variety of solar collectors are used in the solar refrigeration system. Flat plate collectors are sufficient to achieve temperatures below 1000C. But for temperatures above 1000C evacuated tube collectors, compound parabolic collectors or concentrating collectors are used. Table V shows the details of the collectors, storage method and applications for the solar refrigeration systems.

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Table V Stages and options in solar cooling technologies [25]

Source Conversion Thermal storage (hot energy) 1. Sensible 2. Latent 3. ThermoChemical Production of cool energy Thermal storage (cool energy) 1. Absorption 1. Sensible 2. Adsorption 2. Latent 3. Desiccant 3. Thermo4. Ejector Chemical Applications

Sun

Solar Thermal 1. Flat plate collector 2. Evacuated tube collector 3. Concentrated collector

Solar PV (electrical)

1. Vapor Compression 2. Thermoelectric

1. Air conditioning ( i) office (ii) Hotel (iii) Building (iv) Laboratory 2. Food preservation (i) Vegetables (ii) Fruits (iii) Meat and Fish 3. Process industries (i) Dairy (ii) Pharmaceutical (iii) Chemical

Fig. 21 Schematic of Direct or in situ steam generation system [4]

D. Solar Steam Generation Systems Low temperature is used in industrial applications, sterilization, and for powering desalination evaporations. Parabolic trough collectors (PTC) are mainly employed for solar steam generation. Three concepts are used to produce solar steam namely, the steam flash, In-situ or direct and unfired boiler. In steam flash method, pressurized hot water from collector is flashed in separate vessel to produce steam. In direct or in situ method two phase flow is passed in the collector to produce steam. Unfired boiler system uses heat transfer fluid which passes through the collector, is transferred to an unfired boiler where steam is generated by heat exchange to water [4]. Figs. 20, 21 and 22 shows the schematic of above systems.

Fig. 22 Schematic of unfired boiler steam generation system [4]

come in many shapes and sizes, etc., but all cookers trap heat in some form of insulated compartment [28, 29]. In most of these designs the sun actually strikes the food for cooking.

Fig. 20 Schematic of steam flash system [4]

E. Solar Cookers Solar cooker is an age old technology used worldwide for cooking food. Principally solar cookers and ovens absorb solar energy and convert it to heat which is captured inside an enclosed area. This absorbed heat is used for cooking or baking various kinds of food. In solar cookers internal box temperatures can be achieved up to 3000C. Solar cookers

Fig. 23 Classification of solar cookers [29]

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As shown in Fig.23 solar cookers are broadly classified into solar cookers with storage and without storage. Solar cookers without storage are further classified into direct and indirect solar cookers depending upon heat transfer mechanism to the cooking pot. Direct type make use of solar energy directly in cooking process while indirect type uses heat transfer fluid to transfer heat from collector to cooking pot [29]. Direct type cookers are broadly classified into box type and concentrating type cookers. Fig. 24 summarises different types of box type cookers while Fig. 25 summarises different types of concentrating type solar cookers.

latent heat storage materials are used for storing the thermal energy. Engine oil, vegetable oil or sand, granular carbon are some of the common thermal energy storage material used for sensible heat storage. While acetamide, stearic acid, acetanilide, coconut oil, polyethylene, salt hydrate, etc. are the examples of few latent heat storage material or phase change materials (PCM) used in solar cookers for thermal energy storage [28, 29].

Fig. 24 Box type cooker: (a) without reflector, (b) with single reflector, (c) with double reflector, (d) with three reflectors (e) with four reflectors, (f) with eight reflector [29]

Fig. 26 Indirect type solar cooker: (a) with flat plate collector, (b) with evacuated tube collector, (c) parabolic concentrators at Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam and (d) spherical reflectors at Auroville [29].

Fig. 25 Concentrating type cooker: (a) panel cooker, (b) funnel cooker, (c) spherical reflector, (d) parabolic reflector, (e) Fresnel concentrator and (f) cylindro-parabolic concentrator [29].

In indirect type solar cookers, heat transfer fluid is being used to collect heat and transfer it to the cooking pot. Solar cookers with flat plate collector, evacuated tube collector and concentrating type collector are commercially available cookers under this category. The various types of indirect type solar cookers are shown in Fig. 25. Solar cookers with thermal storage use thermal energy storage material to store thermal energy. This stored heat can be used to cook the food in case of cloudy environment or cooking indoors or cooking off sunshine hours. Both sensible and

V. CONCLUSION A brief overview of different solar thermal application in medium temperature applications has been presented here to elaborate the extent of the applicability of solar thermal energy to industrial applications. Solar heat for industrial processes has a great potential to curb the demand for conventional energies which reduce our dependence on imported fuels and to reduce CO2 emissions. However, the overall efficiency depends on the proper integration of the different systems and appropriate design of the solar concentrators/collectors. Efforts in the direction of improvement in the efficiencies of the solar collecting systems such as reducing the top loss coefficient by introducing aerofoil design shape for glass covers for SWH systems, system design with minimum number of components, utilization of less energy intensive materials for manufacturing of the system, etc. should be employed to make the system more cost effective (reducing pay-back period) and environmental friendly in terms of reduction in terms of CO2 emissions in order to penetrate in the industries. System design engineers, manufacturers, solution providers, service engineers and material providers should consider solar installations as a sustainable energy development. Besides, government should encourage utilisation of solar thermal

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systems in industries through their policies commensurate with its large potential. REFERENCES
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*Authors Copy

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Manuscript Id: iJARS/478

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