Investigations on Solar Thermal Process Heat Integration with Parabolic Trough Collectors

1. Abstract The integration of solar heat in industrial processes has a huge potential, but up to now most of the solar thermal plants that are operated for the heat delivery to industrial processes are small scale pilot plants. First and simple assessments of the integration options and the expected solar energy yields may often lead to a basic feasibility decision. If parabolic trough collectors are used, the orientation of the rows is one of the planning parameters to be decided. Based on the early planning phase of a SHIP plant in Switzerland, the calculations presented in this paper may serve as a first indicator for planning decisions regarding the orientation of parabolic trough collector fields for latitudes in central Europe. For the configuration of a parabolic trough collector field, not only the yearly specific or total energy yields but also the course of direct irradiance and peak power over a day and the distribution over months can help to optimize the costbenefit ratio of the solar heat plant. However, depending on technical, economical or other boundary conditions (marketing, vacation close-down of the company etc), a solar heat plant concept which is not leading to the highest specific yields may be chosen.