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Design, optimization and economic viability of an industrial low temperature hot water production system in Algeria: A case study

1Laboratoire de Physique Fondamental et Appliqué Département des Energies Renouvelables, Faculté de Technologie, Université Blida, W. Blida, Algeria

2Unité de Développement des Equipements Solaires, UDES, Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables, CDER, 42004, W. Tipaza, Algeria

3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University Center of Morceli, Abdellah, Tipaza, Algeria

4 University of Lorraine, LERMAB, IUT de Longwy, 186 rue de Lorriane, 54400 Cosnes-et-Romain, France

5 CCRC, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia

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Received: 12 Nov 2022; Revised: 24 Jan 2023; Accepted: 6 Mar 2023; Available online: 21 Mar 2023; Published: 15 May 2023.
Editor(s): Anh-Tuan Le
Open Access Copyright (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Centre of Biomass and Renewable Energy (CBIORE)
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Solar energy has a great potential in many areas of industrial activity in Algeria. This is because most of Algeria has high levels of sustainable solar insulation. Unfortunately, few industries use solar energy for hot water generation, but some industrial processes require hot water at temperatures that can be easily obtained from solar thermal panels. This paper presents a case study to investigate the technical and financial feasibility of a solar-powered industrial agro-processing system in Algiers. Based on  the solar collectors connection type for which the economic feasibility study was carried out, an appropriate design of the system was determined. The latter was actually done by analyzing the levelized cost of energy savings. The design of the thermo-solar process is carried out based on F-chart method with a new approach by integrating the incidence angle modifier and of using real and experimental data requirements to determine realistic achievable performance of the solar process. The results showed that, in comparison to the currently used electrical system, the electrical energy savings achieved by the solar-powered system make it an economically viable option with a solar coverage rate of 80%. The investment depreciation balance shows that the use of such a thermal solar energy system will be more competitive than fossil fuels system if the price of electricity in the country increases from 0.048 to 0.075 €/kWh.

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Keywords: Process industrial application; solar thermal collector; Thermo-solar system; Techno-economic assessment; water heating.

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