Assessment of the integration of solar heat power into food drying processes
(2023) MVKM05 20231Department of Energy Sciences
- Abstract
- The long-lasting usage of fossil fuels has brought its negative impact on the planet and thus the society is turning towards more environmentally sustainable solutions in every aspect of life. This master’s thesis discusses the novel topic of integrating concentrated solar thermal collectors, which directly produce steam, to drying processes in the food industry, which is proven to currently emit significant amounts of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs).
The aim is to investigate the possible pathways solar thermal can be integrated to the industry, the minimization of fossil fuels usage, the CO2 emissions reduction, and the feasibility of the investment in concentrating thermal collectors’ fields. To achieve so, many visits have taken place to... (More) - The long-lasting usage of fossil fuels has brought its negative impact on the planet and thus the society is turning towards more environmentally sustainable solutions in every aspect of life. This master’s thesis discusses the novel topic of integrating concentrated solar thermal collectors, which directly produce steam, to drying processes in the food industry, which is proven to currently emit significant amounts of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs).
The aim is to investigate the possible pathways solar thermal can be integrated to the industry, the minimization of fossil fuels usage, the CO2 emissions reduction, and the feasibility of the investment in concentrating thermal collectors’ fields. To achieve so, many visits have taken place to one of the most distinguished food industries in Greece, and in collaboration with it and the companies Absolicon and MG Sustainable in Sweden, a process layout is proposed that shows a steam mass flow reduction for the same yield, as well as CO2 emissions reduction and the economical feasibility for the implementation of the solar field. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- The implementation of parabolic trough collectors can offer direct steam generation in many processes, which can be well coupled with spray drying technology. Parabolic trough collectors are one of the solar thermal solutions that can be installed in small or large-scale in industries, with reasonable payback time, and can provide steam directly. Therefore, it is possible to bring sustainability to the food and dairy industry, with an efficient and innovative technology. Furthermore, spray drying is an efficient technology used in the food industry for drying various types of foods, ranging from milk to fruits. In this thesis report, it was found that it is feasible to implement parabolic trough collectors and that for an annual thermal... (More)
- The implementation of parabolic trough collectors can offer direct steam generation in many processes, which can be well coupled with spray drying technology. Parabolic trough collectors are one of the solar thermal solutions that can be installed in small or large-scale in industries, with reasonable payback time, and can provide steam directly. Therefore, it is possible to bring sustainability to the food and dairy industry, with an efficient and innovative technology. Furthermore, spray drying is an efficient technology used in the food industry for drying various types of foods, ranging from milk to fruits. In this thesis report, it was found that it is feasible to implement parabolic trough collectors and that for an annual thermal energy need of 2220 MWh, for the specific industry studied, for the spray drying process, it may run entirely on solar thermal energy. For this energy to be produced from solar concentrating collectors with a one-axis tracking system, two different simulation tools were used and gave the result that each method simulates for 5 and 7 days per week respectively. In more detail, it was found that 2111 m2 of collector aperture area are required in a solar field close to the factory, in the case the industry operates with 8-hour shifts every day including weekends. On the other hand, if the industry operates only during weekdays with 8-hour shifts, the solar field size is 3833 m2, which is considerably higher.
Furthermore, in both operating cases, it was found that the NPV was positive after the 25-year lifespan of the collectors and the 2 years of construction. In the case the industry operates during weekdays and weekends, with the reduced solar field size, the weighted NPV is 3 million € after 27 years. In the case the industry operates only during weekdays, the weighted NPV is 1.9 million €. Additionally, it was found that the CO2 reduction was 15215 tons, which corresponds to planting 28982 trees to absorb this amount of CO2 during these 25 years.
The aforementioned advantages are a result of a system consisting of parabolic trough collectors, a pump, an air-to-steam heat exchanger with a waste heat recovery system, a spray dryer, and a heat exchanger with the outlet of the spray dryer and the fresh incoming water, also incorporating a waste heat recovery stream. This resulted in a reduction of 424 kg/h of steam needed for the same production, which is a 13.25% reduction compared to the existing drying technology. In the meantime, the waste heat streams were used for providing heat to other processes in the industry.
The results of this thesis can be used for feather research to build a modular solar thermal system for the food, dairy, and beverage industry, which are some of the most energy-consuming industries worldwide, resulting in significant CO2 reduction. It is important that more detailed calculations take place regarding the heat exchangers and the parameters of the system, aiming to further optimize the waste heat streams, for the achievement of the highest efficiency. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9133909
- author
- Psilopoulos, Charalampos LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MVKM05 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Sustainable, sustainability, co2 reduction, feasibility, solar thermal, direct steam generation, drying, food industry, scope 1 emissions, sdg, sustainable development goals, spray drying, drum drying, powder, food
- report number
- LUTMDN/TMHP-23/5548-SE
- ISSN
- 0282-1990
- language
- English
- id
- 9133909
- date added to LUP
- 2023-08-21 09:15:20
- date last changed
- 2023-08-21 09:15:20
@misc{9133909,
abstract = {{The long-lasting usage of fossil fuels has brought its negative impact on the planet and thus the society is turning towards more environmentally sustainable solutions in every aspect of life. This master’s thesis discusses the novel topic of integrating concentrated solar thermal collectors, which directly produce steam, to drying processes in the food industry, which is proven to currently emit significant amounts of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs).
The aim is to investigate the possible pathways solar thermal can be integrated to the industry, the minimization of fossil fuels usage, the CO2 emissions reduction, and the feasibility of the investment in concentrating thermal collectors’ fields. To achieve so, many visits have taken place to one of the most distinguished food industries in Greece, and in collaboration with it and the companies Absolicon and MG Sustainable in Sweden, a process layout is proposed that shows a steam mass flow reduction for the same yield, as well as CO2 emissions reduction and the economical feasibility for the implementation of the solar field.}},
author = {{Psilopoulos, Charalampos}},
issn = {{0282-1990}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Assessment of the integration of solar heat power into food drying processes}},
year = {{2023}},
}