APPLICATION NOTES
Automobile & Auto Ancillary Process Requirements of Hot Water
Manufacturing of automobiles and auto components involves several processes where hot water is used. Some typical hot water applications in the automobile industry involve hot water from 60 °C to 80 °C and steam @ 2-3 bar pressure. Many automobile/auto component manufacturers use conventional hot water and steam generating systems with electricity/LPG/CNG/PNG or diesel as fuel. The rise in conventional fuel prices has therefore frequently influence their operational costs motivating them to explore renewable energy to reduce their dependence on these conventional fuels. They are also interested in using renewables and reduce their carbon footprint.
For hot air generation
Processes in the converting industry such as gravure printing, laminating and drying require hot air in the range of 50-80°C. Hot air is usually generated through heat exchangers using hot thermal oil heated in thermal oil heater fired with fossil fuel. This heat supplied can be substituted/augmented by heat from solar concentrators. Solar energy can be used to generate hot air in a steam-to-air heat exchanger and typically will operate from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on sunny days. Based on the volume of required air and available space for solar installation, typically 30–80% of the fossil fuel may be substituted using heat from solar concentrators.
For cooking application
The solar steam cooking system is a community cooking application. In this system the basic cooking arrangement remains unaltered where the steam source from fossil fuel is substituted by the steam generation from solar concentrators. Solar-based cooking can be carried out from 8 am to 4 pm on sunny days. Based on cooking practices typically 50–80 % fuel substitution is possible with solar steam.
For Bottle Washing
Bottle washing in the beverage industry requires hot water in the range of 80–90°C. A.T.E.’s solar augmented system, the basic hot water generation where generally the heat source is electricity/fossil fuel remains unaltered. The heat supplied by electricity/fossil fuel is substituted/augmented by heat in the form of steam from the solar concentrators. Solar-based hot water generation is viable between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on sunny days. Based on number and size of bottles washed, typically 10–80% fuel substitution is possible with solar steam.
For Air-Conditioning using VAM
Air conditioners require chilled water in the range of 7–12°C. Chilled water can be generated from solar based steam using Vapor Absorption Machine (VAM). In A.T.E.’s proposed system, the conditioned space is primarily cooled by using a Vapor Compression Machine operating on electricity, while the cooling is augmented by cooling generated by the VAM-based on steam from solar concentrator. The solar based cooling can be carried out from 8 am to 4 pm on sunny days. Based on the size of conditioned space and space available for solar installation, an appropriate VAM capacity can be selected and typically, substitution of 30–70 % electrical units is possible from solar steam-based cooling system.
