Thermosolar plant for the production of low-pressure flash steam in a chemical factory

Abstract

A solar thermal plant integrating a parabolic trough collector field for the production of saturated steam is modeled to meet the energy requirements for a specific process of a chemical industry in Mexico. For this purpose, the TRNSYS platform is used for the transient simulation of the proposed model and a climate data software for the generation of a typical meteorological year of the plant site. The results ensure the total coverage of the energy demanded by the industry during the spring season, and in a smaller proportion for the rest of the year with contributions greater than 40%, reaching a daily average of 7.19 tons of steam with an overall solar fraction of 74%, for a solar field of 160 collectors.