Automotive

Many processes in automobile industry require high-temperature water or steam. Some of these processes are phosphating, parts washing, paint shop drying. Presently, these are being produced by a conventional fossil-fuel-fired boiler or electric heaters. This leads to a significant increase in costs as the automotive industry is an energy-intensive industry. Moreover, fossil energy consumption adds up to significant GHG emissions.

Solar Thermal-based collectors and concentrators can be used to produce the required heat in the form of water, thermic fluid, steam for all the above processes.

By using Oorja solar thermal collectors

1. Can be integrated into processes along with existing conventional heaters.

2. 60-80% reduction in fossil energy consumption, offsetting tonnes of GHG emissions.

3. Reduction in operating costs of the processes.

4. Less than 3 years payback and after that, the system works for free.

5. The installations can be done on the ground, RCC roofs and industrial sheds.

6. The heat can be stored in heat storage tanks and can be used in non-solar hours as well.

Figure 1 Compound Parabolic Collectors

Depending on the temperature required, different kinds of products can be used. For temperatures ranging from 70-120 deg Celsius, Compound Parabolic Collector (CPC) can be used. They can utilise diffused radiation and don’t require a tracking system. For processes such as paint shop drying where temperature up to 150 deg Celsius is required, XCPC (Cross-linked Compound Parabolic Collector) can be used. These collectors require the thermic fluid to be heated and later heat can be transferred through the suitable heat exchanger for drying purposes.

Oorja compound parabolic collector (CPC) is a solar concentrator technology which can utilise both diffused and direct radiation for producing temperatures up to 160°C with the thermic fluid. It consists of a CPC with a parabolic reflector on the bottom. The system consists of an evacuated tube with a heat pipe inside it. The working fluid gets heated up each time it passes through the manifold and subsequently through the heat pipes.