Design and simulation of efficient solar thermal water heating system for textile industries in Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is facing a severe crisis of energy since 2004. The core causes behind this crisis of energy are the lack of usage of advanced tools in policy development and planning, poor governance and dependency on other sources of energy which are also limited. In this research the design of a solar thermal system to produce hot water at a specified temperature has been presented as solar energy is available in abundance. A flow rate of 80 tons per day of hot water has been assumed. This system may run for 16 hours a day and it will require 5 tons of water per hour at the input. Water at ambient temperature of 25℃ enters the system and hot water at 75℃ is produced by the system. This design is implemented on TRNSYS software which validates the temperature achievement of 75℃ at outlet. It is shown that the collector area of flat plate solar collectors is 600m2. This temperature configuration is an essential requirement for textile industry and it is achieved efficiently. It is a good replacement for the industry working with expensive energy sources like diesel, gas or furnace oil.