Application of Concentrating Solar Technologies in the Dairy Sector for the Combined Production of Heat and Power. (November 2016) - Cocco, Daniele
Abstract: The use of concentrating solar technologies for supplying the heat and power demand of a typical dairy factoryis investigated in this paper.A yearly-based performance analysis iscarried out considering different values of solar field collecting area and thermal energy storage capacity with reference to a typical meteorological data setof a Sardinian location. Specific simulation models are developed for each section of the plant. Moreover, a novel energy management strategy isdeveloped for the determination of the priority order between thermal and electrical demand. The results demonstrate that concentrating solar technologies could be a promising option if power and heat are both required. In particular, the presence of the energy storage section provides important flexibility features to the plant and by suitably setting the control variable, the energy management strategy allows to give priority to the heat or to the electrical demand of the dairy.