Potential of solar energy utilization in the textile industry - a case study

There is high energy consumption in the industrial sector at low-temperature levels, and solar energy could save a considerable part of this energy, A feasibility study to obtain the potential of solar energy utilization in the textile industry is presented, Two categories were considered in this study. The first category is a preheat solar system that can feed the boiler with hot water, This system can be efficiently utilized in this case because it can operate under different conditions of flow rate and output temperature. The second category is to feed the process of textile dyeing that needs low temperatures (up to 85 degreesC) directly with hot water. In this case, the collector area is limited by the available area in the factory. Economic comparison between the two categories was provided to determine the optimal system that can be used efficiently. The optimum design of the two systems was studied depending on the optimum collector area and how rate. It was found that the second system is more economic and efficient than the first. The environmental impact of using such a system was studied for different air and water pollutants. Reduction of carbon dioxide emission was found to be the main advantage of using solar energy as a clean energy source. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.