Investigation on the feasibility of integration of high temperature solar energy in a textile factory

Thermal energy production from fossil fuels is very common in many applications, especially in industrial processes. In a global context where great attention is being focused on reducing pollution and greenhouse gas production, the integration of renewable energy in industrial applications is very interesting. This is even more important considering that greenhouse gas emission for industrial processes is a great portion of their total emission. Considering the above, it appears that the integration of high temperature solar panels in industrial processes is quite an attractive prospect. The working temperatures of parabolic solar collectors are, for example, generally close to those of the thermal fluids used in many industrial processes, and parabolic solar collectors are a well known technology with several applications primarily used in electric production systems. Nonetheless, only a few examples of industrial integration have been studied or built. In this study, the integration of a concentrating solar thermal plant in a textile factory has been examined both from the thermodynamic and economic point of view. An existing textile factory was chosen as a case study and its annual consumption of thermal energy characterized. A model of the plant with solar energy integration was developed and simulated with TRNSYS over a one year time period. The plant was simulated considering the panel characteristics provided by the manufacturer and the local irradiation data. The influence of several plant parameters has been investigated in order to estimate their importance on performance and plant suitability

Experimental investigation on industrial drying process of cotton yarn bobbins: energy consumption and drying time

Abstract In the textile industry, the drying process is a time consuming and energy expensive operation that influences strongly the cost of the textile finishing operations. For this reason, the study of innovative techniques plays a key role to decrease the energy consumption, the costs and the environmental impact. After a first mechanical process, the moisture is removed from yarn fibers by a thermal convection dryer that delivers hot air through the material. In this study, the drying process of cotton yarn bobbins is experimentally analyzed. With this aim, an experimental test rig was developed based on the geometry of industrial dryers. The influence of the drying air path and the air working conditions was assessed by performing tests with different configurations, temperatures and pressures. The results were analyzed in terms of drying time and energy consumption as the optimum drying condition is a trade-off between these parameters

Evaluation of gas production in a industrial anaerobic digester by means of biochemical methane potential of organic municipal solid waste components

The Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) of several components of the Organic Fraction of the Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) were tested in order to assess the possibility to obtain a good estimate of the biogas production of a real scale anaerobic digestion plant. In particular, five different fractions and a mixed food waste sample were tested with batch anaerobic digesters at 37°C and both the BMP after 21 days (BMP21) and final BMP (BMPf) were measured. Regarding the mixed food waste substrate it was found an average BMP21 of about 405 NL/kgVS and a BMPf of 484 NL/kgVS with an average methane content of 57%. From the experimental results, some industrial potential biogas production were defined to compare them with data from real anaerobic digestion plants. In particular two different plants were considered: one located in a rural area that treats the source selected OFMSW from a public collection point, another located in a city area with a curbside collection system. Furthermore, studying the BMP of the pre-treatment reject of these plants, it was possible to study the pre-treatment efficiency and the difference performance of the two real plants

Development of a Research Test Rig for Advanced Analyses in Centrifugal Compressors

Abstract In this study, the design process of a new research test rig for centrifugal compressor stages is presented. The rig has been specifically conceived for advanced analyses, with particular focus on rotating stall and in general on the operating conditions close to the minimum flow limit, which represent the research frontier in view of an extension of the stages rangeability. The new rig will be able to test industrial impellers at peripheral Mach numbers up to 0.7, operating in open-loop with ambient inlet conditions. A modular design will allow to test different stage configurations and then to carry out systematic optimization campaigns on a single specific component. The conceptual design of the rig is here described and explained, including the selection of the best architecture and layout, the drivetrain assessment and the rotordynamic analysis