Process Heat Production
- PTM
- The parabolic trough for a wide range of applications
- FTM
- The ideal solution for cooling and process heat
- PROCESS HEAT PRODUCTION
- Industrial solar applications
News
Soltigua’s parabolic trough PTMx wins the Intersolar Award!
Competing against over 3000 companies from China, Europe, North America and India, Soltigua’s PTMx has won the prestigious Intersolar Award for solar thermal products. The Award is attributed to pioneering technologies which have undergone industrial trials. Key decision criterion lay in innovation, efficiency and cost reduction.
Thanks to its efficiency and its easy installation, PTMx is particularly suitable for solar installations in industrial settings, where it can integrate steam or thermal oil based industrial processes to reduce fossil fuel consumption, also providing interesting payback times thanks to its competitive price.
PTMx is the enhanced version of Soltigua’s PTM, the first concentrating collector tested according to the European EN 12975 technical standard for solar thermal collectors up to 250°C.
In a location with adequate solar irrdiation, PTMx can generate every year more than 1.000 kWh/m2 of heat for steam generation. This improves industry standards up to 50% and more*.
In economic terms, the operating cost of energy can be reduced by more than 90% and the annual return on the initial investment can be higher than 20% for industrial thermal processes which make use of diesel, LPG and electricity.
PTMx has all the advantages of parabolic troughs, such as the possibility to operate at temperatures up to 250°C thanks to a very high concentration factor, which supports the thermal performance of PTMx in the 150°-250°C temperature range.
“The Intersolar Award nomination is a great recognition for Soltigua’s technical creativity” declared Soltigua’s Director Vittorio Orioli.
Creativity and quality are the essence of PTMx’s precise mirror shaping technology, which exploits the high reflectivity of glass together with the innovations introduced by Soltigua in the world of parabolic trough collectors for process heat applications. For example, the patented modular receiver simplifies greatly the installation procedure. Thanks to its precise and reliable tracking system, PTMx does not require light sensors for tracking, nor seasonal adjustment, thus reducing further the complexity of its usage and maintenance.
* Based on Soltigua’s survey or several existing parabolic troughs
Soltigua realizes a 2.640 m2 solar field of its FTM Linear Fresnel collector.
Following its Intersolar Award nomination in 2011, Soltigua FTM Linear Fresnel collector will be used within the EU FP 7 InSun project. A 2.640 m2 solar field will be installed to provide process steam for a brick manufacturing company in Italy. The solar field will generate up to 2 ton/hour of steam at a pressure of 12 bar. The project started in April 2012 and will give Soltigua the opportunity to showcase several aspects of its comprehensive offer as a provider of solar solutions for industrial processes. For example, the solar steam will be generated in two different ways.
A first lot of some 1.000 m2 will heat thermal oil up to a temperature of 240°C. Thanks to a heat exchanger, the oil will turn water into steam. This first lot will be commissioned by the end of 2012.
The second lot (1.600 m2 approx.) of the solar field will generate steam directly, by means of Direct Steam Generation. It will be commissioned during the first half of 2013.
This second type of steam generation will be particularly innovative. It will be the first full size industrial application of its kind and it will reduce the overall system integration cost, thus enhancing the competiveness of solar energy compared to conventional fuels.
Soltigua’s innovative and patented modular design of the FTM collectors will facilitate their installation and will make it faster. Actually, due to the needs of the industrial production, the installation and commissioning of the field will be performed in a very short period of time. The solar system will integrate a gas-fired boiler, which will still be used as a back-up to provide the remaining heat requirements to the process even in less than ideal weather conditions. Soltigua’s own control logic will ensure a smooth coordination of all the different system components.
The InSun project is funded by the EU as cooperation project within the 7th Frame Work Program.