Investigation on the performance of a solar thermal assisted heat recovery system at a rubber glove factory

• Main Author: Lim, Iandre Chun Eyn
• Format: text::Final Year Project
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: Heat recovery; Solar thermal energy

A thorough analysis and investigation on the performance of a solar thermal waste heat recovery system in a rubber glove factory. Waste heat and solar thermal energy is harnessed by the prototype system for hot water heating. Hot water is needed by the factory to rinse off foreign material from gloves, cleaning former and also chemical preparation. The main source of energy for hot water heating is by burning natural gas. About 30% of the annual energy usage is for hot water heating, and burning of natural gas is costly and not environmental friendly. So, we proposed the use of a solar assisted waste heat recovery system in the factory to reduce carbon footprint and save gas cost. Prototype is suggested to be placed on roof of Top Glove Factory 25 next to the exhaust vent with a temperature of 65-70C. The location has high amount of solar irradiation and waste heat to be captured. Waste heat is recovered using a car radiator while solar is harnessed using solar evacuated tubes to generate thermal energy. Solar evacuated tubes bought did not come with the required components due to limitation of budget. So, this thesis also includes designing and fabricating parts such as nylon manifold, copper tubing and aluminum cylindrical busbar. Analyzation on the minimum requirement of pump system is done to study the force and pressure needed to push water up to the roof. Total incident solar energy absorbed and thermal consideration in pipe flow was also studied and compared with the experimental result. The outcome of this project shows that intensity of solar radiation is directly proportional to the output water temperature. Weather condition and humidity also play a big part in affecting end results. Prototype has a lot of improvements to be done so future recommendations were proposed to improve performance and shell life of the system.