Solar process heat for sustainable automobile manufacturing

Durr is one of the world's leading suppliers of products, systems and services, mainly for automobile manufacturing. The range of products and services covers important stages of vehicle production. As a systems supplier, Durr plans and builds complete paint shops and final assembly facilities. Industrial Solar - formerly known as Mirroxx - is the leading manufacturer of Fresnel process heat collectors and can look back on seven years operating experience with its systems. Automotive industry is under considerable strain to make their products more environmentally sound. Not only the cars themselves, but also the whole value chain has to become more sustainable. One production process, which contributes a significant share to the carbon footprint of a car, is the curing of a car's paint. As the temperatures in the convection ovens are up to 200 degrees C the application of market available flatplate or vacuum tube collectors was not an option, as these collector types cannot provide such high temperatures. Also the thermal power needed for a convection oven is well above the typical power range of solar collectors, which were originally designed for domestic hot water applications. A pilot system of a solar driven convection oven has been installed on the Durr Campus in Bietigheim-Bissingen near Stuttgart / Germany. An Industrial Solar Fresnel collector consisting of six modules with a total aperture area of 132 m(2) heats pressurized water to an outlet temperature of 180 degrees C. A fossil fired backup boiler complements the solar thermal system to meet the thermal power demand of the convection oven. Finally the heat is dissipated in the convection oven via a pressurized water - air heat exchanger. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.