Abstract
El-Nasr pharmaceutical solar process heat project is considered as the largest industrial system installed and working in east Cairo, Egypt 30 degrees N. It was simply constructed from a one-axis tracking parabolic-trough collector that can produce about 1.3 ton/h saturated steam to feed the industrial processes in the company. Twenty-three bar compressed water is heated inside 1958.4 m(2) collectors, and later on it is flashed in a steam flash-drum to produce saturated steam at 8 bars and 175 degrees C that is fed to the process heat. A mathematical model was developed for the system components to simulate annual performance of the system. The simulation results were verified successfully by the measured data that are monitoring the system performance. First, each component of the mathematical model was experimentally validated separately. Accordingly, the whole mathematical model was validated under different weather conditions along the year. The validated numerical model was optimized. The optimal number of collectors connected in series was obtained as three collectors not 36 as installed. An economical study of the installed system was provided. The optimal design of the system was economically estimated. The optimal collector area is less than that installed, it equals about 538 m(2). Annual performance of the system is presented indicating the seasonal variation. It was found that the optimized system can produce about 2 ton/h in average. Moreover, that value is more than that was proposed by the system design. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3584836]