Solar-assisted clean steam generator, a cleaner production approach for sustainable healthcare facilitiesShow others and affiliations
2024 (English)In: Journal of Cleaner Production, ISSN 0959-6526, E-ISSN 1879-1786, Vol. 452, article id 142132Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Healthcare sector buildings, particularly hospitals, significantly contribute to global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Hospitals require a substantial amount of steam, including the essential hygienic or “clean steam,” that is currently supplied mostly by heaters and fossil fuel-based boilers. This study proposes a solar-driven clean steam generator, employing LS-2 parabolic trough collectors with Therminol VP-1 as the working fluid, to supply clean steam in hospitals. The system was designed and techno-economically assessed for two case study hospitals in Denmark and Sweden using MATLAB. The proposed system's proficiency was compared against existing solutions, revealing that it can contribute up to 19% and 22% of the energy requirements for the Danish and Swedish hospitals, respectively, in certain months. While the design may not enhance energy and exergy efficiencies due to inherent losses, it significantly reduces environmental impact, preventing 67.8 tons and 75.5 tons of equivalent CO2 emissions per year for the Danish and Swedish hospitals, respectively. This innovation aims to contribute to the healthcare sector's sustainability.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2024. Vol. 452, article id 142132
Keywords [en]
Clean steam generator, Hospitals, Parabolic trough solar system, Solar collectors, Sustainability, Techno-economic analysis
National Category
Energy Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-366897DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.142132ISI: 001231623100001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85190409182OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-366897DiVA, id: diva2:1983475
Note
QC 20250711
2025-07-112025-07-112025-07-11Bibliographically approved