| Phase: |
Theme |
| Theme: | Solar (T12) |
| Status: | Active |
| Start Date: | 2024-04-01 |
| End Date: | 2026-06-30 |
| Principal Investigator |
| Manzoor, Taha |
Highly Qualified Personnel
Project Overview
The decarbonization of industrial heat sector, representing 74% of total industrial energy demand, is critical for combating climate change. Currently, only 9% of this demand is met by renewables, limited by their intermittent nature. An intermittent heating infrastructure lacking long-duration storage (> 24 hr) is unreliable, compromising energy security, especially in harsh Canadian winters. Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) systems, storing solar energy directly as heat, offer promise. In a modular CST system, a field of mirrors concentrate solar energy into a well-insulated tank (receiver) filled with molten chloride salts. These salts absorb solar radiation, converting it to heat. Stored heat is then dispatched as steam via a heat exchanger system on demand. Though promising, these systems are in early development stages and require optimization before commercialization. This Future Energy Systems (FES) funded project will examine the governing physics of receivers operating above 950K and develop design guidelines for commercial scaling.
Outputs
| Title |
Category |
Date |
Authors |
| Optimizing the performance of liquid-based medium-temperature volumetric solar thermal receivers using genetic algorithmsLiquid-based volumetric solar thermal receivers are a promising alternative to the traditional tubular receivers. By absorbing solar energy directly in a semi-transparent medium, volumetric receivers achieve higher capture efficiency and more uniform temperatures, overcoming the low capture efficiency issues faced by tubular receivers at high temperatures. However, accurately predicting the thermofluid behavior of volumetric receivers under various operating conditions is challenging due to the complex interactions between radiation, convection, conduction, and volumetric heating. A mechanistic model validated under a 6.5 kW solar simulator was developed, and demonstrated short-term (up to 7min) accuracy of predicting such behavior, yet the optimization of key parameters which can increase system efficiency and avoid the development of hot spots inside the receiver remains unexplored.
This study addresses this parameter exploration and optimization using an evolutionary algorithm, specifically a genetic algorithm (GA), focusing on five critical parameters— attenuation coefficient, solar flux, receiver depth, top surface emissivity, and heating time. By using MATLAB’s multiobjective genetic algorithm solver, we identified multiple solutions representing trade-offs between efficiency and temperature uniformity inside the receiver. This evolutionary computation method constructs the Pareto front, a set of solutions that represent the best trade-offs between competing objectives, by iteratively selecting, recombining, and mutating solutions while maintaining diversity among solutions. The ability to produce multiple optimal solutions is highly valuable, as it provides a range of possible outcomes that can be adjusted to different operational conditions, ultimately improving the performance of volumetric receiver systems. University of Alberta | Publication | 2025-09-18 | Thasanka Kandage, Muhammad Soban Shoaib, Manzoor, T. |
| Clean Industrial Heat in Cold Climates: The Missing Link in the Energy TransitionIndustrial processes such as critical minerals mining and metal forming account for nearly two-thirds of global energy consumption, and their reliance on fossil fuels for process heat contributed 24% of global CO₂ emissions in 2019. This substantial contribution to greenhouse gas emissions makes the decarbonization of industrial heating processes critical for achieving global climate targets. At the same time, rapidly growing electricity demand from emerging sectors, particularly large-scale data centers, is expected to place additional pressure on power systems, highlighting the need for a diverse portfolio of energy technologies capable of serving distinct energy-intensive sectors.
As regulatory requirements to reduce emissions tighten worldwide, clean heat generation technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs) and concentrated solar thermal systems, together with long-duration heat storage technologies such as electric thermal energy storage (E-TES), are gaining attention for their ability to provide low-carbon, high-temperature heat for industrial applications. These technologies can enable flexible energy management, improve system resilience, and facilitate the integration of low-carbon energy sources in high-temperature industrial processes.
However, extreme ambient temperatures in cold-climate regions such as Canada, combined with challenges associated with remote and off-grid operations, present significant barriers to large-scale deployment compared with established solutions such as coal or natural gas boilers. This talk presents recent advances in modular thermal energy systems for industrial heat, highlighting experimental research, thermal-hydraulic studies, and techno-economic assessments aimed at enabling the deployment of clean industrial heat technologies in cold-climate environments. The discussion will identify key technological challenges as well as opportunities for accelerating the decarbonization of the industrial heat sector. University of Alberta | Activity | 2026-04-28 | Manzoor, T. |
| Preliminary Design of a Heat Extraction Mechanism for Volumetrically Absorbing Modular Concentrated Solar Thermal Systems University of Alberta | Activity | 2025-09-25 | Abdul Saboor, Mariem Sahbani, "Adam Jaikaran", Julian Baudouin, Guylian Pelonde, Gaurav Yougal Kishore, Manzoor, T. |
| Techno-Economic Analysis for the Deployment of Electric Thermal Energy Storage Systems Using Binary Chloride Salts in Edmonton, Alberta. University of Alberta | Activity | 2025-05-28 | Abdul Saboor, Muhammad Taha Naveed, Manzoor, T. |
