The trend to reduce CO2 emissions in cooling processes has made it possible to increase the alternatives for integrating solar energy with thermal equipment whose viability depends on its adaptation to polygeneration schemes. Despite the enormous potential offered by the industry for cooling and heating processes, solar cooling technologies (SCT) have been explored in a limited way in the industrial sector. This work discusses the potential applications of industrial SCTs and classifies hybrid polygeneration schemes based on supplying cold, heat, electricity, and desalination of water; summarizes the leading SCTs, and details the main indicators of polygeneration configurations in terms of reductions on primary energy consumption and payback times. To achieve an energy transition in refrigeration processes, the scenarios with the most significant potential are: the food manufacturing industry (water immersion and crystallization processes), the beverage industry (fermentation and storage processes), and the mining industry (underground air conditioning).

INTRODUCCIÓN. Se desarrolla un método computacional para la simulación dinámica del sistema de protección de peatones y análisis de cambio de material, con el fin de disminuir costos en pruebas que comúnmente requieren ensayos destructivos y, que dificultan el proceso de prototipado ante la necesidad de aumentar el número de piezas fabricadas en Ecuador. OBJETIVO. Validar un modelo de simulación computacional para reemplazo del material original del refuerzo inferior de parachoques del Kia Sportage R-2014 con materiales alternos. MÉTODO. El sistema fue digitalizado en el software Unigraphics NX, en base a la norma ACEA/2003/102/CE y el protocolo del Adendum 126: Regulación-N°127 de la ONU relativo a protección de peatones, los componentes fueron simulados con ayuda de Ansys Student usando 6 materiales alternos al original. RESULTADOS: La normativa de protección se cumple para todos los materiales, con excepción del ABS que supera los 200 g, mientras que el material con menor deformación y rotura es el PLA. DISCUSIÓN Y CONCLUSIONES: Dada las propiedades en deformación estructural, masa y aceleración en el impactador de piernas, se considera al PLA como el material con las características más cercanas al material original, mientras el policarbonato en caso de usar materiales disponibles en la industria ecuatoriana es el segundo material con las mejores propiedades, sin embargo, sufre una leve rotura en su zona frontal tras el impacto.

Sustainable greenhouses have gained relevance in recent years due to their potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the agricultural sector by being integrated with renewable systems, contributing to the decarbonization of energy. Although solar technologies tend to be more accessible to cover the system’s energy demands, greenhouses are subject to installation area restrictions, limiting their energy potential. This research evaluates the energy advantages of hybridizing solar thermal collector fields with photovoltaic module fields to cover a greenhouse’s cooling and heating demands. For this purpose, the solar thermal field and the photovoltaic solar system were simulated with TRNSYS and MATLAB, respectively, while a method was developed to simulate the performance of a single-effect absorption chiller that was validated using the temperature measurements of a chiller in operation. The results show that the general method maintains differences between measurements and simulation smaller than 5% with set temperatures between 5.5 and 12 degrees Celsius. The hybrid system, with an air-to-water chiller as the main machine and absorption chiller, reached a solar fraction of 0.85 and a fractional energy saving of 83%. This represents a 27% reduction in area concerning an individual solar thermal system. This research highlights that the solar hybrid configuration reduces fossil energy consumption by improving the global efficiency of energy conversion, thereby reducing the area of the solar field.

Process heating is the activity with the most energy consumption in the industrial sector. Solar heating (SH) systems are a promising alternative to provide renewable thermal energy to industrial processes. However, factors such as high investment costs and area limitations in industrial facilities hinder their utilization; therefore, hybrid systems that combine two different solar thermal or photovoltaic technologies where each technology operates under conditions that allow a higher overall performance than conventional configurations have been proposed. In this review, we discuss the limitations of conventional SH systems and the potential of hybrid configurations to overcome them. First, the current literature about conventional and hybrid systems is presented. Then, the application of common performance indicators to evaluate hybrid configurations is analyzed. Finally, the limitation, advantages, and potential applications of conventional and hybrid systems are discussed. This work shows that conventional systems are the most promising alternatives in low and high-temperature industrial applications. At the same time, in medium and processes, hybrid configurations have great potential to increase the performance of SH systems and help to boost their adoption in the industrial sector. There are few studies about hybrid systems in industrial applications, and further research is required to determine their potential.

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