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A preliminary
economic assessment concludes that the economic feasibility of an
industrial solar lime plant is not guaranteed a priori. However,
if certain prerequisites are fulfilled, the solar production of
lime may have the potential of being economically viable:
- Only
geographical regions with sufficiently high annual solar irradiation
should be considered as potential locations for solar lime plants.
- The
heliostat costs need to be lower than the actually predicted costs
(current assumption: 150 $/m2). In this respect, one can expect
a high economy of scale. Also, high reactor efficiency results
in a smaller heliostat field and, hence, lower costs.
- Extremely
pure solar produced lime will allow for a much higher selling
price than the actual market price for lime.
- The
potential for saving fossil fuels and reducing CO2 emissions may
become an incentive for the lime and cement industry to invest
in industrial solar lime technology.
- Governmental
subsidies and regulations like the CO2 tax may help introducing
the solar lime technology in the market.
A preliminary ecological evaluation concludes that the industrial
solar lime production is ecologically beneficial. For example,
the savings of greenhouse gas emissions may be as high as 95%
of the emissions from an average vertical shaft kiln for conventional
lime production.
A conceptual design of a 0.5-1 MW solar lime plant is currently
being developed. It comprises the solar lime reactor concept including
feeding and heat recovery system. The reactor will be integrated
in a solar lime plant consisting of a heliostat field and a tower.
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