This paper considers the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of integrating solar thermal collectors in the dairy industry of Jordan, under a case study of a small-scale dairy plant. Flat plate collectors (FPCs) and evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) have been considered via a T*SOL-based model for heating purposes in dairy processing. The share of solar energy in the milk processing plant investigated was 6085 kWh (approximately 83.0 % of total energy consumption of 7333 kWh) with FPC, and 6569 kWh (approximately 89.6 %) with ETC. The economic analysis was in favor of positive economic viability, with NPVs of $7321 for FPCs and $8478 for ETCs, depicting that the long-run returns of ETCs are slightly better, although higher in initial investment cost. The environmental impact analysis demonstrated annual savings of approximately 1094 liters and 1181 liters of diesel, with net CO₂ savings of approximately 58,638 kg FPC and 63,302 kg ETC over the lifetime of 20 years. Challenges such as initial high costs, seasonality, and manpower limitations must be addressed through policy inducements, public-private partnerships, and integrated hybrid systems. This paper provides a scalable solar process heating adoption model for dairy facilities, congruent with Jordan's sustainability goals and clean energy transition.

العنوان

Sustainable Futures

الناشر

Elsevier

بلد الناشر

المملكة المتحدة

Indexing

Thomson Reuters

معامل التأثير

4,9

نوع المنشور

Both (Printed and Online)

المجلد

10

السنة

2025

الصفحات

101270