Christoph Lauterbach

Sustainable Beer Production by Combining Solar Process Heat and Energy Efficiency - Holistic System Concept and Preliminary Operational Experiences

Recent research projects in the field of solar process heat have shown that, besides the ambitious economic targets, the integration of solar heating systems in industrial processes is a main barrier for the widespread of this technology. Therefore, a sufficiently deep understanding of industrial processes is necessary, which currently does not exist among solar engineers. In a current research project, Kassel University developed a concept for solar process heat generation in a brewery that combines energy efficiency measures and the application of solar thermal energy. This paper gives an overview of the developed concept including the applied approach and will present experiences of planning and installation of the solar heating system. Furthermore, first operational results are presented.