Solar Energy/Dairy Solar Energy for India's Dairy Industry

Dairies worldwide are adopting green technologies to meet their energy needs. Indian dairies must catch up soon. Today there are several innovative and efficient technologies available in the renewable energy domain that can be used for catering to various energy needs of the dairy industry. Harnessing solar energy for various heat-based applications like generating steam, hot water, etc has become more viable with time.

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India is endowed with a vast solar energy potential. About 5,000 trillion kWh per year of solar energy is incident over India’s land area, with nearly all of India receiving an average 5-7kWh/m2/day. The abundant solar radiation, clean character of solar energy, high cost of fossil fuels and negative emission consequences along with large requirements for process heat below 250°C are the key drivers of the strong focus on the development of solar thermal applications in India.

Solar energy now days in demand to meet various thermal need, not only for commercial and residential use but is also considered for industrial use. In fact, dairy is one of the industries, where solar thermal solutions are looked upon as an economical and viable option. Taking a green and economic path, Mahanand Dairy has installed Arun technology from Clique Solar to satisfy its thermal energy needs.

Adopting Renewable Energy for Pasteurization

A single Arun dish is operational for hot water generation for milk pasteurization at the Latur Unit of Mahanand Dairy. The system pressure and temperature is 18 bar and 180°C respectively. Due to a mismatch in the working hours of the plant and availability of sun, an insulated pressurized water storage tank has been provided for storage of thermal energy. Pressurized water was selected as the medium of heat transfer and storage as it has high specific heat, no fire hazards, no possibility of accelerated oxidization overnight (as in case of tarring of thermic oil), compatibility with food products and low operational cost.

This solar dish demonstrates technological innovation for dairy industry as the heat is generated by solar and delivered with critical controlled temperature within ±0.5°C at any time during the day and night.

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