Evaluation of using solar energy in Iran's textile industry towards cleaner production: Sustainable planning and feasibility analysis

The use of solar thermal energy is a suitable alternative to fossil fuels, but due to the lack of sufficient information on the implementation of thermal plants, solar industrial process heat (SIPH) was not implemented. The goal of this study is to assess SIPH in the textile industry of Iran. For this purpose, the suitable province for developing SIPH projects is determined from five dimensions using multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. The step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) is used for weighting and the grey measurement alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution (MARCOS-G) is used for prioritizing the provinces. Then, at the optimum site, the performance of a 5 MW power plant with solar parabolic trough collectors along with the storage system is optimized, and dynamic modeling is done. MCDM results showed that Isfahan is the most suitable province for developing SIPH in Iran's textile industry. The feasibility assessment showed that the levelized cost of heat in the optimal condition is equal to 20.9 $/MWh-t. Also, it has led to the reduction of 4 kt of CO2 emissions. Although the price of natural gas is very cheap in Iran, if the pollution tax policies are applied in Iran, SIPH will be cost-effective in the textile industry.