Abstract

In this contribution the performance of a thermosolar plant to provide heat to the copper electrowinning (EW) process is analyzed. This plant has a collecting area of 404 m(2) with flat plate solar collectors, and generation capacity of 540 MWht/year. It has a thermal storage tank where water can be stored at an average temperature of 95 degrees C. This allows providing continuously the energy to heat the electrolyte. It was determined the performance of the solar field and global performance of the plant for a working period of 4 months at the northern region conditions from Chile. In addition, the fuel consumption reduction for replacing liquefied gas by thermal solar energy to heat the electrolyte and CO2 emissions reduction were analyzed. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.