Experimental Study and Simulation of Distributed Photovoltaic Heating Asphalt System

The traditional asphalt heating methods need to consume many fossil fuels, which conflicts with carbon peaking goals and neutrality. Therefore, replacing fossil fuels and improving heating efficiency is a realistic and severe task. This paper proposes a distributed photovoltaic heating asphalt system based on a literature review and field investigation of current asphalt mixing plants. The system rationally uses idle workshop roofs to lay solar photovoltaic modules for power supply. It replaces the natural gas boiler, heat conduction oil furnace, and asphalt heating tank with an integrated electric heating asphalt tank. The power generation capacity of the distributed photovoltaic power system and the electric heating asphalt heating process were tested and simulated, and the heat transfer characteristics of asphalt during heating were obtained. The results show that the daily generating capacity of the 39.6kW photovoltaic system is 135.8kWh, which can meet the heating demand of 3 tons of asphalt. The average asphalt heating rate increases to 19°C/h compared to the traditional heating rate. And no pollutants are produced during the whole process. Overall, the system can achieve remarkable efficiency improvement, energy conservation, and environmental protection.