Materials for thermal energy production
Gas. These are gases and gas mixtures whose combustion produces heat. They are used as energy in heating and domestic hot water systems, in the production of electricity and heat, and so on. Gas fuels can be broken down by source, production method or process and by combustion characteristics: natural – obtained directly from the ground (for example natural gas), artificial – obtained by oil, coal or in various technological or similar processes.
Fuel oils. It is a liquid fuel that is obtained by fractional distillation of crude oil and is used in small and large power plants. They are mostly carbon and the rest are hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
Solid fuels. Coal is a solid fossil fuel that used to be very common, and today its use in heating systems is largely abandoned and is used most extensively in large energy plants and in industry. It consists mostly of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and the rest is sulfur, nitrogen, water, ash and various other impurities. Depending on the origin, method of production and composition there are several types of coal: coal, brown coal, lignite, briquettes, coal dust, coke, charcoal.
Biomass is a solid fuel of biological origin, that is, renewable energy, and can take many forms. It is divided into: wood biomass or firewood, wood-grown biomass, non-wood-grown biomass, agricultural residues and waste, animal waste and residues. For use in heating systems, firewood or various products obtained from wood and wood waste treatment such as sawdust, biomass briquettes, pellets and the like are used.
The solar hot water system uses solar energy as a renewable energy source to heat domestic hot water, hot and hot air space heating, space cooling, swimming pool heating, steam heating to generate electricity and more. The solar hot water system with forced circulation of water consists mainly of solar hot water collectors, a solar heat tank, an auxiliary heater, heat pipes, and a pump and control unit that controls it. There are also constructions of hot water systems, which allow the system to operate without a pump and a control unit, called a thermosyphon or solar hot water system with natural water circulation.