Heat pinch composite curves

The Heat Pinch Composite Curves (Temperature-Enthalpy Diagrams)... 

In other words, to achieve the energy target set by the composite curves, the designer must not transfer heat across the pinch by... 

Details of how this design was developed in Fig. 6.9 are included in Chap. 16. For now, simply take note that the targets set by the composite curves are achievable in design, providing that the pinch is recognized, there is no transfer of heat ac ss it, and no inappropriate use of utilities occurs. However, insight into the pinch is needed to analyze some of the important decisions still to be made before network design is addressed. 

More than 7.5 MW could be added from a hot utility to the first interval, but the objective is to find the minimum hot and cold utility. Thus from Fig. 6.186, QHmin = 7.5MW and Qcmm = 10MW. This corresponds with the values obtained from the composite curves in Fig. 6.5a. One further important piece of information can be deduced from the cascade in Fig. 6.186. The point where the heat flow goes to zero at T = 145°C corresponds to the pinch. Thus the actual hot and cold stream pinch temperatures are 150 and 140°C. Again, this agrees with the result from the composite curves in Fig. 6.5a. 

The point of zero heat flow in the grand composite curve in Fig. 6.24 is the pinch. The open jaws at the top and bottom represent Hmin and Qcmin, respectively. Thus the heat sink above the pinch and heat source below the pinch can be identified as shown in Fig. 

In Fig. 6.27, the flue gas is cooled to pinch temperature before being released to the atmosphere. The heat releaised from the flue gas between pinch and ambient temperature is the stack loss. Thus, in Fig. 6.27, for a given grand composite curve and theoretical flcune temperature, the heat from fuel amd stack loss can be determined. 

The appropriate placement of distillation columns when heat integrated is not across the pinch. The grand composite curve can be used as a quantitative tool to assess integration opportunities. 

Having decided that no exchanger should have a temperature difference smaller than ATmi, two rules were deduced. If the energy target set by the composite curves (or the problem table algorithm) is to be achieved, there must be no heat transfer across the pinch by... 

A low temperature of approach for the network reduces utihties but raises heat-transfer area requirements. Research has shown that for most of the pubhshed problems, utility costs are normally more important than annualized capital costs. For this reason, AI is chosen eady in the network design as part of the first tier of the solution. The temperature of approach, AI, for the network is not necessarily the same as the minimum temperature of approach, AT that should be used for individual exchangers. This difference is significant for industrial problems in which multiple shells may be necessary to exchange the heat requited for a given match (5). The economic choice for AT depends on whether the process environment is heater- or refrigeration-dependent and on the shape of the composite curves, ie, whether approximately parallel or severely pinched. In cmde-oil units, the range of AI is usually 10—20°C. By definition, AT A AT. The best relative value of these temperature differences depends on the particular problem under study. 

Comparing the composite curve, Figure 3.22, with Figure 3.237 shows that the heat introduced to the cascade is the minimum hot utility requirement and the heat removed at the bottom is the minimum cold utility required. The pinch occurs in Figure 3.23b where the heat flow in the cascade is zero. This is as would be expected from the rule that for minimum utility requirements no heat flows across the pinch. In Figure 3.23b the pinch temperatures are 80 and 90°C, as was found using the composite stream curves. 

For matches between process and refrigeration, A Tmin = 10°C. Draw the process grand composite curve and set the targets for the utilities. Below the pinch use of higher temperature, cold utilities should be maximized. For boiler feedwater, the specific heat capacity is 4.2 kJ kg K-1 and the latent heat of vaporization is 2238 kJ-kg1. 

Consider now a few examples of the use of this simple representation. A grand composite curve is shown in Figure 21.2a. The distillation column reboiler and condenser duties are shown separately and are matched against it. The reboiler and condenser duties are on opposite sides of the heat recovery pinch and the column does not fit. In Figure 21.2b, although the reboiler and condenser duties are both above the pinch, the heat duties prevent a fit. Part of the duties can be accommodated, and if heat integrated,... 

The appropriate placement of distillation columns when heat integrated is not across the heat recovery pinch. The grand composite curve can be used as a quantitative tool to assess integration opportunities. The scope for integrating conventional distillation columns into an overall process is often limited. Practical constraints often prevent integration of columns with the rest of the process. If the... 

By calculating the class 1 FI target, the process engineer can identify the critical uncertainty point and critical constraint (appearance of new pinches, nonnegative heating or cooling, and so on). This uncertainty point and constraint limit the resilience of a completely countercurrent (e.g., infinitely cyclic) HEN structure able to mimic the composite curves thus they seem the most likely uncertainty point and constraint to limit the resilience of a practical but well-designed (almost completely countercurrent) HEN structure. 

Remark 1 Since we cannot bring the two composite curves closer, the pinch point represents the bottleneck for further heat recovery. In fact, it partitions the temperature range into two subnetworks, one above the pinch and one below the pinch. Heat flow cannot cross the pinch since there will be violations in the heat exchange driving forces. As a result, we need a hot utility at the subnetwork above the pinch and a cold utility at the subnetwork below the pinch. In other words, having identified the pinch point, we can now apply the first law analysis to each subnetwork separately and determine the hot and cold utility requirements. These can be read from the T - Q diagram since they correspond to the horizontal segments AG and CD, respectively. Hence, for our example we have ... 

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