Pinch heat recovery

The appropriate placement of the major items of equipment in relation to the heat recovery pinch is as follows ... 

Consider now the consequences of placing simple distillation columns (i.e. one feed, two products, one reboiler and one condenser) in different locations relative to the heat recovery pinch. The separator takes heat Qreb into the reboiler at temperature Treb and rejects heat Qcond at a lower temperature Tcond There are two possible ways in which the column can be heat integrated with the rest of the process. The reboiler and condenser can be integrated either across, or not across, the heat recovery pinch. 

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,... 

If an inappropriately placed distillation column is shifted above the heat recovery pinch by changing its pressure, the condensing stream, which is a hot stream, is shifted from below to above the pinch. The reboiling stream, which is a cold stream, stays above the pinch. If the inappropriately placed distillation column is shifted below the pinch, then the reboiling stream, which is a cold stream, is shifted from above to below the pinch. The condensing stream stays below the pinch. Thus appropriate placement is a particular case of shifting streams across the pinch, which in turn is a particular case of the plus-minus principle (see Chapter 19). 

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... 

For the low-temperature distillation process shown in the flow diagram in Fig. 7.18, calculate the minimum hot-utility requirement and the location of the heat recovery pinch. Assume that the minimum acceptable temperature difference, ATrma, equals 5°C. The specifics of the process streams passing through the seven heat exchangers appear in the first five columns of Table 7.8, the mass flowrates of the streams being represented within the enthalpy (AH) values. 

What can be learned from the composite curves Briefly, the curves can reveal very important insights for a heat recovery problem maximal process heat recovery, pinch point, and hot and cold utility targets, which can be visualized in Figure 9.7. The explanations for these basic concepts are given as follows ... 

The appropriate placement of reactors, as far as heat integration is concerned, is that exothermic reactors should be integrated above the pinch and endothermic reactors below the pinch. Care should be taken when reactor feeds are preheated by heat of reaction within the reactor for exothermic reactions. This can constitute cross-pinch heat transfer. The feeds should be preheated to pinch temperature by heat recovery before being fed to the reactor. 

Figure 16.45 shows the grid diagram with a CP table for design below the pinch. Hot utility must not be used below the pinch, which means that cold streams must be heated to pinch temperature by recovery. Cold utility can be used, if necessary, on the hot streams below the pinch. Thus it is essential to match cold streams below the pinch with a hot partner. In addition, if the cold stream is at pinch conditions, the hot stream it is to be matched with also must be at pinch conditions otherwise, the AT in constraint will be violated. Figure 16.45 shows a design arrangement below the pinch that does not use temperature differences smaller than ATmin-... 

Turning now to the cold-end design, Fig. 16.6a shows the pinch design with the streams ticked off. If there are any cold streams below the pinch for which the duties eu e not satisfied by the pinch matches, additional process-to-process heat recovery must be used, since hot utility must not be used. Figure 16.66 shows an additional match to satisfy the residual heating of the cold streams below the pinch. Again, the duty on the unit is maximized. Finally, below the pinch the residual cooling duty on the hot streams must be satisfied. Since there are no cold streams left below the pinch, cold utility must be used (Fig. 16.6c). 

Example 16.1 The process stream data for a heat recovery network problem are given in Table 16.1. A problem table analysis on these data reveals that the minimum hot utility requirement for the process is 15 MW and the minimum cold utility requirement is 26 MW for a minimum allowable temperature diflFerence of 20°C. The analysis also reveals that the pinch is located at a temperature of 120°C for hot streams and 100°C for cold streams. Design a heat exchanger network for maximum energy recovery in the minimum number of units. 

By contrast, now consider part of a design below the pinch (Fig. 16.12a). Here, hot utility must not be used, which means that all cold streams must be heated to pinch temperature by heat recovery. There are now three cold streams and two hot streams in Fig. 16.12a. Again, regardless of the CP values, one of the cold streams cannot be heated to pinch temperature without some violation of the constraint. The problem can only be resolved by splitting a hot (a)... 

Exhaust gases from the gas turbine are used to raise steam in the lower cycle without the burning of additional fuel (Fig. 7.3) the temperatures of the gas and water/steam flows are as indicated. A limitation on this application lies in the heat recovery system steam generator choice of the evaporation pres.sure (p ) is related to the temperature difference (Tft — T ) at the pinch point as shown in the figure, and a compromise has to be reached between that pressure and the stack temperature of the gases leaving the exchanger, (and the consequent heat loss ). ... 

Figure 15.11 Heat-recovery diagram showing the pinch point...

Dual pressure For comparison, a combined cycle scheme with dual pressure is shown in Figure 15.13. In this case, the waste heat recovery boiler also incorporates a low-pressure steam generator, with evaporator and superheater. The LP steam is fed to the turbine at an intermediate stage. As the LP steam boils at a lower temperature than the HP steam, there exists two pinch points between the exhaust gas and the saturated steam temperatures. The addition of the LP circuit gives much higher combined cycle efficiencies with typically 15 per cent more steam turbine output than the single pressure for the same gas turbine. 

Identify loops that cross the pinch. The design for maximum heat recovery will usually contain loops. 

Figure 18.4b shows the grid diagram with CP-table for the design below the pinch. Hot utility must not be used below the pinch, which means that cold streams must be heated to pinch temperature by heat recovery. Cold utility... 

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