Pinch below

Like distillation, the appropriate placement of evaporators and dryers is that they should be above the pinch, below the pinch, but not across the pinch. The grand composite curve can be used to assess appropriate placement quantitatively. 

Finally, Fig. 19A shows a below-pinch part of a problem. Cold Stream 3 has a CP of 0.7 and requires to be matched against a hot stream with a greater CP. Neither of the hot streams in Fig. 19A is large enough to satisfy the CP inequality. This time, the design problem is solved by splitting a cold stream into two branches, as shown in Fig. 19B. Now, the matches can be placed to satisfy the CP inequality required at the pinch, below the pinch. 

In the second class, the distillate is of high purity in low boiler. The rectification section operates at a reflux above minimum, while the stripping section may operate at minimum reboil. There is only one pinch, below the feed (Fig. 9.37). The concentration profile does not intersect the mass balance line, the pinch being shifted upwards to the right. This situation is characteristic for the first column in direct sequence. 

Fig. 6.7a. Above the pinch (in temperature terms), the process is in heat balance with the minimum hot utility Qnmin- Heat is received from hot utility, and no heat is rejected. The process acts as a heat sink. Below the pinch (in temperature terms), the process is in heat balance with the minimum cold utility Qcmin- No heat is received, but heat is rejected to cold utility. The process acts as a heat source.

Consider now the possibility of transferring heat between these two systems (see Fig. 6.76). Figure 6.76 shows that it is possible to transfer heat from hot streams above the pinch to cold streams below. The pinch temperature for hot streams for the problem is 150°C, and that for cold streams is 140°C. Transfer of heat from above the pinch to below as shown in Fig. 6.76 transfers heat from hot streams with a temperature of 150°C or greater into cold streams with a temperature of 140°C or less. This is clearly possible. By contrast. Fig. 6.7c shows that transfer from hot streams below the pinch to cold streams above is not possible. Such transfer requires heat being transferred from hot streams with a temperature of 150°C or less into cold streams with a temperature of 140°C or greater. This is clearly not possible (without violating the ATmin constraint). 

In choosing to transfer heat, say XP, from the system above the pinch to the system below the pinch, as shown in Fig. 6.8a, then above the pinch there is a heat deficit of XP. The only way this can... 

An alternative inappropriate use of utilities involves heating of some of the cold streams below the pinch by steam. Below the pinch, cooling water is needed to satisfy the enthalpy imbalance. Figure... 

In design, the same rules must be obeyed around a utility pinch as around a process pinch. Heat should not be transferred across it by process-to-process transfer, and there should be no inappropriate use of utilities. In Fig. 6.13a this means that the only utility to be used above the utility pinch is steam generation and only cooling water below. In Fig. 6.136 this means that the only utility to be used above... 

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. 

The process requires (Qup + Qlp) to satisfy its enthalpy imbalance above the pinch. If there were no losses from the boiler, then fuel W would be converted to shaftwork W at 100 percent efficiency. However, the boiler losses Qloss reduce this to below 100 percent conversion. In practice, in addition to the boiler losses, there also can be significant losses from the steam distribution system. Figure 6.336 shows how the grand composite curve can be used to size steam turbine cycles. ... 

Thus the appropriate placement of heat pumps is that they should be placed across the pinch. Note that the principle needs careful interpretation if there are utility pinches. In such circumstances, heat pump replacement above the process pinch or below it can be economic, providing that the heat pump is placed across a utility pinch. Such considerations are outside the scope of the present text. 

A refrigeration system is a heat pump in which heat is absorbed below ambient temperature. Thus the appropriate placement principle for heat pumps applies in exactly the same way as for refrigeration cycles. The appropriate placement for refrigeration cycles is that they also should be across the pinch. As with heat pumps, refrigeration cycles also can be appropriately placed across utility pinches. It is common for refrigeration cycles to be placed across a utility pinch caused by maximizing cooling water duty. 

Solution Figure 7.2 shows the stream grid with the pinch in place dividing the process into two parts. Above the pinch there are five streams, including the steam. Below the pinch there are four streams, including the cooling water. Applying Eq. (7.3),... 

Rgura 7.2 To target the number of units for pinched problems, the streams above and below the pinch must be counted separately, with the appropriate utilities included. 

By comparison, Fig. 13.36 shows an exothermic reactor integrated below the pinch. Although heat is being recovered, it is being recovered into part of the process which is a heat source. The hot utility requirement cannot be reduced because the process above the pinch needs at least Q//m-,n to satisfy its enthalpy imbalance. 

There is no obvious benefit from integrating an exothermic reactor below the pinch. The appropriate placement for exothermic reactors is above the pinch. ... 

By contrast. Fig. 13.46 shows an endothermic reactor integrated below the pinch. The reactor imports Qreact from part of the process that needs to reject heat. Thus integration of the reactor serves to reduce the cold utility consumption by Qreact- There is an overall reduction in hot utility because, without integration, the process and reactor would require (Qumin + Qreact) from the utility. 

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. 

Fig. 14.1a. The background process (which does not include the reboiler and condenser) is represented simply as a heat sink and heat source divided by the pinch. Heat Qreb is taken into the reboiler above pinch temperature and rejected from the condenser at a lower temperature, which is in this case below pinch temperature. Because the process sink above the pinch requires at least Q min to satisfy its...

If botb reboiler and condenser are integrated with the process, this can make the column difficult to start up and control. However, when the integration is considered more closely, it becomes clear that both the reboiler and condenser do not need td be integrated. Above the pinch the reboiler can be serviced directly from hot utility with the condenser integrated above the pinch. In this case the overall utility consumption will be the same as that shown in Fig. 14.16. Below the pinch the condenser can be serviced directly by cold utility with the reboiler integrated below the pinch. Now tlje overall utility consumption will be the same as that shown in Fig. 14.1c. 

If the distillation column will not fit either above or below the pinch, then other design options can be considered. One possibility is... 

Figure 16.3 shows the situation below the pinch at the pinch. If a cold stream is matched with a hot stream with a smaller CP, as shown in Fig. 16.3a (i.e., a steeper slope), then the temperature differences become smaller (which is infeasible). If the same cold stream is matched with a hot stream with a larger CP (i.e., a less steep slope), as shown in Fig. 16.36, then temperature differences become larger (which is feasible). Thus, starting with ATmin at the pinch, for temperature differences to increase moving away from the pinch,... 

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