Utility pinch

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.

Analogous effects are caused by the inappropriate use of utilities. Utilities are appropriate if they are necessary to satisfy the enthalpy imbalance in that part of the process. Above the pinch in Fig. 6.7a, steam is needed to satisfy the enthalpy imbalance. Figure 6.86 illustrates what happens if inappropriate use of utilities is made and some cooling water is used to cool hot streams above the pinch, say, XP. To satisfy the enthalpy imbalance above the pinch, an import of (Q mjj,+XP) is needed from steam. Overall, (Qcmin+AP) of cooling water is used. ... 

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... 

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. 

In a situation as shown in Fig. 6.12a, with the optimal AT in at the threshold, then there is no pinch. On the other hand, in a situation as shown in Fig. 6.126, with the optimum above the threshold value, there is a demand for both utilities, and there is a pinch. 

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... 

Figure 6.13 Threshold problems are turned into a pinch problem when additional utilities are added.

The overlap in the shifted curves as shown in Fig. 6.15a means that heat transfer is infeasible. At some point this overlap is a maximum. This maximum overlap is added as a hot utility to correct the overlap. The shifted curves now touch at the pinch, as shown in Fig. 6.156. Since the shifted curves just touch, the actual curves are separated by AT ,in at this point (see Fig. 6.156). 

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. 

Example 6.1 The flowsheet for a low-temperature distillation process is shown in Fig. 6.19. Calculate the minimum hot and cold utility requirements and the location of the pinch assuming AT, m = 5°C. 

Finally, the heat cascade is shown in Fig. 6.21. Figure 6.21a shows the cascade with zero hot utility. This leads to negative heat flows, the largest of which is -1.84 MW. Adding 1.84 MW from a hot utility as shown in Fig. 6.216 gives = 1.84 MW, Qcmm = 1-84 MW, hot stream pinch temperature =... 

Figure 6.33 shows a steam turbine integrated with the process above the pinch. Heat Qhp is taken into the process from high-pressure steam. The balance of the hot utility demand Qlp is taken... 

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. 

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. 

Figure 13.3 shows a process represented simply as a heat sink and heat source divided hy the pinch. Figure 13.3a shows the process with an exothermic reactor integrated above the pinch. The minimum hot utility can be reduced by the heat released by reaction, Qreact-... 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Let us now consider a few examples for the use of this simple representation. A grand composite curve is shown in Fig. 14.2. The distillation column reboiler and condenser duties are shown separately and are matched against it. Neither of the distillation columns in Fig. 14.2 fits. The column in Fig. 14.2a is clearly across the pinch. The distillation column in Fig. 14.26 does not fit, despite the fact that both reboiler and condenser temperatures are above the pinch. Strictly speaking, it is not appropriately placed, and yet some energy can be saved. By contrast, the distillation shown in Fig. 14.3a fits. The reboiler duty can be supplied by the hot utility. The condenser duty must be integrated with the rest of the process. Another example is shown in Fig. 14.36. This distillation also fits. The reboiler duty must be supplied by integration with the process. Part of the condenser duty must be integrated, but the remainder of the condenser duty can be rejected to the cold utility. 

Figure 16.4a shows the grid diagram with a CP table for design above the pinch. Cold utility must not be used above the pinch, which means that hot streams must be cooled to pinch temperature by recovery. Hot utility can be used, if necessary, on the cold streams above the pinch. Thus it is essential to match hot streams above the pinch with a cold partner. In addition, if the hot stream is at pinch conditions, the cold stream it is to be matched with must also be at... 

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. 

In Sec. 6.3 it was mentioned that some problems, known as threshold problems, do not have a pinch. They need either hot utility or cold utility but not both. How should the approach be modified to deal with the design of threshold problems ... 

The philosophy in the pinch design method was to start the design where it was most constrained. If the design is pinched, the problem is most constrained at the pinch. If there is no pinch, where is the design most constrained Figure 16.9a shows a threshold problem that requires no hot utility, just cold utility. The most constrained part of this problem is the no-utility end. Tips is where temperature differences are smallest, and there may be constraints, as shown in Fig. 16.96, where the target temperatures on some of the cold... 

Figure 16.10 shows another threshold problem that requires only hot utility. This problem is different in characteristic from the one in Fig. 16.9. Now the minimum temperature difference is in the middle of the problem, causing a pseudopinch. The best strategy to deal with this type of threshold problem is to treat it as a pinched problem. For the problem in Fig. 16.10, the problem is divided into two parts at the pseudopinch, and the pinch design method is followed. The only complication in applying the pinch design method for such problems is that one-half of the problem (the cold end in Fig. 16.10) will not feature the flexibility offered by matching against utility.

The pinch design method developed earlier followed several rules and guidelines to allow design for minimum utility (or maximum energy recovery) in the minimum number of units. Occasionally, it appears not to be possible to create the appropriate matches because one or other of the design criteria cannot be satisfied. 

Consider Fig. 16.11a, which shows the above-pinch part of a design. Cold utility must not be used above the pinch, which means... 

If there had been more cold streams than hot streams in the design above the pinch, this would not have created a problem, since hot utility can be used above the pinch. 

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)... 

Figure 16.10 Some threshold problems must be treated as pinched problems requiring essential matches at both the no-utility end and the pinch.

Example 16.2 A problem table analysis of a petrochemicals process reveals that for a minimum temperature difference of 50°C the process requires 9.2 MW of hot utUity, 6.4 MW of cold utility, and the pinch is located at 550°C... 

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