Heuristic approach for heat exchanger networks

✍ Scribed by O. A. Hamed; S. Aly; E. Abu-Khousa

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 694 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0363-907X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-114x(199609)20:9<797::aid-er195>3.0.co;2-s

✦ Synopsis

A systematic approach based on few heuristics for the synthesis of optimum heat exchanger networks has been developed. The approach, which is simple and easy to apply, consists of three sequential steps. In the first pre-analysis step, the optimum temperature approach is determined. In this step, a set of heuristic constraints are used to determine minimum utility requirements. In the second step, heat exchanger networks are generated using the H/H heuristic of matching hot and cold streams. In the third step, the initially generated networks evolve through loop breaking and energy relaxation to achieve the target of the minimum number of units. The effectiveness of the approach developed has been tested on a number of literature test problems ranging in sue from four to ten streams and on an industrial case involving a recovery heat exchanger network around a topping tower. The approach produced simple network structures and improved energy recovery. The cost results obtained in this work agree favourably with optimal solutions reported in the literature.