Completely analyze energy-integrated processes

Journal Article · Mon Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Chemical Engineering Progress; (United States)

OSTI ID:6083042

Glavic, P; Novak, Z ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Moribor (Slovenia)

Pinch technology has established itself as a key tool to analyze and synthesize or retrofit energy-important parts of processes, for instance, heat exchanger networks (HENs), heat engines, separators, reactors, and heat pumps. For HENs, a grand composite curve (GCC) simultaneously represents heat sources like steam, and heat sinks like cooling water. The GCC also has been used for other pinch analyses, but all the energy-active process units have not been accounted for on a single GCC. There have been two reasons for this: 1. Units that are inappropriately placed against the pinch temperature cancel other streams in the GCC, thus giving a false picture of the energy cascading; and 2. Many units bypass the HEN and thus do not participate in the usual GCC--that is, energy is cascaded from energy sources directly to energy sinks, for instance, from a reactor to a boiler. One can overcome these two limitations by first eliminating all inappropriately placed process units from the GCC and then placing them in front of the GCC as additional composite curves together with adequate process utilities. The authors call this presentation the Extended Grand Composite Curve (EGCC). The EGCC thus is composed of a GCC that is extended with utility composite curves (UCCs). While the GCC represents indirect heat exchange (energy flows from hot utilities through the HEN to cold utilities), UCCs graphically reproduce direct heat exchange between energy sources and energy sinks. In such a manner, a simplified exergy (energy availability) analysis of the whole process is possible, as the authors will describe. The EGCC has the same advantages over traditional composite curves (CCs) that the GCC has. The extended pinch design method will be illustrated by the design of an ammonia plant, whose simplified process scheme is shown in a figure.

• OSTI ID: 6083042
• Journal Information: Chemical Engineering Progress; (United States), Journal Name: Chemical Engineering Progress; (United States) Vol. 89:2; ISSN 0360-7275; ISSN CEPRA8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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