Abstract
A change in the conditions of one stream affects the energy use of the overall plant. It is essential to understand this causality and find the optimum new conditions. Pinch technology provides an understanding by the use of process change analysis. Process changes save more energy at a shorter payback than additional heat exchangers. It involves either an alteration of operating conditions or a change in the process flowsheet to change the stream data, thus giving more opportunities for heat recovery—this reduces energy targets and gives simpler cheaper networks. They involve separation unit operations such as distillation and evaporation but may apply to any process stream. Process changes need to be investigated and checked in the early stages of targeting analysis, as they alter the stream data set and the resulting heat exchanger network. The “plus–minus principle” helps to show whether the changes are worthwhile.
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