Remodelling of heat exchanger networks integrating the temperature dependence of the calorific flows of the streams: Application to the hydrodesulphurization unit of a refinery

Abstract

The fight against global warming and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is now a major challenge for society and industry. In this context of decarbonization, combined with a rise in energy prices, the latter are seeking to equip themselves with energy diagnosis and decision support tools to redesign existing processes and thus contribute to greater efficiency. energy of their production site. Generally based on the principles of pinch analysis (Linnhoff and Sahdev, 2000), different approaches and resolution techniques are proposed in the literature to address this issue. Review articles such as (Klemeš et al., 2018), (Čuček et al., 2019) summarize them and highlight the advantages and limitations of each of them. The RREflex software, developed at the LGC for several years and tested on other processes including a crude oil preheating train (Payet et al., 2018), is one of the tools for carrying out the initial synthesis as well as the remodelling of networks of heat exchangers with the aim of improving the energy performance of existing processes.