Simultaneous Synthesis of Processes with its Heat Exchanger Networks: P-graph Approach

Abstract

P-graph framework that was originally developed for processing network synthesis (PNS), has been extended to heat exchanger network synthesis (HENS). On the basis of the new formulation, PNS and HENS can be solved simultaneously by adapting the formerly developed P-graph algorithms. Therefore, the optimality of the overall synthesis procedure can be guaranteed, which is not possible for the traditional sequential procedures of PNS and HENS. The solution of a case study illustrates that the process structure determined by the simultaneous approach can be substantially different from the structure generated by the sequential approach, naturally, the former is the optimal solution.