Synthesis and Retrofit of Multiperiod Heat Exchanger Networks Considering Heat Transfer Enhancement and Environmental Impact

Abstract

Heat transfer enhancement has been used to achieve lower heat transfer area and reduced utility requirements in heat exchanger network synthesis problems involving retrofit. This paper presents a technique for implementing heat transfer enhancements in both grassroot and retrofit heat exchanger network synthesis problems involving multiperiod operations. For the grassroot scenario, the approach adopted involves extending the stage-wise superstructure model for multiperiod heat exchanger network synthesis to accommodate various options of tube-side and shell-side heat transfer enhancement techniques. The extended model is then applied to a retrofit scenario using the reduced superstructure synthesis approach. The results obtained demonstrate the benefits of heat transfer enhancement through reduced operating costs in the grassroot and retrofit scenarios. For the grassroot scenario, the operating and capital costs obtained in this paper are 12.3% and 20% lower than solutions obtained using conventional non-enhanced synthesis methods, while for the retrofit scenario, solutions which compare favourably with literature solutions, and which has the potential to be more environment friendly by virtue of lower energy utilisation, are obtained.