PROCESS NETWORK SYNTHESIS FOR ENERGY AND COST MINIMIZATION USING THE P-GRAPH APPROACH

Increasing heat recovery in industry and household is the key point for reduced energy consumption. It can largely be achieved by improved efficiency of both process plants and equipment units. The optimal determination of the network structure with the processing equipment is the task of process network synthesis, which includes the integration of the process design with optimal heat integration. Since the selection of a process network during synthesis has major influence on the cost, the reliability, and the level of heat integration, these three items must be considered simultaneously in process synthesis, implementing more efficient heat transfer systems with enhanced design.  To achieve it, a general approach and modeling tool that simultaneously covers the cost, reliability, and level of heat integration targets is highly demanded for optimal process network design. The present paper discusses the optimal selection of heat exchange equipment of plate type for process network synthesis using P-graph approach.