No.

ofunitstarget Module:04 Lecture14

Module04:Targeting
Lecture14:No.ofunitstarget
KeyWords:HEN,Subset,Loop,Separatecomponent,MER design

Thefixedcostofaheatexchangernetwork(HEN)dependsuponthenumberofheatexchanger
itemploys.Thus,thereexistsapossibilitythataHENwithminimumno.ofheatexchangerwill
cost less. Thus there exists a strong incentive to reduce the number of heat exchangers (
matchesbetweenhotandcoldstreams)inaHEN.Thefirststeprequiredforthisprocessforits
initiation is to identify the number of heat exchangers a HEN will require from the number of
Hot,ColdandUtilitystreamsithandles.

Letusexplaintheproblemwithanexample.Fig.4.23showstheflowsheetofapalmoilrefinery
[1,2].

Fig.4.23Flowsheetofapalmoilrefinery
No.ofunitstarget Module:04 Lecture14
The flow sheet uses three heat exchangers, three coolers and four heaters making 10 units in
all.Nowthequestioniswhether10unitsaretheminimumnumberofunits,oradesignercan
reduceitwithouthamperingthefunctionalityoftheprocess?

ThestreamtablefortheaboveproblemisgiveninTable4.14:

Table4.14Streamdataforpalmoilrefinery(Fig.4.23)forT
min
=10C
Stream
SerialNo.
StreamType CP
(KW/K)
ActualTemperatures Enthalpy,H
kW
T
s
(
0
C) T
t
(
0
C)
1 Hot1 10.99 120 86 373.66
2 Hot2 6.04 260 160 604
3 Hot3 13.13 230 70 2100.8
4 Hot4 6.56 160 50 721.6
5 Cold1 11.83 50 97 556.01
6 Cold2 14.89 104 124 297.8
7 Cold3 5.69 86 230 819.36

PTAanalysisoftheproblemshowsthatitisathresholdproblemandneedsonlycoolingandno.
heating. The minimum cooling load required for the above system computed using PTA is
2126.89. The heat loads of different streams along with cold utility load is shown within the
circles representing the streams in Fig.4.24. The predicted cold utility load is also shown
similarly.

Coldutility
2126.89kW

Hot1
373.66
kW
Hot2
604kW
Hot3
2100.8
kW
Hot4
721.6
kW
Cold1
556.01
kW
Cold2
297.8
kW
Cold3
819.36
kW
721.6 97.76 297.8 306.2 249.81 123.85 2003.04
HX2 HX1 HX3 HX4 HX5 HX6 HX7
Fig.4.24Schematicmatchingofheatloadsforstreamtabledata,Table4.14
No.ofunitstarget Module:04 Lecture14

Note that the complete system is in enthalpy balance (i.e. the total load of cold streams plus
cold utility is equal to the total load of hot streams). If we presume that temperature
constraints will allow any match to be made between hot streams and cold streams including
cold utility, then we can match the whole of cold streams 3 (total 819.36 units) with Hot
streams3&4,leavingaresidualheatloadof2003.04unitsonHot3.MatchingHot3&Hot4
with Cold3 and maximizing the load on this match so that Cold3 & Hot4 is ticked off the
2003.4 residual heat available with Hot3 is sent to cold utility which requires 2126.89 units.
Cold2 is ticked off by matching with Hot2 leaving 306.2 units of heat in it. The remaining
heatinHot2alongwith249.81unitsofheatfromHot1ispassedtoCold1toTickitoff.This
leaves 123.85 units of heat with Hot1 which is passed to cold utility. This heat along with
2003.04 units of heat from Hot3 ticks off cold utility. So following the principle of maximizing
loads, that is ticking off stream or utility loads or residuals, leads to a design with a total of
seven matches (connections between streams and utilities show matches are denoted by HX
with a number). This is in fact is the minimum for this problem. Notice that it is one less than
thetotalnumberofstreamsplusutilitiesintheproblem.

Thusitcanbeshownthat:
u
min
=N1 .(4.8)

whereu
min
=minimumnumberofunits(includingheatersandcoolers)and
N=totalnumberofstreams(includingutilities)

No.ofunitstarget Module:04 Lecture14

Infact,itisusuallypossibleinheatexchangernetworkdesigntofindau
min
solution.However,
certain refinements to Eq.4.8 are required as discussed below to broaden its applicability. In
Fig.4.25 (a), problem having two hot streams ( H1 & H2), two cold streams(C1 & C2), Hot
utility(HU)andColdutility(CU)isshown.Inthiscase,

putting matches as before by ticking off loads or residuals leads to a design with N 1 units
which satisfy Eq.4.8 However, in Fig4.25(b) a design is revealed having one unit less. The
justification for the fact that the number is less than minimum is not hard to find. Even as
overalltheproblemisinenthalpybalance,thesubsetcontainingstreamsH2,C1andCUare
inenthalpy balance.SimilarlyHU,H1and C2areinenthalpybalance(thisisaknownfactas
the total problem is in load balance). This means that for the given stream data set we can
design two completely separate networks, employing the Eq.4.8 to each subset individually.
Thetotalnumberofunitsfortheoverallsystemistherefore(31)+(31)=4units,whichisone
lessthanfoundinFig.4.25(a).Thisconditioniscalledsubsetequality,thisappearswhenfora
given stream data set it is possible to identify two subsets which are separately in enthalpy
balanceandthuscanformseparatenetworks.Sincetheflowsheetdesigner,cancontrolofthe
quantityoftheheatloadsinhisplanttosomeextent,itispossibletochangetheheatloadsso
as to create subset equality and thus create an opportunity to save a unit. Finally, in
Fig.4.25(c)amatchingschemeisshownwhichrequiresoneunitmorethantheschemeshown
Loop
Fig.4.25Subsetandloopsduringmatching
HU
40
H1
80
H2
160
C1
90
C2
120
CU
70
40 80 90 70
(b)
HU
40
H1
80
H2
160
C1
90
C2
120
CU
70
Y 30Y 90 70
(c)
40Y 50+Y
HU
40
H1
80
H2
160
C1
90
C2
120
CU
70
50 40 30 90 70
(a) Matches=05 Matches=04
Matches=06
No.ofunitstarget Module:04 Lecture14
inFig.4.25(a),thenewextraunithasbeenintroducedasthematchbetweenHUandC2which
introduces a loop in the system. It is so because one can trace a closed path through the
networkstartingfrom,sayHU,theloopcanbetracedtoC1,fromC1toH1,fromH1toC2,
andfromC2backtoHU.Though,thepresenceoftheloopintroducesanelementofflexibility
into the design it increases number of units in the system. Suppose the new extra match,
betweenHUandC2,isassignedaloadofYunits,thenthroughenthalpybalance,theloadon
thematchbetweenHUandC1hastobe40Y,betweenC1andH1,50+Y,andbetweenH1
andC2,30Y.FromFig(c)itcanbeinstitutivelysaidthatYcanvaryfrom0toavalueof30.
WhenY=0thematchbetweenHUandC2vanishesandwhenitis30thematchbetweenH1
and C2 disappears. The flexibility introduced by loops is many times useful, particularly in
revampstudiesandcleaningoperations.

ThefeaturesdiscussedaboveandshowninFig.4.25(a),(b)&(c)canbeconvertedintoa
formulatocomputenumberofheatexchangeunits,usingtheEulersGeneralNetwork
theoremappliedtoheatexchangernetwork:

u
min
=N+LS (4.9)

where;
u=numberofheatexchangeunits(includingheatersandcoolers),
N=numberofstreams(includingutilities),
L=numberofindependentloops,and
S=numberofseparatecomponents

NormallyadesignerwanttoavoidextraunitsbyreducingLtozero.Unlessoneislucky,there
willbenosubsetequalityinthestreamdatasetandthusthevalueofswillbe1.Thisleadsto
thenumberofunitstargetingequation:

u
min
=N1 (4.8)

Inthedesignofheatexchangernetworkstechniquesdiscussedabovewillbeusedtoreducethe
number of heat exchangers by allowing small energy penalty at various sections of the
networkfortradingoffenergyagainstcapitalcost.

Examples:Afivestreamproblemistakenupcomputeno.ofunitstarget.

Table4.15Afivestreamproblemforno.ofunitstargetforT
min
=10C
Stream
Number
Stream
Type
Heat Capacity
FlowRate
Source
Temperature
Target
Temperature
H,kW
(kW/
0
C) (
0
C) (
0
C)
1 HOT1 147.74 70 10 8864.34
2 HOT2 165.85 60 33 4478
3 COLD1 50 57 60 150
4 COLD2 215 41 60 4085
5 COLD3 194.74 10 30 4479

UsingPTAtheminimumhotandcoldutilitiesarecomputedasgivenbelow:
No.ofunitstarget Module:04 Lecture14

Hotutility(HU) =822.61kW
Coldutility(CU) =5450.95kW
HotPinchTemp. =60C
Coldpinchtemp. =50C

FromthetableitappearsthatiftheheatloadofCold3canbebroughtdownto4478thereisa
chanceforsubsetequalityresultingS=2andtherebydecreaseofno.ofunitsbyone.Forthis
case:N=7(includingHUandCUstreams);L=0andS=2

u
min
=N+LS=7+02=5

IfsubsetequalityisnotcreatedthenN=7,L=0andS=1.Forthiscase

No.ofunitsare:

u
min
=7+01=6

Targeting for the minimum number of units for a MER design

HoweveriftheaboveequationEq.4.8isappliedtoamaximumenergyrecovery(MER)design
the results will be somewhat different. For this purpose the problem of Table 4.15 is
considered. In a MER design the pinch divides the problem into two heat balanced regions.
Since these balanced regions are independent, numbers of units targeting should be applied
separatelytoeachregionasshownbelow:

No.ofunitstarget Module:04 Lecture14

Fig.4.26showsthestreamlayoutaboveandbelowthepinch.

Thustotalu
min
forthenetwork=3+4=7

IfPinchdivisionisnotconsideredthenno.ofstreamsincludinghotandcoldutilitiesis=7,
S=1andL=0.

Thus,thetotalno.ofunitsfornonMERdesign=u
min
=7+01=6

Thusitcanbeprovedthatu
min
u
min
MER

ThenumberofunitsobtainedintargetingfortheMERdesignismorethatu
min
duetothefact
thatstreamsthatcrossthepincharecountedtwiceinMERdesign.Theconclusionisthatthere
isatradeoffbetweenenergyrecoveryandnumberofunitsemployedinaMERdesign.Howto
reduceno.ofunitsinaMERdesignwillbeexplainedwhenMERdesignwillbediscussed.

Fig.4.26Processhotandcoldstreamsandutilitystreaminaboveandbelowpinch
1
2
3
4
5
70C 10C
33C
33C
57C 60C
60C
10C
60C
41C
HotPinch=60C ColdPinch=50C
HU
CU
AbovePinch BelowPinch
U
min
=41=3
U
min
=51=4
No.ofunitstarget Module:04 Lecture14

References
1. K.K.Trivedi,E.Fouche,K.E.Parmenter,ProcessEnergyEfficiency:PinchTechnologyin
HandbookofEnergyEfficiencyandRenewableEnergy,CRCPress,BocaRaton,2007,pp.
1511530.
2. SharifahR.WanAlwi,ZainuddinA.Manan,STEPAnewgraphicaltoolfor
simultaneoustargetinganddesignofaheatexchangernetwork,ChemicalEngineering
Journal162(2010)106121