Setting heat pumps correctly in a heat exchanger network can reduce the consumption of cold and hot utilities simultaneously and further enhance the energy utilization efficiency. Based on the pinch technology, this paper proposes an experiential method for designing a heat exchanger network with heat pumps. Economy and feasible operation of heat pumps are taken as constraints for identifying its optimal placement scenario in the Grand Composite Curve (GCC). Based on the optimal scenario, the corresponding cold and hot streams which exchange heat with heat pumps are determined according the stream properties. A case is studied to illustrate the applicability of the proposed method and the corresponding design of the heat exchanger network.
