Retrofitting of Large-Scale Heat Exchanger Networks within Total Sites under Uncertainty by Considering Trade-Offs between Investment and Operating Cost

Abstract

This contribution presents a developed procedure for retrofitting of large-scale heat exchanger networks within industrial plants and Total Sites by considering trade-offs between investment and operating costs. Investment cost includes costs for additional heat exchange areas and pipes at Total Site level, and operating cost (savings) includes energy savings due to reduced energy consumption and intermediate utility production, e.g. production of hot water for district heating. A transhipment-based framework TransGen for the energy targeting and retrofitting industrial plants and TSs has been developed for this purpose. Retrofitting of heat exchanger networks could be performed for problems of any size – from few heat exchange units up to hundreds of them. This procedure could be applied for both nominal designs under fixed conditions and under uncertain conditions for flexible designs by considering several scenarios. TransGen is illustrated on a simplified demonstration case study of two plants in order to clearly represent the features of the developed procedure.