Md Sudi R., Abdul Manan Z., Wan Alwi S.R., Lai Y.Q., 2021, A New Technique for Heat Exchanger Network Retrofit Using Individual Stream Heat Cascade Analysis, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 89, 319-324.
Rising energy demand and concern for environmental emissions have encouraged researchers to explore variety of methods for retrofit of heat exchanger networks (HEN). Current graphical and insight-based HEN retrofit methods have some common limitations. Most of the techniques may involve tedious graphical constructions, iterative calculations, or use of multiple diagrams to accomplish HEN retrofit. This paper introduces a new HEN retrofit method called the Individual Stream Heat Cascade Analysis (ISHCA) Technique. Within a single diagram called the Heat Cascade Table (HCT), ISCHA simultaneously show individual hot and cold streams heat allocation, identify the Pinch point and determine the minimum utility requirements to guide HEN retrofit that observes the Pinch design rules. Application of ISCHA technique on an illustrative case study shows reductions of 72 % hot utility and 66 % cold utility from the existing HEN. ISHCA combines numerical precision and efficiency with visualization insights to yield results that are comparable to other retrofit methods.
