Applied Thermal Engineering 129 (2018) 772–781

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

The application of the Pinch method for the analysis of the heat
exchangers network in a ventilation system of a building

tė, Violeta Motuzienė, Ke˛stutis Valančius ⇑
Violeta Misevičiu
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio ave. 11, Vilnius, LT-10223, Lithuania

h i g h l i g h t s

Dependence of energy and exergy demand for heating of air on outdoor temperature is analysed.

The Pinch method is applied for a HEN of a building’s ventilation system for the first time.

Results show 26% energy and 45% exergy savings after system‘s integration.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Intensive use of energy is related to the inefficient use of processes in building engineering systems. In
Received 19 May 2017 well-insulated non-residential buildings ventilation systems are among the most energy intensive
Revised 24 August 2017 HVAC systems. The main components of an energy (and exergy) efficient ventilation system are heat
Accepted 8 October 2017
exchangers. The paper presents the analysis of process integration possibilities in a ventilation system.
Available online 16 October 2017
Only air heating for ventilation purposes is analysed. The method of Pinch technology, mostly used for
industrial process integration, is adopted for a ventilation system of a building for the first time. In the
Keywords:
paper, several different cases of integration are analysed by using actual BMS data of a shopping centre.
Pinch
Ventilation
The results confirmed that process integration influences the thermodynamic efficiency of the system
Air heating and that integrated systems consume less energy and exergy in comparison with the non-integrated
Process integration ones. The case study shows that the seasonal energy demand of the system before integration is 26%
Heat exchangers higher compared to integrated system and the exergy demand is 45% higher.
Exergy Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Energy

1. Introduction ger/exchangers (HE), as one of the main energy saving measures.

Buildings represent 40% of the European Union’s final energy
consumption. HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) sys-
tems of buildings consume half of the EU’s energy and much of it is
wasted. Renewables accounted just for 18% of the primary energy
supply for heating and cooling in 2012, while fossil fuels accounted
for 75% [1]. During the whole building’s life cycle, up to 60–90% of
primary energy [2–4] is consumed in building’s HVAC systems.
Therefore, actions are required to tap the considerable potential
for higher energy savings in buildings [5].
Ventilation systems are one of the most energy-intensive HVAC
systems, especially in tight and well-insulated non-residential
buildings, where energy demand for heating is very low. Ventila-
tion systems are typically equipped with heat air-to-air exchan-
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: violeta.miseviciute@vgtu.lt (V. Misevičiu
tė), violeta.motuzie-
ne@vgtu.lt (V. Motuzienė), kestutis.valancius@vgtu.lt (K. Valančius).
HE performance directly influences the total efficiency of the
whole system; therefore, these elements need a more precise anal-
ysis. Traditional analysis methods are no longer sufficient for this
purpose. Better energy use indicators in a building’s HVAC system
network equipped with HE may be achieved through process inte-
gration (Pinch analysis).
Depending on the application area, different definitions of pro-
cess integration may be found [6–8], etc. In these studies, process
integration is described as an action aimed at joining the streams
of different building engineering systems. In Pinch analysis, the
resource requirement is minimised by utilising existing sources
to the maximum to meet the demands while satisfying some qual-
ity constraints [9]. This methodology is widely applied in the opti-
misation of various industrial processes e.g., it was applied in
conventional production of canned mushrooms [10], where three
alternative process schemes were analysed. The pinch analysis
indicated that via more elaborated heat exchange under pinch,
the required heating and cooling utility need can be minimized

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.10.051
1359-4311/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

tė et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 129 (2018) 772–781
V. Misevičiu
up to 52% less heating and 81% less cooling compared to current
use of those resources. The other example - the pinch analysis
application in an industrial milk evaporator has shown 78% of
potential savings of steam at the expense of 16% more electricity
use [11]. Options of energy savings by using integrated heat recov-
ery in a typical integrated steel plant, using pinch analysis are
shown in [12]. Energy generation (heat, electricity, heat and elec-
tricity) systems are also among the most commonly integrated
[13–16]. Pinch analysis can be applied even for allocating different
energy sources to different demands of a certain region (case study
in India) [17]. Recently it has been often used to optimise the inte-
gration of renewables in industrial and other processes: geother-
mal energy [18], solar thermal systems [19–21]. It can also be
applied for carbon capture systems [22,23]. To make process inte-
gration easier, the FI2EPI: A heat management tool for process
integration [24] has been developed. It also enables making heat
exchangers network (HEN) process integration diagrams.
Despite the fact that this method is also applicable in non-
industrial buildings, there is a lack of studies related to Pinch anal-
ysis application in building engineering systems (HVAC – heating,
ventilation and air conditioning). These systems have one peculiar-
ity: in comparison to industrial or energy generation systems, their
modes are related to variable outdoor air parameters.
Process integration is necessary for HVAC systems in buildings
as there is potential to create combinations of existing and new
systems that use natural resources more efficiently from the
energy quality point of view, i.e. thermodynamic efficiency has
potential to be increased. From the viewpoint of energy transfor-
mation, thermal processes are inefficient [25]. They use streams
of relatively high temperatures (up to 100°C) for the processes per-
formed, whereas the same result may be obtained using streams
with lower parameters. According to the frequency of process inte-
gration, thermal processes are commonly integrated [17,25](as
mentioned above, mainly in industry). For example, in the study
by Gandiglio et al. [26] the heat exchanger network of a micro-
cogeneration system was optimised following the Pinch analysis
method, and the floor heating system was sized accordingly. Pinch
technology was also applied in a hospital, where the potential of
thermal power savings was assessed equal to 38% [27].
To summarise the literature review, it can be stated that there
exists a demand for the increase of energy efficiency in HVAC sys-
tems of buildings, especially ventilation, and that the Pinch method
is universal and may be applied in the analysis of a heat exchanger
network in HVAC systems of a building.
The main goal of this work is to evaluate the possibilities of
applying the Pinch method of process integration in order to define
and improve the thermodynamic efficiency of a ventilation system
in a non-industrial building as well as to assess the potential
exergy and energy savings.
2. Methodology
Systematic, thermodynamic (exergy) and process integration
(Pinch) methods were applied in this study. Systematic analysis
enables defining the elements in a system and their interconnec-
tions. Exergy analysis allows performing a thermodynamically-
based assessment of different quality of energy. The analysis of
process integration (Pinch analysis) permits to use the procedures
applied in industrial processes to define a thermodynamically opti-
mal HEN. In this study, for the first time the Pinch method was
applied in order to optimise heat recovery in the heat exchanger
network of a ventilation system to find the combination of streams
and to integrate the processes in building engineering systems.
Pinch analysis is a complex process performed in several steps
(see Fig. 1) to construct an energy-efficient HEN.
773
Each step is further described in detail in Sections 2.1–2.5.
As the base case, a ventilation system with heat recovery was
chosen for the analysis. Ventilation systems with plate or rotary
heat exchangers are most commonly used in practice. Schemes
used for heat recovery with run-around coil heat exchanger are
less common, but they have the advantage of using waste heat
(at the bottom in Fig. 2a and b) and have been studied.
The analysed air handling unit (AHU) of a ventilation system
(Fig. 2) supplies and extracts air for 1392 persons (50,100 m3/h)
in an office building (D).
Both AHU consist of heat transfer devices – three heat exchang-
ers (X, Y and Z) (Fig. 2). The inlet (Q+) and outlet (Q-) heat streams
in the analysed system are presented in Fig. 2 as well. Outdoors is
denoted by O (Fig. 2). The outdoor air, supplied and extracted to/
from the building and exhausted by the AHU is respectively
denoted by green, blue, yellow and brown arrows (Fig. 2).
The reliability of the obtained data is one of the conditions
required in the Pinch analysis (Fig. 1). This data may be obtained
from the climatic and building management systems (BMS) if the
existing system is explored. The unknown data may be evaluated
by the heat balance equation. In this study, the data gained from
the BMS system of an existing commercial building was used.
The proper data required for the Pinch analysis is presented in
Fig. 3.
Fig. 2a represents a non-integrated scheme of ventilation pro-
cesses in which the run-around coil heat exchanger (X-Y) is
replaced with a rotary heat exchanger. The temperatures of heat
transfer mediums in this system are known from the BMS (Fig. 4).
This system uses a heat transfer fluid determined in the heat
substation. Its parameters (supplied (TE1) and recovered (TE8)
temperatures) vary depending on the outdoor temperature. There
are also fairly high temperatures typical of conventional building
engineering systems. (Fig. 4) also provides the temperatures accu-
mulated by BMS, supplied to the room (TE2) and extracted from
the room (TE3) and their dependencies on the outdoor tempera-
ture BMS data of the existing commercial building indoor climate
systems for analysis were accumulated throughout the year. Each
temperature presented in Fig. 4 has been stored each 15 minutes
(96 times per day), the average value for the calculations has been
estimated and used for the analysis.
2.1. Step 1 – Identification of hot and cold streams in processes and
obtaining the data of thermal processes
The first step of the Pinch analysis is determining, in active sys-
tems, or forecasting, in newly designed systems, the existing or
planned streams of hot and cold heat transfer fluids. The type of
the stream is determined by its initial (supply) and final (target)
temperatures: if the supply temperature of the heat transfer fluid
is lower than the final temperature, then the stream is considered
to be cold (C); else, it is considered to be hot (H). A cold stream
means a stream that has to be heated up; meanwhile a hot stream
has to be cooled down.
Having determined the supply and target temperatures of
streams, a ventilation system with a rotary recuperator was anal-
ysed in order to apply the Pinch analysis. Separate lines in
(Fig. 5) depict two hot (H1, H2) streams and one cold (C1) stream.
These streams could participate in heat transfer, for example, in
exchangers between (H1–C1) and/or (H2–C1). Hot stream H1
would correspond with the cooled air extracted and exhausted
from the building while H2 would correspond with the residual
thermal stream, retrieved from the heating system or available
for use that is used to heat the air up to the required temperature
in order to be supplied to the building. Cold stream (C1) is the out-
door air that has to be heated up to the required temperature in
order to be supplied to the building.
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V. Misevičiu
STEP 1 STEP 2
Identification of hot Choosing the initial
and cold streams in Δtmin value
processes;
obtaining the data
of thermal
processes
Fig. 2. Schemes of the analysed ventilation systems.
Fig. 3. Data required for the analysis of process integration.
Having listed the temperatures, separate lines denoting the
streams were drawn on the y-axis by depicting each stream indi-
vidually. Hot streams are depicted from right to left while cold
streams are reversed (Fig. 5). (Fig. 5) shows a case with two hot
and one cold stream where their temperatures are also denoted.
H1 is a gas stream of air extracted from the room that heats up
the incoming outdoor air which corresponds with the gas stream
C1. H1 cools down to 16 °C; H2 is a hot liquid stream with the sup-
ply temperature of 30 °C that heats the air supplied to the room up
to 20 °C. The supply temperature of C1 is 7 °C, equal to the outdoor
temperature (which is the typical annual outdoor temperature). In
addition to the aforementioned temperatures, each stream is
defined by its thermal capacity (CP), resulting from the product
STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 5
Formation of Determination of Determination of Designing the HEN
composite and the optimal Δt min real HE
grand composite value construction
curves indicators
Fig. 1. Steps of the Pinch analysis.
of the specific heat of the stream (cp) and the mass flow rate (M)
(Fig. 3).
2.2. Step 2 – Choosing the initial DTmin value
Having determined the streams, the minimal temperature dif-
ference was chosen. The minimal temperature difference (DT^ min )
is defined as the difference that should remain as adopted and
no lower than at both ends of the designed heat exchanger. Several
recommendations on how to choose the minimal temperature dif-
ference are listed in [25,29]. The first method is based on the phys-
ical state of streams while the second method is based on the type
of processes in which the streams are involved. With regards to the
physical state of streams, Kemp [25] suggests using the following
minimal temperature differences: 10 °C, 15 °C and 20 °C for liquid,
liquid/gas and gas streams, respectively. Meanwhile, when the
temperature difference is selected using the second method, this
difference varies from 10 °C to 20 °C for chemical processes and
processes that take place in chemical petroleum products and from
3 °C to 5 °C for low temperature processes. Half of this minimum
temperature difference is subtracted from the values of supply
and target temperatures of each hot stream while half of this dif-
ference is added to the respective temperatures of cold streams.
Thus shifted temperatures for the streams are obtained, deter-
mined in accordance with Eq. (1):
DT^ min
T^ 0k ¼ T^ k  ; ð1Þ
2
where T^ 0k – shifted by 1/2DT^ min supply (target) temperature of
the k stream, (°C); T^ k – supply (target) temperature of the k stream,
(°C); DT^ min – minimal temperature difference (°C).
Based on the lines of streams (Fig. 5), temperature intervals
were determined and the values of the capacity in the determined
temperature intervals are calculated respectively in accordance
with Eq. (2):
X X 
DQ i ¼ ðT^ 0i  T^ 0iþ1 Þ  CP H  CP C ; ð2Þ
i
where T^ 0i – shifted by 1/2DT^ min temperature of the i stream, (°C);
T^ 0 – shifted by 1/2DT^ min temperature of the i+1 interval, (°C); RCPH
iþ1
– the sum of thermal capacities of hot streams in the i interval, (kW/
°C); RCPC – the sum of thermal capacities of cold streams in the i
interval, (kW/°C).
Temperature intervals were obtained by listing temperatures,
derived from appropriately modifying the supply and target tem-
peratures of streams depicted in Fig. 5, in descending order
(Fig. 6, left). In this case, the shifted supply and target temperatures
of streams were obtained by selecting the minimum temperature
difference of 15 °C since both liquid and gaseous streams were
used. The streams (H1, H2, C1, and C2) are depicted starting from
the value of the temperature interval which corresponds with
the supply modified temperature of the respective stream and ends
at the temperature that corresponds with the target shifted tem-
perature of the stream.
Problem table algorithm is presented in Fig. 6.

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V. Misevičiu 775

380

Heat transfer medium temperature, K

TE2 TE3 TE1 TE8
Linear (TE2) Linear (TE3) Linear (TE1) Linear (TE8)

360

340

320

300

280
240 250 260 270 280 290 300
Outdoor air temperature, K

Fig. 4. Data distribution of the system by the outdoor temperature – BEMS data [28]

PH11=16.70 kW/°C
CP C
T , °C
C CP
PH22=14.61 kW/°C
C
CP
PC11=16.70 kW/°C
C
500
400
300 300
H22
222 222
200 H1 200
166 C1
100 7

0 755 1500 2255 3000 Q, kW

W

Fig. 5. Lines denoting separated hot and cold streams.

Fig. 6. Intervals of shifted temperatures, distribution of streams and their capacities.

In each resulting shifted temperature interval (column 1 in DT^ min

Fig. 6), capacities of streams were determined in accordance with
Eq. (1) (column 7 in Fig. 6). Once the zero value were entered next
to the highest temperature that marks the beginning of the inter-
val, the capacities in the temperature intervals were totalled up.
The lowest absolute value of capacity (shaded gray in Fig. 6) was
added to capacities obtained for each temperature interval. The
lower temperature in the temperature interval in which the capac-
ity equals zero (the zero value in column 10 in Fig. 6) is the value of
the Pinch defined by temperature. In this case it corresponded with
14.5 °C. The obtained Pinch temperature has not been directly used
in calculations because it is unfavourable for heat exchange to take
place. Temperatures of the Pinch for hot streams (PH) and the
Pinch point for cold streams (PC), derived from Eqs. (3) and (4),
were used instead.
DT^ min
T^ PH ¼ T^ P þ ; ð3Þ
2 ture because it would require moving the curves both vertically
T^ PC ¼ T^ P  ; ð4Þ
2
where T^ PH – Pinch temperature for hot streams, (°C); T^ PC – Pinch
temperature for cold streams, (°C); T^ P – Pinch temperature, (°C);
DT^ min – minimal temperature difference, (°C).
In this case, these temperatures corresponded with 22 °C ir 7 °C,
i.e. the result derived from adding and subtracting 7.5 °C (half of
the minimum temperature difference) from the Pinch temperature
(14.5 °C).
The top and bottom numeric values in Fig. 6 (column 6) indicate
the minimum capacities of additional heating and cooling equip-
ment, respectively. They are necessary when streams are insuffi-
ciently cooled down (or heated up) to required temperatures.
The aforementioned process of determining the Pinch temperature
is only one of the ways to find it. Without modifying temperatures
graphically, it would be difficult to determine the Pinch tempera-
and horizontally until they intersect as depicted in Fig. 7.
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V. Misevičiu

2.4. Step 4 – Determination of optimal Dtmin value and real HE

construction indicators

Based on the results of previous calculations, minimal addi-

Fig. 7. Curves representing shifted hot and cold streams and their intersection –
Pinch temperature.
2.3. Step 3 – Formation of composite and grand composite curves
Another graphic method is forming composite curves of hot and
cold streams (dashed and dotted lines) (Fig. 7) out of separate lines
of respective streams (Fig. 5).
The top continuous line denotes the shifted composite curve of
hot streams while the bottom continuous line denotes the shifted
composite curve of cold streams. In Fig. 7, the Pinch was marked
where these lines intersect.
Graphically the Pinch is obtained by drawing the composite
curves of cold and hot flows (dashed and dotted lines, Fig. 7) and
by shifting their position vertically with regards to the y-axis until
the minimal distance between them corresponds with the selected
minimal temperature difference. This method is inconvenient,
thus, in order to achieve a more convenient depiction and calcula-
tion of results, we used temperature modification and drew a
grand composite curve (Fig. 8).
Fig. 8 depicts the grand composite curve of streams which
shows the required minimum capacity of additional equipment
(heaters (Qhmin) and coolers (Qcmin)) and the Pinch temperature.
30
Qhmin
25
20
PTPinch
Temperature, °C
tional capacities of heating and cooling were determined under
minimal temperature differences (Fig. 9).
Fig. 9 shows the capacities of heating and cooling equipment as
well as Pinch temperatures for cold and hot streams when the min-
imal temperature difference varies from 5 °C to 30 °C. As seen in
Fig. 9, when the minimal temperature difference increases, the
capacity of the necessary additional heating or cooling equipment
increases as well. This in turn contributes to the decrease of heat
recovery capacity. Lines that denote the capacity of additional
equipment coincide (Fig. 9).
Vertical lines (Fig. 9) denote the boundaries of the minimal tem-
perature difference. Next to 15 °C, the recommended minimal tem-
perature difference is denoted according to the states of streams
used in industrial processes. The 5 °C boundary is the minimal
temperature difference applied in chemical processes. The minimal
capacity of additional equipment and the maximal recoverable
thermal capacity depend on the chosen value of the temperature
difference.
2.5. Step 5 – Designing the HE network
Once the data provided in Fig. 9 was collected, we compiled a
scheme of a heat exchanger network as shown in Fig. 10.
At the top-left corner of Fig. 10 (above the horizontal dashed
line) hot streams are depicted from left to right (H1, H2) while at
the bottom-right corner (below the horizontal dashed line) the
cold stream is depicted from right to left (C1). The vertical dashed
line denotes Pinch temperatures for both hot (PTH) and cold (PTC)
streams. The initial heat exchanger network (shown as intercon-
nected circles) could be the one that is shown in the depicted rect-
angular (Fig. 10). Roman numerals at the top denote the number of
the heat exchanger while the numbers at the bottom show their
capacities. Such notation is further used in this paper when com-
piling heat exchanger networks and indicating the number of heat
exchangers.
The available flows (H1, H2 and C1) and their initial tempera-
tures are provided in small rectangular elements of the scheme.
The target temperatures can be either obligatory or optional (soft).
The former have to be maintained strictly while the latter do not
have to strictly correspond with the values determined at the
beginning of the analysis. These temperatures are important due
to the fact that additional heating or cooling equipment does not
necessarily have to be scheduled to be installed in order to achieve
these temperatures. Soft temperatures are denoted by bold, itali-

cised numbers (Fig. 11). The features of recuperators used in ven-

tilation systems are closely related to these temperatures. Three
15
out of four temperatures related to the efficiency determined by
a recuperator are obligatory. While the fourth could be soft, due
to the thermal balance it becomes obligatory.
10 In some cases, heat exchangers that operate only due to avail-
Qcmin able streams are not sufficient to achieve the temperatures
required by processes. Because of this, additional heating (H) or
cooling (C) equipment may have to be installed (depicted in
5 shaded areas at the top-right and bottom-left corners of Fig. 10).
Columns at the top-left corner of Fig. 10 denote the thermal
capacity of the stream (CP). Columns at the bottom-left denote
0 the capacity of the stream below Pinch temperature.
0 50 100 150 As mentioned before, supplemental heating (H) and cooling (C)
equipment can be left untested when the temperature required by
Capacity, kW
the process is optional, i.e. there is no need to achieve it.
Fig. 8. Grand composite curve, Pinch temperature, minimal heating and cooling On the basis of Fig. 10, the first stage of designing a heat exchan-
capacities. ger network begins at the vertical dashed line. As a result of the

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V. Misevičiu 777

40 250

Capacity of additional equipment, kW

35

Pinch temperature, °C
200
30
25 150
20
15 100
10
50
5
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Minimal temperature difference, °C

PH, °C
PC, °C
Capacities of additional heating equipment, kW
Capacities of additional cooling equipment, kW

Fig. 9. Dependency of Pinch analysis indicators on DT^ min .

selected. The cases discussed further involve heat transfer fluids

that are heated and those that are not.
In practice, air handling units that use intermediary heat trans-
fer fluids are selected regardless of how efficiently the additional,
waste, heat located in other building services/technologic pro-
cesses will be used. Air handling units that use heat recovery unit
with intermediary heat transfer mediums were selected for the
analysis in order to assess the potential of integrating thermal
streams into various building engineering services. Usually, the
Fig. 10. Principal scheme of Pinch analysis for processes integration – net diagram air is additionally heated up by using a heat transfer fluid supplied
of heat exchangers network. from a heat exchanger located in the heat substation or by an elec-
tric heater.
Table 1 lists the analysed cases for the scheme shown in Fig. 2b
Pinch analysis, in addition to the minimal capacity of additional when various streams of heat waste from the building are used for
equipment (Fig. 9) the maximal retrievable heat recovery capacity process integration. The assumptions of the calculations are as
(QR) was also determined, showing the amount of thermal energy follows:
that can be recovered by designing heat exchangers in a system.

the temperature of air supplied to the room is 20 °C; the tem-
perature of the air extracted from the room is 22 °C;

heat gains are not assessed;
2.6. Utilisation of potentially available and waste heat streams in

the air that enters the air handling unit should be heated up to
process integration of the ventilation system
at least 11 °C (end temperature of the heat transfer medium)
since otherwise, a cooling recovery process would take place
When analysing the possibilities of integrating waste hot
instead of heat recovery. Also, the selected temperature should
streams into a building, three cases regarding AHU that use heat
be above the highest possible temperature of the cold period.
recovery unit with an intermediary heat transfer medium were

CP, kW/°C CP, kW/°C

Q, kW Q, kW 38.1 °C
60 °C
°C
16.70 60.00 H1 16.00 16.70 O
E D
22.00 IV
16 °C 22 °C
0.00 100.20

16
16.63
63 H2 11.00 16
16.63
63
17 °C

23.00
0.00 199.50
49.95
8.40 H3 38.13 8.40 II
60.00
11 °C

0.00 183.70
14.95 50 °C
16.70 55.00 20.00 I III C1 16.70 23 °C
84.4 199.5 3.00 I
III
0.00 283.90 3 °C 20 °C
17.03 15 °C
16.63 23.00 II IV C2 16.63
99.3 100.2 11.00
0.00 199.50

Fig. 11. Heat exchanger network and scheme of AHU with a run-around coil heat exchanger, process integration using the supplied heat stream.
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tė et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 129 (2018) 772–781
V. Misevičiu
Table 1
Description of cases of using waste heat flows for process integration.
Case Definition Initial temperature of the
waste heat stream (°C)
1 Air streams circulating in the ventilation 60
system and the heat transfer fluid
stream supplied to the heating system
are used
2 Air streams from the ventilation system 50
and an additional stream of heat
transfer fluid recovered from the
heating system are used
3 Air streams from the ventilation system, 50 and 40
heat transfer fluid stream recovered
from the heating system and warm
water from the technologic process are
used
Additional streams have consistent or variable temperatures
that are typical of them. These streams are used without paying
for them and in most cases they are not used at all. Lately, heat
supply companies have shown interest in returning heat transfer
fluids with low-temperature parameters to heat supply networks,
so lower prices of heat used in such a way may be expected.
3. Results of the integration of waste heat streams into the
ventilation system
When assessing the opportunities to integrate processes into
the ventilation system when the waste heat streams of the heat
transfer fluid returned from the heating system of the same build-
ing are used, we assumed that the capacity of the heating system
installed in the analysed building is about 200 kW. The heating
system was selected in order to assess how heat transfer fluids
used in it can be used to integrate processes in an AHU. The tem-
peratures of the supplied and recovered heat transfer fluid were
selected in accordance with the method of calculating the qualita-
tive regulation schedule of heat transfer fluids.
The results of process integration, obtained by using the poten-
tial and waste heat streams are provided in Table 1. The resulting
schemes of air handling units are shown in Figs. 11–13.
A heat exchanger network, suitable and optimal for heat recu-
peration that takes place in ventilation systems, can be designed
by joining heat exchangers located in various building engineering
systems.
By using two waste heat streams (Fig. 13), i.e. by avoiding the
conventional method (heating the air with a heat transfer fluid
supplied to the heat substation), heat transfer fluids with lower
parameters are used which in turn leads to lower amounts of
energy and exergy spent on heating the air. Fig. 13 depicts schemes
at outdoor air temperature of 3 °C, at which the highest demand for
exergy [28] is achieved, considering the fact that the total thermal
conductivity of heat exchangers is the lowest. It is also important
to consider the fact that outdoor temperatures below or above this
temperature will result in a different heat demand since it depends
on climatic conditions. Heat demand can be compensated in two
ways: by modifying the parameters of heat transfer fluids or by
designing additional heaters in the air handling units. The heat that
has to be compensated at various ambient temperatures as well as
the changes in the initial and end temperatures of heat supply
transfer fluid are depicted in Fig. 14.
The lack of heat demand has to be compensated. For this pur-
pose, additional heating equipment that uses either water or elec-
tricity can be employed. A heat transfer fluid from heat supply
networks could be used for that, the temperatures of which are
shown in Fig. 14. Assuming that the recuperator may heat up the
air up to 12 °C, the air is heated up to the required temperature
in the heater where, by modifying the heat transfer fluid tempera-
ture, the proper temperature of air can be ensured. The distance
between the horizontal continuous line and the dashed line
(Fig. 14) represents the heat demand shortage that can be compen-
sated by using a combination of temperatures or flow rate of the
heat transfer fluid supplied and returned from the heat supply
network.
The qualitative method of heat network regulation, the modifi-
cation of the heat transfer fluid temperature according to the graph
provided in Fig. 14 and the quantitative regulation method to
change the system flow rate (as shown in Fig. 14) could compen-
sate the heat shortage. A combination of qualitative and quantita-
tive methods can also cover this shortage.
It was assumed that heat exchangers denoted by III and I in
Fig. 11, I and III in Fig. 12 and III and IV in Fig. 13 are used to elim-
inate the required temperature difference (i.e. heating from 3 °C to
20 °C).
The recuperator should warm the air up by 12 °C (from 3 °C to
15 °C) and the air would reach the required 20 °C in the heater. At
different outdoor air temperatures, the air would respectively be
heated up by 12 °C more than the air temperature at the time.
For example, if the outdoor air temperature is 23 °C, the air in
the recuperator heats up to 11 °C, up to 6 °C in the hear exchan-
ger (heater). To reach the required room temperature of 20 °C it
has to be heated up by 26 °C which would require a heater of a
434 kW capacity.
When choosing an air handling unit with the heat recuperation
feature, one should take into account the fact that the equipment
running in maximum mode for a short period time at the designed
outdoor air temperature for winter which lasts for a few days only
will not run efficiently. Thus it is recommended to assess the com-
bination of the amounts of the heat streams available in other
building engineering systems as well as the parameters, thermal
conductivity and price at the typical temperatures and to deter-
mine when the maximum amount of exergy is most likely to be
used.
4. Analysis of energy and exergy demand for integrated
processes
In order to assess how process integration affects the energy
and exergy demand for air handling units that use different recu-
perators, the obtained results [28] were compared to the energy
and exergy demand shown in Fig. 15 that was obtained before
and after process integration. It became evident that before the
integration, the seasonal energy demand was 1.26 times higher
than that calculated after the integration.
The energy and exergy demand was assessed for the case of
qualitative regulation being applied to the heat transfer fluid. At
the outdoor temperature of 23 °C, the energy demand before
the integration was 1.25 times higher than that after the integra-
tion. At 3 °C, the energy demand before the integration was 1.18
times higher than the energy demand in an integrated heat
exchanger network of an air handling unit.
The difference in energy demand is caused by new heat transfer
fluid temperatures achieved after process integration improving
the efficiency of the recuperator. A significant decrease in energy
costs after the integration can be explained by the fact that poor
combined capacity regulation (both temperature and flow rate),
applied in an actual system, causes heat waste which is especially
evident at outdoor air temperatures above zero that last for longer
periods.
In addition to that, after the integration the efficiency of the
recuperator increases due to the new temperature mode. Mean-

tė et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 129 (2018) 772–781
V. Misevičiu 779

CP, kW/°C CP, kW/°C

50 °C 28.1 °C
Q, kW °C Q, kW
50.00
E D
16.00
16.70 H1 16.70
16.0 °C II 22 °C
22.00
0.00 100.20

16.63 H2 11.00 16.63

17°C
23.00
0.00 199.50

11 °C
39.95
8.40 H3 28,13 8.,40
50.00 IV
0.00 183.70
45.00 14.95
16.70 20.00 I III C1 16.70
40 °C
84.4 199.5 3.00 23 °C
0.00 283.90 III
17.03
3 °C I 20 °C
16.63 23.00 II IV C2 16.63 15 °C
99.3 100.2 11.00
0.00 199.50

Fig. 12. Heat exchanger network and scheme of AHU with a run-around coil heat exchanger, process integration using return heat stream from the heating system.

CP, kW/°C CP, kW/°C

Q, kW °C Q, kW 26.6 °C 40 °C
50.00
16.70 H1 c 16.00 16.70 E D
22.00
0.00 100.20
16 °C V 22 °C
16.63 H2 11.00 16.63
23.00
0.00
0 00 199.50
199 50
36.94

17 °C
11 °C
6.30 H3 23.54 6.30
40.00 I
0.00 103.70

8 40
8.40 H4 40.48 8.40
8 40 23 °C
50.00
IV III
0.00 80.00
45.00 14.95 3 °C 20 °C
16 70
16.70 20.00 IIII IV
I C1 16 70
16.70 15 °C
84.4 4 1199.5
9 3.00
0.00 283.90
18.19 17.03
16.63
16 63 23.00 I II V C2 16.63
16 63 50 °C 38.2 °C
80.0
0 119.3 100.2 11.00
0.00 199.50

Fig. 13. Heat exchanger network and scheme of AHU with a run-around coil heat exchanger, process integration using heat streams used in both cases No. 2 and 3.

1000 110
Water temperature, °C, flow , (kg/s)/10

900 100
800 90

700 80
70
600
Power, kW

60
500
50
400
40
300 30
200 20
100 10
0 0
-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Outdoor air temperature, °C
Total power
Constant power
Temperature of supply water during the qualitative regulation
Temperature of supply water during the quantitative regulation
Temperature of return water during the qualitative and quantitative regulation
Water flow during qualitative regulation
Water flow during quantitative regulation

Fig. 14. Heat demand at various outdoor air temperatures.

while, in a heat exchanger network which has been integrated fluid designated for ventilation in the heat substation. More effi-
based on the Pinch method (Fig. 13) two waste heat streams were cient operation of the recuperator and using a heat transfer fluid
used (the stream recovered from the heating system and warm with a lower potential for the heater leads to a decrease in energy
water from the technologic process) instead of the heat transfer needs.
780
V. Misevičiu
90
Energy demand before the
80 integration
Energy demand after the integration
70
Exergy demand before the
integration
60
50
MWh
40
30
20
10
0 26% higher in the non-integrated system while seasonal exergy
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5
Outdoor air temperature, °C
Fig. 15. Energy and exergy demand for the heat exchanger network at various
outdoor temperatures.
Waste heat streams that have lower temperatures and dis-
charge cause more efficient usage in terms of energy quality. Sea-
sonal exergy demand has this variation characteristic at different
outdoor air temperatures (Fig. 15). In a non-integrated system,
the exergy demand was 1.45 times higher. At outdoor air temper-
ature of 23 °C, the exergy demand in a non-integrated heat
exchanger network was 1.42 times higher while at 3 °C it was
1.56 times higher.
As demonstrated by these results, the application of process
integration (the Pinch method) to integrate the processes in build-
ing engineering systems can provide more efficient solutions for
complex planning of such systems in terms of energy and exergy.
5. Conclusions
In this section we provide the results of the Pinch method
applied when integrating processes taking place in building engi-
neering systems as well as the results of the exergy analysis.
1. Under specific climatic conditions there exists an outdoor air
temperature at which the maximum amount of thermal exergy
is used when the ventilation system operates for the entire
heating season. As a result, in order to minimise the amounts
of exergy, the heat exchanger network is optimised at such a
temperature. In countries with similar climatic conditions to
those of Lithuania this outdoor air temperature is about 3 °C.
2. The choice of a recuperator used in an air handling unit deter-
mines the need and potential of process integration in the said
unit. For a plate heat exchanger, the additional heat exchanger
for the air handling unit is selected simply based on the energy
balance without applying process integration procedures. These
procedures should be carried out for more complicated solu-
tions regarding recuperators and other heat exchangers, e.g.
run-around coil heat exchanger.
3. The performed analysis shows that the selection of the minimal
temperature difference between the heat transfer fluids is
essential to the process integration procedures (and its poten-
tial in borderline cases). On the basis of heat exchange and tem-
perature efficiency equations, the dependence between the
temperature efficiency of a recuperator and the minimal tem-
perature difference has been determined. Research has shown
that values close to 5 °C should be selected for process integra-
tion in ventilation units, i.e. they should be below the recom-
mended minimal temperature difference of 15 °C which is
recommended for industrial systems.

tė et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 129 (2018) 772–781
4. When optimising the heat exchanger network at the proposed
outdoor temperature that complies with the maximal exergy
needs (3 °C in the analysed area), taking into consideration
the seasonal change of the outdoor air temperature, in order
to compensate the heat shortage, additional heating equipment
could be used. A heat transfer fluid from the heat supply net-
work could also be used, the parameters of which may be mod-
ified by applying qualitative or quantitative heat network heat
transfer fluid regulation. The combination of the qualitative
and quantitative methods is also possible.
5. The comparison of energy and exergy needs before and after
process integration shows that the seasonal energy needs are
10 15 20 needs are 45% higher in the non-integrated system as opposed
to the integrated system. A significant decrease in energy costs
after the integration can be explained by the fact that poor com-
bined capacity regulation (both temperature and flow rate),
applied in an actual system, causes heat waste which is espe-
cially evident at outdoor air temperatures above zero that last
for longer periods. In addition to that, after the integration
due to the new temperature mode the efficiency of the recuper-
ator increases.
6. On the basis of the results obtained by analysing the process
integration rates in building engineering systems, it is recom-
mended to assess the combination of the amounts of the heat
streams available in other building engineering systems as well
as the parameters and the thermal conductivity at the typical
temperatures and to choose the outdoor air temperature when
designing engineering systems. From the thermodynamics
point of view, such temperature could be the one at which
the exergy demand is the highest.
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