SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
PROCESS HEAT TREANSFER (CHPE4412)

HEAT EXCHANGER NETWORK DESIGN

Done by:

Alzahraa Hamed Alabri 126482

Sara Mahmoud Alabri 127127

Roqaya Said Alabri 127547

Instructor:

Gholamreza Vakili-Nejad
Table of content

Problem statement Page 3

Objective Page 4
Abstract Page 4
Introduction Page 5-6
Assumptions Page 7
Results Page 8
Discussion Page 9-10
Conclusion Page 11

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Problem statement:
In this project, we are going to find the most efficient and optimized HEN, which can result to a
huge amount of energy recovery in a big plant for which we have the streams data given in
Table.1. ASPEN ENERGY ANALYZER will be used to conduct the simulation.

Table1: Problem data

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Problem objective

The aim of this project is using ASPEN ENERGY ANALYZER to propose the most efficient
and optimized HEN design which give the highest heat recovery.

Abstract

Using pinch analysis, which developed by Linnhoff, to design a Heat Exchangers Network is an
effective technique for energy integration. ASPEN ENERGY ANALYZER is a software used to
obtain different designs and find the optimum one with maximum heat recovery and minimum
utilities. Low pressure steam and cooling water were chosen as a hot and cold utility,
respectively. Capital cost, operating cost, number of units, energy recovery and number of
splitters were compered to choose the optimum one.

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Introduction:

As population increase and technology Develop, the energy demand will increase
simultaneously. At the same time, we are suffering from a shortage of non-renewable sources.
Heat exchanger network (HEN) is one of technique that used for saving energy. The purpose of
HEN to find a network that give us a minimum cold and hot utilities with small number of units
and maximum heat recovery. [1]

One of the most method used for design HEN is pinch analysis (PA). The idea of PA is to find
the optimal approach temperature that minimizes the total annual cost of the HEN design.
Estimating the minimum heating and cooling supply (utilities) by pinch analysis can be done by
using two methods: [2]

1- Composite curve.
Converts all hot streams shown in the TH diagram to a single curve, depending on the
sum of the streams loads at the same interval. This curve called hot composite curve.
Repeating the same procedure for cold stream to get cold composite curve. The overlap
region between the hot and cold curve is the maximum energy recovery limits while the
non-overlap rejoin are the minimum external heating and cooling utilities. [2]

The following figure shows an example of composite curve.

Figure 1: composite curve [3]

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 2- Problem table.
It is an analytical method for obtaining the minimum utilities requirement only. This
method shows the effect of ΔTmin by dividing the temperature range into subnetworks.
Subnetworks are limited by the supply and target temperatures of both types of streams
hot and cold.

Choosing the type of utilities depends on the streams and their temperature. So by that we can
classify the utilities to:

Hot utility:

 Hot oil
 High pressure steam
 Medium pressure steam
 Low pressure steam

Cold utility:

 Air
 Cooling water
 Refrigerant

Using ASPEN ENERGY ANALYZER can be utilized to have the best design scenarios. It is an
energy management software for finding the optimal heat exchanger network design to minimize
the energy requirement.

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Assumptions:

 ∆Tmin = 10 C ͦ.
 Steady state process.
 LP steam is utilized as a hot utility because it conveys more latent heat, it is usually the
best alternative, and it reduces scaling and fouling.
 As a cold utility, cooling water is employed. It is typically pumped between industrial
heat exchangers and a cooling tower. Water is cooled by contact with air moving
upwards during downward motion, which can bring the water temperature to within 5
degrees Fahrenheit.
 Assuming no thermal resistance

 Our target design assumed to have:

1- Minimum operating cost and capital cost (Minimum total cost).
2- Minimum Number of units.
3- Minimum Number of splitters
4- Maximum Heat recovery.

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 Results:
The tables below show the results obtained from the Energy Analyzer and the Heat recovery calculated
and the Number of splitters for the ten designs.

LOADS&HEAT RECOVERY  
COLD U HOT U OVERALL RECOVER
3.4068E+07 2.2188E+07 2.4575E+08 1.8949E+08
3.4425E+07 2.2545E+07 2.4610E+08 1.8914E+08
3.4272E+07 2.2392E+07 2.4595E+08 1.8929E+08
3.2904E+07 2.1024E+07 2.4458E+08 1.9066E+08
3.3516E+07 2.1636E+07 2.4520E+08 1.9004E+08
3.4032E+07 2.2152E+07 2.4571E+08 1.8953E+08
3.3408E+07 2.1528E+07 2.4509E+08 1.9015E+08
3.2796E+07 2.0916E+07 2.4448E+08 1.9076E+08
3.3876E+07 2.1996E+07 2.4556E+08 1.8968E+08
3.3660E+07 2.1780E+07 2.4534E+08 1.8990E+08

NO Number of splitters
2 3 4 5 6 SUM
design1 22 3 1 0 0 26
design2 21 2 1 0 0 24
design3 16 5 0 0 1 22
design4 28 1 2 0 0 31
NO. HEATING design5
COST COOLING
18 COST
5 1 OPERATING
1 0 CAPITAL
25   TOTAL COST
design6 27 4 1 COST
0 0 COST 32
design1 1.16660E-02 2.00558E-03 1.36716E-02 2.28500E+06 3.28400E-02
design7 22 1 0 1 0 24
design2 1.19000E-02 2.03200E-03 1.39300E-02 2.22300E+06 3.25300E-02
design8 24 5 1 0 0 30
design3 1.18200E-02 2.02300E-03 1.38400E-02 2.17800E+06 3.20600E-02
design9 20 3 0 1 0 24
design4 1.11000E-02 1.94200E-03 1.30400E-02 2.37400E+06 3.29000E-02
design10 22 3 1 0 0 26
design5 1.14200E-02 1.97800E-03 1.34000E-02 2.37200E+06 3.32400E-02
design6 1.16900E-02 2.00800E-03 1.37000E-02 2.32000E+06 3.31100E-02
design7 1.13600E-02 1.97200E-03 1.33300E-02 2.21500E+06 3.18600E-02
design8 1.10400E-02 1.93500E-03 1.29700E-02 2.37300E+06 3.28200E-02
design9 1.16100E-02 1.99900E-03 1.36100E-02 2.09600E+06 3.11400E-02
design10 1.14900E-02 1.98600E-03 1.34800E-02 2.20800E+06 3.19500E-02

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Discussion:
The simulation is conducted using LP steam as a hot utility and cooling water as cold utility. Ten
designs were generated, and the properties were collected in an excel sheet.

As shown in the table above the designs were compared based on the following specifications:

1- Total Cost: which is the summation of the operating cost and capital cost. It is an
important aspect in choosing the best design, since a minimum total cost is required. The
table below shows the best three designs regarding this specification. It observed that
designs 9,7 and 10 has the lowest total costs respectively.

Table 3: The total cost of design 7,9and 10

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 Design 7 9 10
Cost ($) 3.18600E-02 3.11400E-02 3.19500E-02

2- Number of units: The heat exchanger networks for which the number of units and the
utility usage are close to their respective minimum values should be close to the optimal
and chosen as a best design since the greater number of units the more cost which is not
our target. The table below shows the best three designs regarding this specification
which are 9,7 and 3 respectively.

Table 4: The number of units of designs 3,7and 9

Design 3 7 9
No.Units 71 71 67

3- Number of splitters: The less the numbers of splitters the less cost and the more
efficient process. The table below shows the best three designs having the minimum
number of splitters which are 3,9 and 7 respectively.

Table 5: The number of splitters of designs 3,7and 9

Design 3 7 9
No.Units 22 24 24

4- Heat recovery: Heat recovery refers to the various methods employed to capture waste
heat from combined heat and power generations system. Having a maximum heat
recovery will improve the transfer of heat and the process will be more efficient. The
table below shows the best three designs that has the maximum heat recovery, designs 8,4
and 7 respectively. Heat recovery is calculated by subtracting the overall heat from the
summation of the cold and the hot utility.

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 Table 6: The heat recovery of designs 4,7and 8

Design 4 7 8
Heat recovery 1.9066E+08 1.9015E+08 1.9076E+08

To summarize up, the selection of the best design mainly depends on the least cost and the
maximum heat recovery. After analyzing the designs regarding the above specifications. It’s
observed that the best 3 designs are 7,8 and 9. The total cost of design 7 is 3.18600E-02 $ with a
heat recovery of 1.9015E+08 kJ/h which is the most recommended design between the three. Design 8
shows a total cost of 3.28200E-02 $ and a heat recovery of 1.9076E+08 kJ/h. Finally, design 9 shows a
total cost of 3.11400E-02 $ and a heat recovery of 1.8968E+08 kJ/h. Depending on the results, Design 7
has a minimum cost, minimum number of units and splitters, and a maximum heat recovery which is our
target. The figure below shows the grid diagram of design 7.

Figure

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Conclusion:
In industry, the heat exchanger network (HEN) is critical for energy conservation. Heat
integration between hot and cold process streams is known as HEN synthesis, and it is used to
reduce heating and cooling utility usage in industrial operations. The mathematical programming
issues for large-sized HEN are long calculation time and the divergence problem, because the
HEN synthesis problem contains nonlinear equations and constraints. To synthesize HEN, this
study uses Pinch Analysis and the MINLP stage-wise model with the relaxing technique. Pinch
Analysis aids in determining the best pinch point or heat recovery strategy. The best design
chosen in our project was the one with minimum cost, minimum number of units and splitters,
and a maximum heat recovery.

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References:

[1] Heat Exchanger Network - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

[2] “Step by Step for Designing an Optimum Heat Exchanger Network”, International Journal of
Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 9, Issue 7, July-2018.

[3] “A new method to boost performance of heat recovery steam generators by integrating pinch
and exergy analyses” Advances in Mechanical Engineering2018, Vol. 10(5) 1–13.

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