CHAPTER THREE

Introduction to Process Integration

Concept of pinch technology and its application

 Basic Concept of Pinch Analysis

 Most industrial process involve transfer of heat either from one

process stream to another process stream (interchanging) or
from utility stream to process stream.

 In the present energy scenario all over the world, the target in any
industrial process designer is to maximize the process to process
heat recovery and to minimize the utility (energy)
requirements.

 To meet the goal of maximum energy recovery/minimum energy

requirement an appropriate heat exchanger network (HEN) is
required.
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In traditional designing approach, the core of process is designed with fixed
flow rates and temperatures so that the heat and mass balance of the process
is satisfied. The design of heat recovery systems are provided afterwards
and the remaining duties are competed by using the external utilities.
In pinch technology approach integration of heat recovery systems is
considered together with process designing.
One of the main advantages of Pinch Technology over conventional design
methods is the ability to set energy and capital cost targets for an individual
process or for an entire production site ahead of design. Therefore, ahead of
identifying any specific project, we know the scope for energy savings and
investment requirements.

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Cont’d…

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 Prior to the energy crisis of 1970, chemical plant were designed
using the traditional design techniques which involves mass and
energy balance, rule of thumb, good engineering judgment
and creativabiity of the designers.
 But such designs were not optimal in terms of energy
consumption or a capital cost invested.
 Energy integration is a subdivision of wider field of process
integration, which is an efficient approach that allows industries
to increase their profitability through reduction in green house
gas (GHG) emissions and waste generation.
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Cont’d…

• Pinch technology is a rigorous, structured thermodynamic

approach to energy efficiency that can be used to tackle a wide
range of process and utility related problems, such as
– reducing operating costs
– debottlenecking processes
– improving efficiency and
– reducing and planning capital investment

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 The term "Pinch Technology" was introduced by Linnhoff and
Vredeveld to represent a new set of thermodynamically based
methods that guarantee minimum energy levels in the design of
heat exchanger networks.

 It is a systematic methodology based on thermodynamic

principles to achieve utility savings by better process heat
integration, maximizing heat recovery and reducing the external
utility loads (cooling water and heating steam).

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Cont’d..
The term ‘Pinch Technology’ is often used to represent the application
of the tools and algorithms of Pinch analysis for studying industrial
processes.

Pinch Analysis is a methodology for minimizing energy consumption

of processes by calculating thermodynamically feasible energy targets
(or minimum energy consumption) and achieving them by optimizing
heat recovery systems, energy supply methods and process operating
conditions.

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 Cont’d…
• Among the PI methodologies, Pinch Analysis is currently the most
widely used.
• This is due to the simplicity of its underlying concepts and,
specially, to the spectacular results it has obtained in numerous
projects worldwide.
• Pinch technology is thermodynamically based method for analyzing
and understanding the energy flows in process plant and
subsequently determining the absolute minimum energy
requirements of the plant for specified minimum temperature
approach.

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Cont’d…
• Pinch Technology is a recognized and well proven method in
industries such as
– chemical,
– petrochemical,
– oil refining,
– paper and pulp,
– food and drinks,
– steel and metallurgy, etc., leading to an energy saving, water saving and
hydrogen savings
• Pinch technology provides a systematic methodology for energy saving in
processes and total sites.
• Minimize energy input to the process
• It simply give the designer a rigorous target for how much energy of a process
plant should be used and how this target can be achieved

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Concept of pinch technology and Its application

• There are two engineering design problems in chemical processes

1. Problem of design operation

2. Problem of designing total system

Our module try to address the system problem in particular design

of the process flowsheet to minimize energy consumption

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Cont’d..
• The first key concept of pinch analysis is setting energy targets.
• “Targets” for energy reduction have been a key part of energy
monitoring schemes for many years.
• Targets obtained by pinch analysis are different; showing what the
process is inherently capable of achieving if the heat recovery,
heating and cooling systems are correctly designed.
• Retrofiting –changes to an existing plant- is more difficult and
expensive than altering the design of a new plant.

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Role of Thermodynamic Laws in Pinch Technology

Pinch technology presents a simple methodology for systematically

analyzing chemical processes and the surrounding utility systems with
the help of the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics.
• The First Law of Thermodynamics provides the energy equation for
calculating the enthalpy changes (∆H) in the streams passing through
a heat exchanger.
• The Second Law determines the direction of heat flow. That is, heat
energy may only flow in the direction of hot to cold. This prohibits
‘temperature crossovers’ of the hot and cold stream profiles through
the exchanger unit

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Cont’d…
• In a heat exchanger unit neither a hot stream can be cooled below cold
stream supply temperature nor a cold stream can be heated to a temperature
more than the supply temperature of the hot stream.
• In practice the hot stream can only be cooled to a temperature defined by
the ‘temperature Approach’ of the heat exchanger.
•The temperature approach is the minimum allowable temperature
difference (tmin) in the stream temperature profiles, for the heat exchanger
•The temperature level at which tmin is observed in the process is referred to as
pinch point or pinch condition
•The pinch defines the minimum driving force allowed in the exchanger unit

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Areas of Application

•Pinch applies to a wide range of processes. Pinch originated in the

petrochemical sector and is now widely accepted in mainstream
chemical engineering.

•Wherever heating and cooling of process materials takes places

there is a potential opportunity.

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Initial applications of technology were found in a project related to
energy saving in industries as diverse as:

• Iron and steel

• Improving effluent quality
• Food and drink
• Textiles • Reducing emissions
• Paper and cardboard
• Increasing yield
• Cement
• Base chemical • Debottlenecking
• Oil • Increasing throughput
• Petrochemicals
• Improving the flexibility and
safety of the processes.

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Cont’d …

• Documents reported that energy costs have been

reduced by 15-40%
• Capacity debottlenecking achieved by 5-15% for
retrofitting
• Capital costs reduction of 5-10% for new design

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