Saving fuels by using the pinch method. Practical guide

Whereas saving fuels becomes a strategic stake, processes of design of installations of heat production or distribution are a crucial issue, and the author proposes the use of the pinch method to design in a sure and optimal way heat transfer fluid networks. He describes the main steps of this method and presents a simple example in which only two heat-transfer fluids are present. Then, he addresses actual industrial cases for which the application of the pinch method can concern up to six heat-transfer fluids: heat recovery on thermal plants (operation of thermal plant, implementation of the method, case with smoke condensation), thermal processes in chemical engineering (initial situation, application of the pinch method, iterative adjustment of a network of exchangers), steam generators (operation, application of the pinch method, temperature of exchanger tubes), diesel-electricity cogeneration plant (operation, application of the pinch method, case of steam production, parametric optimisation). Some specific situations can be addressed: one fluid submitted to a phase change, and cases for which the use of a heat pump is an opportunity to improve the network energy assessment