HotandColdcompositecurvesandThePinchModule03 Lecture07

Module03:BuildingblocksofPINCHTechnology
Lecture07:HotandColdCompositeCurvesandThePinch
Keywords:Pinch,THdiagram,Hotutility,ColdUtility,CompositeCurve,T
min

Pinchanalysisisamethodicalexaminationofthermallyintensiveprocessesinwhichallheating
andcoolingloads(actualorpotential)areextractedastemperature/energyflow(T/H)profiles
andintegratedintocompositecurvesforthewholeprocessand/orsite.Thefollowingdiagrams
illustrate the principle of composite curves and show how by combining the hot and cold
compositesthetotalpotentialforheatrecoveryoftheplantcanbequantified.
Thisconceptcanbeexplainedusingahotandacoldstreamasgivenbelow:
Table3.7:Twostreamproblemforpredictionofhotandcoldutilitydemand
Nameofthestream SupplyTemperature
Ts,C
TargetTemperature
Tt,C
CP
kW/C
H
kW
Hot1 210 50 1.5 240*
Cold1 90 160 3 210
*vesignindicatesthatthestreamissupplyingheat
TheabovesystemcanbepictoriallyshownbelowinFig.3.20:

Figure 3.20 shows the supply and target temperature of hot1 and cold1 and position where
hotandcoldutilityaretobesupplied.However,itdoesnotprovidetheamountofcoldandhot
utilities required and also the amount of internal heat exchange by the Hot1 and cold1
streams. Due to incomplete information the exit temperatures of streams from the heat
exchangercouldnotbecomputed.
Fig.3.20PictorialviewoftheproblemgiveninTable3.7
HotStream
210C
Steamheating
16C
HotUtility
140
ColdStream
90C
Coldwater
30C
ColdUtility
50C
Amountof
hotutility?
Amountof
coldutility?
Temp.?
?
HotandColdcompositecurvesandThePinchModule03 Lecture07

FromFig.3.21itcanbeseenthatwhencold1isshiftedhorizontallytowardsHot1streamso
thatittouchesthehot1stream(positiona)theavailableTbetweenhotandcoldstreamat
one end becomes zero. This is possible as the reference enthalpy for a cold stream can be
changedindependentlyfromthereferenceenthalpyforthehotstreams.Thepointatwhichthe
coldstreammeetsthehotstreamiscalledPinchPoint.However,inmostofthecasesPinch
Point is not a point but two points called hot pinch point and cold pinch point and are
expressed in terms of temperatures. At this point the hot utility (HU) and cold utility(CU)
demands are minimum and are equal to 30kW and 60kW respectively. The heat exchange
between hot 1 and cold1 becomes maximum and is equal to 180 kW. Further the total heat
exchangeincludingHUandCUbecomes270kW.Howeverthiscaseispracticallyinfeasibleasat
T=0 no heat transfer can take place and area required for heat transfer becomes infinite. So
thismarksoneextremecondition.

To make the heat transfer feasible the cold1 stream is shifted parallel to a new position b
where the vertical distance between its supply temperature end and line representing Hot1
stream becomes 10C. This distance is called T
min
. The value and concept of of T
min
is
important as it fixes the relative position of hot and cold stream ( or Hot composite and cold
composite). As supply end of cold1 stream is kept at T
min
= 10C from Hot1 stream the HU
andCUdemandsgrowto45kWand75kWandtheinternalheatexchangebetweenHot1and
Cold1 becomes 165 kW. The total heat exchange including CU and HU becomes 285 kW. For
thiscasethehotpinchisat100Candcoldpinchisat90CthedifferencebeingequaltoT
min
.
210C
160C
H,kW
90C
50 250
50C
150 200 100
300
T,C
a b
T
min
=10C
0
HU=45kW
CU=75kW
CU=60kW
HU=30kW
Fig.3.21PredictionofhotandcoldutilitydemandsasafunctionofT
min

HotandColdcompositecurvesandThePinchModule03 Lecture07
Thus it can be concluded that HU, CU and amount of internal heat exchange is a function of
T
min
. After the above analysis now one is in a position of filling the unknown information of
Fig.3.20asgiveninFig.3.22.

After dealing with a two stream problem a comparatively difficult problem as given by stream
dataofTable3.8isconsideredforpredictionofenergytargetbasedonHotandColdcomposite
curvesandT
min
equalto10C.ThesecurvesareshowninFig.3.23.

Table3.8:FourstreamproblemforloadintegrationandutilitypredictionforT
min
equalto
10C.
Nameofthestream SupplyTemperature
Ts,C
TargetTemperature
Tt,C
CP
kW/C
H
kW
Hot1 140 50 2 180
Hot2 90 40 6 300
Cold1 30 150 2 240
Cold2 70 125 3 165

Fig.3.22PictorialviewofthesolvedproblemgiveninTable3
HotStream
210C
Steamheating
16C
HotUtility
160
ColdStream
90C
Coldwater
30C
ColdUtility
50C
Amountofhot
utility45kW
Amountofcold
utility75kW
100C
145C
ForTmin=10C
HOTCOMPOSITECURVE
140C
90C
50C
40C
30C
T,C
H,kW
H=480
(a)
HotandColdcompositecurvesandThePinchModule03 Lecture07

CombinedHotandColdCompositecurves
OnceHotandcoldcompositecurvesarecreatedthesecanbeputtogethertoextractuseful
informationregardingenergychangeandexternalutilitydemand.

Fig.3.23(a)Hotcompositecurve,(b)Coldcompositecurvefor
problemgiveninTable3.8
H,kW
COLDCOMPOSITECURVE
T,C
30C
70C
125C
150C
H=405
(b)
Fig.3.24DeterminationofenergytargetsutilizingHotandColdcomposite
curves
70C
125C
150C
140C
90C
50C
40C
30C
T,C
H,kW
T
min
=10C
Q
HOT,MIN
Q
COLD,MIN
HotPinch

ColdPinch

InternalHeat
Exchange

80C
External
Hotutility

ExternalCold
utility

a
b
c
HotandColdcompositecurvesandThePinchModule03 Lecture07

In Fig.3.24 the hot and cold composites are plotted on the same TH axes keeping intact the
temperatureofbothhotandcoldcompositecurves.Hotcompositecurvecontainstemperature
levelof140C,90C,50Cand40C(markedbysolidlines)andthetemperaturelevelsforcold
composite curves are 150C, 125C,70C and 30C ( shown by dotted lines except 30C as it
matcheswithaxis).Thecoldcompositecurveisthenmovedfrompositionc(originalposition)
to position a where the shortest vertical distance between hot and cold composite curves is
10CwhichistheT
min
inthiscase.Duetothekinkednatureofcompositecurvesthepointof
T
min
canoccuranywhereintheregionofinternalheatexchangeandnotjustatoneendofany
compositecurve.Thetemperatureenthalpyvaluesassociatedwithanycompositestreamcant
be changed, however, the relative position of composite streams can be changed by moving
them horizontally( parallel to H axis) relative to reach other. This is possible as the reference
enthalpy for the cold composite stream can be changed independently from the reference
enthalpy for the hot composite streams. For a given value of T
min
the cold and hot utilities
computedaretheminimumrequiredvaluestokeepthesysteminthermalbalance.

SpecifyingthehotutilityorcoldutilityorT
min
fixestherelativepositionofthetwocomposite
curves. The relative position of the two curves is a degree of freedom available to process
designer which can be changed by moving these horizontally relative to each other. The
shortest vertical distance between two composite curves is called T
min
. In general, T
min

occursatonlyonepointwhichiscalledthePinchpoint.ThisimpliesthatexceptatorT
min
in
allotherplacestheverticaldistancebetweentwocompositecurves(whichisinfactT)willbe
greater than or T
min
. Due to the minimum driving force available at T
min
the design is most
constrictedhere.FurthertheheatexchangermatchesatorT
min
ornearitwillhavelargeheat
transfer area in comparison to heat exchanger matches which are away from it. When the
curvestoucheachotherthereisnodrivingforceforheattransferatonepointoftheprocess,
whichwouldrequireinfiniteheattransferareaandhenceinfinitecapitalcost.

It should be noted that the composite curves are made up of many streams. The T
min
at a
certain point between hot and cold composite curves indicate that the all the hot streams
presentatthispointwillhaveatemperaturedifferenceofT
min
(atleastatoneendofit)with
allthe coldstreamspresent at thatpoint. So it is possibletodesign aHEN whichwilloperate
the heat exchangers at Pinch Point with T values equal to T
min
. This HEN will demand
minimumutilityascomputedbybringinghotandcoldcompositecurvestoaminimumvertical
distanceofT
min
.

HotandColdcompositecurvesandThePinchModule03 Lecture07

FromFig.3.25itcanbeseenthathotutilitydemandis175kW,coldutilitydemandis250kW
andinternalheatexchangeis230kW.ThisisforT
min
equalto10C.Thehotpinchpointisat
90Candcoldpinchpointisat80C.
MainpointsregardingcombinedHotandcoldcompositecurvesare:

1. To consider heat recovery from hot stream to cold streams, it is necessary that the
completehotcompositecurvemustbeabovethecoldcompositecurvefornaturalheat
transfertotakeplace.
2. Therelativepositionof HotandcoldcompositecurvescanbefixedbyfixingHotutility
orColdutilityorT
min
.
3. The over lapping between hot and cold composite curves determine the maximum
extentofinternalheatexchangebetweenhotandcoldstreams.
4. The over shoot of cold composite curve (beyond hot composite curve) indicates the
minimumamountofexternalhotutilityrequiredfortheprocess.
5. Similarly the over shoot of hot composite curve (beyond cold composite curve)
determinestheminimumexternalcoldutilitydemand.
6. TheHotandcoldutilitydemandsandtheamountofinternalheatexchangeisafunction
ofT
min
.
7. The T
min
is defined at pinch point. At this place the vertical distance between two
compositecurvesareminimumandthusitiscalledT
min
.Theverticaldistancebetween
Fig.3.25ShowsbothcompositecurvesputtogetherforproblemgiveninTable3.8
70C
125C
150C
140C
90C
50C
40C
30C
T,C
H,kW
T
min
=10C
Q
HOT,MIN
Q
COLD,MIN
HotPinch

ColdPinch

InternalHeat
Exchange

SourceSection
80C
SinkSection
External
Hotutility

ExternalCold
utility

HotCompositecurve

Cold Compositecurve

BelowthePinch AbovethePinch
PinchPoints
HotandColdcompositecurvesandThePinchModule03 Lecture07
coldandhotcompositecurvesatanyplaceindicatesthedrivingforceTwhichexistsat
thatplace.TheminimumdrivingforceexistsatT
min
.
8. Pinch divides the complete heat integration problem in two parts Above pinch region
(upper pinch) and below pinch region (lower pinch). This is so as in the case of a
Maximum Energy recovery design (MER) for a certain value of T
min
no heat transfer
takesplaceacross pinch point.Thoughphysicallythe heatintegration problem appears
undividedintermsoftheresultingHEN,asfarasheattransferisconcerneditisdivided
intwoparts.
9. TheUpperpinchareaisaheatsinkasheatissuppliedtothisareathroughexternalhot
utility.Thelowerpinchareaworksasaheatsourceasittransfersheattoacoldutility.
10. The combined hot and cold utility curve helps in plant layout as it indicates which hot
streamshouldbeclosetowhichcoldstreamforminimumpiping.Italsoindicateswhere
theBoilerandCoolingtowershouldbelocatedwhichrespecttostreams.
11. Asupperpinchregionisanetsinknocoldutilityshouldbeusedhere.Ifacoldutilityof
amountsayX
cold
isusedinthisregionthenthehotutilitydemandhastobeincreasedto
Q
Hmin
+X
cold
tosatisfytheheatbalanceofthisregion.Thusitwillincreasethehotutility
demand. At the same time total consumption of cold utility will also increase to Q
Cmin
+
X
cold
. Thus both cold and hot utilities will increase from their minimum value by an
amountX
cold
.Sothepenaltywillbedoubleintermsoftheincreasedcostofutilityas
well as heat transfer area required to transfer the heat associated with increased
amountofutility.

12. Similarlyaslowerpinchareaisanetheatsourceandhotutilityshouldnotbeusedhere.
IfahotutilityofamountsayX
hot
isusedinthisregionthenthecoldutilitydemandhas
to be increased to Q
Cmin
+ X
hot
to satisfy the heat balance of this region. Thus it will
increasethetotalcoldutilitydemand.Atthesametimetotalconsumptionofhotutility
willalsoincreasetoQ
Hmin
+X
hot
.Thusbothcoldandhotutilitieswillincreasefromtheir
minimum value by an amount X
hot
. So the penalty will be double in terms of the
increased cost of utility as well as heat transfer area required to transfer the heat
associatedwithextraamountofutility.

References
1. Linnhoff March, Introduction to Pinch Technology Targeting House, Gadbrook
Park,Northwich,Cheshire,CW97UZ,England
2. ChemicalProcessDesignandIntegration,RobinSmith,JohnWiley&SonsLtd.
3. Ian C Kemp, Pinch Analysis and process integration, a user guide on process
integrationforeffectiveuseofenergy,IChem
E
,ElsevierLimited,2007.