Pinch-based targeting methodology for multi-contaminant material recycle/reuse

• Published in: Chemical engineering science 2021-02, Vol.230, p.116129, Article 116129
• Main Authors: Chin, Hon Huin, Varbanov, Petar Sabev, Liew, Peng Yen, Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Material recycle/reuse; Multicontaminant water pinch analysis; Multicontaminant water system; Process integration; Resource targeting
• ISSN: 0009-2509; 1873-4405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2020.116129

•Multi-contaminant resource targeting via Pinch Analysis.•Assignment of sinks to proper contaminant cascade based on limiting contaminant.•Pre-targeting steps are proposed to pre-process sources and sinks.•Sources are prioritised so that all impurity constraints are active for contradicting sources.•Sequential Pinch Analysis for various contaminants are proposed. This work presents a systematic resource targeting procedure in the domain of multiple contaminants water recycling/reuse network. A resource-allocation model was developed and modified to determine the model characteristics, to obtain the optimal solution. By inferring from the formulations, it is recognised that each water sink is constrained by a certain contaminant. This plays a vital role in determining the assignment of sinks to the proper contaminants cascade, classifying them to below or above the Pinch Region, and the source allocation strategy. Multiple Targeting Pinch Diagrams with Source and Sink Composite Curves then should be plotted for each contaminant. Each contaminant is assigned a specific separate Pinch Plot and analysed sequentially until the demands of all sinks are fulfilled. The credibility of the novel approach is demonstrated by several industrial case studies encompassing problems with a fresh and impure resource. The method provides insights into the problem while providing the minimum resource target.