Pinch technology: an efficient tool for chemicalplant energy and capital-cost saving

Through its 20 year history, pinch analysis has proved to be a simple concept in a field known for complex mathematical methods. Reports of industrial applications claim design improvements in energy saving, as well as reduced capital investment costs, due to optimising the number of heat exchangers required for the same heat duty, after pinch technology was introduced. Some of the recent pinch developments are: pressure drop optimisation, distillation column profiles, low temperature process design, batch process integration, water and waste water minimisation and emissions targeting. This paper attempts to describe this technology, considering both new designs or modifications applied to chemical process plants.