An overview of process integration methodologies

Abstract: "A general synthesis problem may be one where generation of an alternative solution is easy. At the other extreme, it may be one where finding even one solution is a very difficult problem. We discusses [sic] many different approaches by which synthesis problems have been solved. Different decomposition schemes exist for synthesizing total processes. We discuss three which have energy integration as the final step, usually where stream flows and temperatures are fixed. As the insights that result from this 'classic' problem are extremely important, we provide a unified presentation of several key results for this problem. Energy integration affects earlier design decisions.It cannot be placed last. We show how the heat cascade representation aids in establishing 'correct' equipment placement to aid in designing processes that better heat integrate. Integration reduces the apparent cost of energy and leads to designs that consume more energy to improve the utilization of raw materials. We show with a last example that consideration of energy integration issues can in fact aid in discovering the concepts on which to base a design."