Heat Recovery (Pinch) Analysis

"The target is to operate a process at required throughput and product quality with minimum energy, resource requirements and emissions."

In industry, often more than half of the energy is used for heating and cooling processes. It is therefore important to analyze these processes more closely and optimize them in terms of energy consumption, (CO2) emissions, as well as investment and operating costs. 

Classical energy optimization approaches focus on improving individual apparatuses or infrastructure facilities. Experience shows, however, that a greater overall increase in energy efficiency can usually be achieved by optimally linking energy flows in the overall system. To increase energy efficiency, heat recovery back into the process is essential.

The Pinch analysis systematically examines the entire system (process, production plant, and energy supply). Then, a technically feasible and economically optimized plant design is generated (considering investment and operating costs).

With the recommended measures, the energy requirements of industrial processes can be reduced by 10% to 40%. The payback period is generally one to four years.

Pinch analysis is also a valuable tool when planning new systems/plants and processes ⇒ “First Time Right!"

Within a "rough" Pinch analysis, the main energy consumers are identified and the energy saving potential as well as the reduction potiential of CO2 emissions are roughly estimated. Waste heat sources are listed and approaches for energy recovery are developed. As a result, recommendations for further actions will be worked out: e.g. if a detailed Pinch analysis would make sense or to directly go on with implementing the proposed heat recovery systems.

You have already elaborated a Pinch analysis on an existing plant and would now like to apply the results to a similar plant? Then our pragmatical copy-paste solution fits perfectly:

• Study existing Pinch analysis and the recommended measures
• Data extraction of the relevant process flows of the new plant
• Adapt measures to the process flows of the new plant
• Checking the technical feasibility
• Recalculation of the energy and CO2 savings as well as of the economic key figures (stat. Payback, NPV, ROI)

• Engineering of the complete heat recovery system
• Production and delivery of the complete heat recovery system

Advising in a solution-oriented, competent and neutral manner