SYNHEN - MICROCOMPUTER DIRECTED PACKAGE OF PROGRAMS FOR HEAT-EXCHANGER NETWORK SYNTHESIS

SYNHEN is a package of programs for microcomputers compatible with the IBM PC for cost-optimal heat exchanger network synthesis. The methodology applied in SYNHEN programs is a compromise between totally automized approaches and totally-designer-driven methodologies. The paper presents the methodology on which the SYNHEN package is based, the overview of program structure as well as algorithms and methods applied in the synthesis stages. The application of the SYNHEN package is illustrated by examples from the literature and by industrial problems. The comparison of results from SYNHEN and from other approaches such as e.g. program MAGNETS of Floudas et al. (AIChE Jl, 32, 276-290, 1986) and the simultaneous match-network optimization method of Floudas and Ciric (Computers chem. Engng 13, 1-20, 1989) shows that the former yields HENs that are identical or very close to the solutions from complex, MINLP-based methods that require sophisticated software and larger computers. The SYNHEN package allows for solving problems with temperature-dependent heat capacities of streams and for the use of multipass heat exchangers.