Combined mass and heat exchange network synthesis based on stage-wise superstructure model

Integrating multiple systems into one has become an important trend in Process Systems Engineering research field since there is strong demand from the modern industries. In this study, a stage-wise superstructure-based method is proposed to synthesize a combined mass and heat exchange network (CM&HEN) which has two parts as the mass exchange network (MEN) and heat exchange network (HEN) involved. To express the possible heat exchange requirements resulted from mass exchange operations, a so called "indistinct HEN super-structure (IHS)", which can contain the all potential matches between streams, is constructed at first. Then, a non-linear programming (NLP) mathematical model is established for the simultaneous synthesis and optimization of networks. Therein, the interaction between mass exchange and heat exchange is modeling formulated. The NLP model has later been examined using an example from literature, and the effectiveness of the proposed method has been demonstrated with the results. (C) 2015 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.