A deterministic algorithm for the synthesis of maximum energy recovery heat exchanger network

This paper presents a general mathematical optimization model and the related deterministic algorithm for synthesizing heat-exchanger networks (HEN). The methodologies commonly used to solve a HEN problem are based on heuristic methods. These algorithms reach a presumed best solution with respect to the investigated set of process streams, whereas our approach determines the optimal configuration. In this paper the proposed method is applied to the solution of a few simple HEN synthesis problems and the results are compared with those obtained utilizing heuristic or meta-heuristic methods. HEN's problem is represented by a general mathematical model that can be applied to small and medium sized problems and is solved by using a deterministic method with a reasonably brief computation time. Notably, this approach can represent a unique general model of a wide class of heat-exchanger networks, independently of their specific physical configuration. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.