Design for Process Integration and Efficient Energy Utilization

Abstract

Today's energy availability and pricing structure has focused attention upon those design techniques which result in an improvement in the level of energy utilisation. Energy integration is one such technique, where this refers to the matching of opposite energy changes, in order to minimise the need for external energy supply or disposal. Many evaluations tend to consider a limited area within the overall system, and the broader inter-reactions or sensitivity to dynamic change may remain obscure. Also, processing plants are required to operate in a changing environment, where operating conditions may be far removed from the original design intent. Flexibility is therefore a key requirement for modern plant design. The application of energy integration tends to increase plant complexity, often with a consequential reduction in operating flexibility. This paper presents a methodology which enables the balance between energy integration and flexibility to be established.