Multi-period heat exchanger network(HEN) retrofit is usually performed by targeting and matching heat transfer areas. In this paper, based on the reverse order matching method we proposed previously, three strategies of matching heat transfer areas are proposed to minimize the investment cost for the retrofit of HEN in multiperiod, in which replacement of heat exchangers, addition of heat exchangers and addition of heat transfer areas are performed. We demonstrate the procedures through three scenarios, including maximum number of substituted heat exchangers after retrofit, minimum additional heat transfer areas in the retrofitted HEN, and minimum investment cost for retrofit. The strategies are extended to a single period HEN retrofit problem. The results of multi-period and single period HEN retro fit problems indicate the effectiveness of the strategies. Moreover, these results are better than those reported in literature. The strategies are simple and easy to implement,which are of great benefit to large-scale HEN retrofit in practice.
A systematic strategy for retrofit of the multi-period heat exchanger network (HEN) on the basis of the multi-objective optimization is developed. In this three-stage procedure, a simplified multi-objective optimization model of the multi-period HEN is first established and then solved to target the retrofit, aiming to minimizing the total annual cost and total annual CO_2 emissions. The obtained Pareto front represents series of retrofit targets under different emission limitations, from which the most desirable one can be selected. The matching of the existing and the required heat exchangers is further implemented to finalize the retrofit, which will meet the practical retrofit requirements and matching restrictions. The application of the proposed procedure is illustrated through a case study of a HEN in a vacuum gas oil hydro-treating unit.
Inferior crude oil and fuel oil upgrading lead to escalating increase of hydrogen consumption in refineries.It is imperative to reduce the hydrogen consumption for energy-saving operations of refineries.An integration strategy of hydrogen network and an operational optimization model of hydrotreating(HDT)units are proposed based on the characteristics of reaction kinetics of HDT units.By solving the proposed model,the operating conditions of HDT units are optimized,and the parameters of hydrogen sinks are determined by coupling hydrodesulfurization(HDS),hydrodenitrification(HDN)and aromatic hydrogenation(HDA)kinetics.An example case of a refinery with annual processing capacity of eight million tons is adopted to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed optimization strategies and the model.Results show that HDS,HDN and HDA reactions are the major source of hydrogen consumption in the refinery.The total hydrogen consumption can be reduced by 18.9%by applying conventional hydrogen network optimization model.When the hydrogen network is optimized after the operational optimization of HDT units is performed,the hydrogen consumption is reduced by28.2%.When the benefit of the fuel gas recovery is further considered,the total annual cost of hydrogen network can be reduced by 3.21×10~7CNY·a^(-1),decreased by 11.9%.Therefore,the operational optimization of the HDT units in refineries should be imposed to determine the parameters of hydrogen sinks base on the characteristics of reaction kinetics of the hydrogenation processes before the optimization of the hydrogen network is performed through the source-sink matching methods.
