THE PLACEMENT OF 2-STREAM AND MULTI-STREAM HEAT-EXCHANGERS IN AN EXISTING NETWORK THROUGH PATH-ANALYSIS

A prescreening and decomposition method is presented to analyse heal e xchanger networks for retrofitting. The method, called Path Analysis, selects and analyses fractions from the existing network, either by he uristics or by an algorithm. By comparison of all fractions, the criti cal parts of the network that should be adapted can be identified. The adaptations can be done:independent of the remaining network. Thus Pa th Analysis enables a considerable reduction of the effort in retrofit design. Meanwhile the simplest network adaptations are favoured. Path Analysis is applied to several cases. The results for an aromatics ca se are presented. Using the right software tools, the engineering effo rt can be reduced considerably, compared with existing methods. Soluti ons tend to be less complex, while the profitability is sometimes high er than was expected from global analysis. With Path Analysis the retr ofit design using new multi-stream heat exchangers proved to be straig htforward.