Z. Fonyo et N. Benko, COMPARISON OF VARIOUS HEAT-PUMP ASSISTED DISTILLATION CONFIGURATIONS, Chemical engineering research & design, 76(A3), 1998, pp. 348-360
Various heat pump assisted process configurations are analysed for two
industrial case studies using a design strategy based on preliminary
screening, rigorous steady state simulation and economic evaluation. T
he influence of heat pump type, heat load, column temperature differen
ce, utility cost, exchanger minimum approach temperature (EMAT) on the
energetic aspects and economic range of application are examined. Thi
s paper also provides orientation for process engineers on the current
application of heat pumping techniques for large industrial separatio
n plants. Certain well designed heat pump options can show better econ
omic figures than the base case separation system which uses only stea
m and cooling water. Thus, in order to realize enhanced integration at
the process design, consideration of the different heat pumping techn
iques is highly recommended. The results presented show that (1) large
r heat load and smaller process temperature difference provide shorter
pay back time for heat pumping, (2) the absorption heat transformatio
n cycles have an even chance for implementation at larger process Delt
a T, when the other configurations are to be discarded.