HARDWARE COMPOSITES - A NEW CONCEPTUAL TOOL FOR THE ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION OF STEAM-TURBINE NETWORKS IN CHEMICAL PROCESS INDUSTRIES - PART I - PRINCIPLES AND CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURE

An essential component of the utility systems which support the operat ion of most chemical plants involves steam turbine networks. Their des ign and operation affects the overall efficiency of the process and th e cogeneration potential of the plant. This paper proposes a new conce ptual tool for industrial steam turbine networks, which can be used to analyse and optimise their operation and design. Basic concepts are f irst exploited towards a general representation for the operational re gion of the entire network. The representation is then partitioned int o domains of optimality that provide the optimum operation mode for th e network under specific demands. The new tool, termed as Hardware Com posites, involves a graphical construction which is explained along wi th the principles and the rules that underlie the partitioning. The de velopment of the Hardware Composites is illustrated through several ex ample problems with different numbers and types of turbines.;Their use as an analysis and optimisation tool can be extended to large number of applications in coordination with other technologies. Application a reas where the Hardware Composites can be involved are presented in Pa rt II where comparisons with alternative technologies in the form of M INLP are included. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rig hts reserved.