PINCH ANALYSIS- A STATE OF THE RRT REVIEW

The present paper attempts to give a state-of-the-art overview. It gives a summary of key established concepts with special emphasis on those concepts which are less well known than others. This is followed by a description of eight recent developments. Some of these developments sharpen the focus of the established concepts, others widen the scope. All of them follow the established pattern of Pinch Analysis of setting targets prior to design. The eight developments are: pressure drop optimization; batch process integration; multiple base case design; water and waste water minimization; distillation column profiles; total site integration; low temperature process design; and emissions targeting. The paper concentrates on the essence not the detail. Case studies are described and scope and impact of practical applications are assessed. For details of methodology, the reader is referred to the relevant references. To complete the overview, the paper provides a comprehensive summary of previous literature. (author)