A process integration design method for water conservation and wastewater reduction in industry

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses an operational technique for applying mass integration design in industries with special focus on water conservation and wastewater reduction. The technique comprises of two-stage graphical approach. In the first stage, the water pinch diagram is used to identify key design targets, such as the minimum amount of fresh water required by the studied system, the amount of water recycle and reuse that is achievable, and the water quality concentration bottleneck. Practical key insights provided by the water pinch diagram are discussed. In the second stage, source-sink mapping diagrams are used to identify the water recycle and reuse network, and any alternative networks, that achieve the identified targets. This approach has been used for continuous processes in the United States and batch processes in Denmark independently and is found to be the most operational and cost-beneficial for both applications.