Synthesis of flexible heat exchanger networks for multiperiod operation

This paper addresses the problem of synthesizing heat exchanger networks that have the flexibility of coping with prespecified changes in flowrates, inlet temperatures and outlet temperatures in a finite sequence of time periods. A v multiperiod version of the mixed integer linear programming (MILP) transshipment model is presented which accounts for the changes in pinch points and utility requirement at each tjme period. Using this model as a basis, a systematic procedure is proposed for synthesizing network configurations that require minimum utility cost for each period of operation and involve the fewest number of units. Application of this synthesis procedure is illustrated with two example problems.