Heat Exchanger Network Integration Considering Flow Exergy Loss

This work describes a systematic procedure to integrate a heat exchanger network (HEN) considering heat and flow exergy consumptions. The flow exergy consumption by the HEN is calculated by means of pressure drop correlation and stepwise optimization. Case studies reveal that the flow exergy loss changes the two‐way trade‐off between the operating cost and the capital cost in the traditional method. The introduction of heat exergy loss adds the weight of energy cost by considering both the external utility consumption and internal heat exergy loss in the HEN, which benefits heat recovery and energy conservation at the cost of more area and investment. In contrast, the flow exergy loss shifts the balance to the capital cost by adding the cost relating to area in terms of flow frictional dissipation.