Definition of a Robustness Indicator for Assessment of Heat Exchanger Network Performances

Lucille Payet (1) , Raphaële Théry Hétreux (1) , Gilles Hetreux (1) , Pascal Floquet (1)

1 LGC - Laboratoire de Génie Chimique

Due to process variabilities and operational modifications, operation parameters of the HEN may alter its output temperatures. Flexibility of HEN refers to the ability of a system to operate for a finite number of points. The first level of flexibility concerns the robustness (ability of the system to absorb disturbances without changing utility flowrates). Assuming that some parameters p vary with a normal distribution characterized by its mean value pmean and standard deviation psd, a linear system is solved where the left-hand term involves matrices representing the HEN (fluctuations of the HEN characteristics, except topology) and right-hand side involves fluctuations of input temperatures of the HEN. Due to this linear formulation, the normally distributed inputs also propagate along a normal distribution output temperatures. A robustness criterion is then defined evaluating the probability of a selected critical value output distribution to fall within a predefined interval. This robustness criterion can only be significant when a thorough data analysis is carried out to identify the relevant perturbations and their frequency of occurrence.

Mots clés: Heat Exchanger Network Flexibility; Robustness Heat integration; Mixed Integer Linear Programming

Domaines: Génie chimique; Génie des procédés

Lucille Payet, Raphaële Théry Hétreux, Gilles Hetreux, Pascal Floquet. Definition of a Robustness Indicator for Assessment of Heat Exchanger Network Performances. Computer Aided Chemical Engineering, 2017, 40, pp.1813-1818. ⟨10.1016/B978-0-444-63965-3.50304-4⟩. ⟨hal-01886952⟩