Heat exchanger network synthesis based on environmental impact minimization

This article presents a mathematical model for heat exchanger network synthesis with environmental and economic impacts considered simultaneously, and an example of its application is presented. The mathematical model deals with environmental impact as a factor of objective function. At first, economic and environmental factors are normalized by their maximum values over the parameter space (ΔT _min). On this basis, economic and environmental values are converted into hundred-mark scores, respectively. Finally, the economic and environmental scores are aggregated into a single objective function using proper quantitative weight attributes. The maximum benefits of the economy and the environment are obtained by trading off between the two indices. Numerical results demonstrate that when the new ΔT _min is less than that of the primary system, waste release decreases dramatically.