On the use of heat belts for energy integration across many plants in the total site

Abstract

Indirect heat integration across plants using intermediate fluids is, in many cases, a preferable alternative to direct integration. Previous work has discussed the use of independent circuits capable of transferring the maximum possible heat. Piping cost and the location of the plants were proven an important factor when intermediate fluids are used. This paper analyzes the concept of a 'heat belt' that consists of a single-pipe circuit used to extract heat from and release it to the plants. Since a general model is MINLP, the analysis focuses on the particular case of three plants for which an MILP model can be formulated.