DETERMINATION OF INDEPENDENT LOOPS IN HEAT EXCHANGER NETWORKS

Abstract

The identification of independent loops consists of two stages: (a) finding a maximal tree for a network, and (b) obtaining a maximal set of independent loops. The conduction and proof of the proposed algorithm are provided. A new equation for determining the number of independent loops in a HEN is developed. Discussions about the determination of independent loops of HENs with splitting streams are presented. It is shown that to achieve small energy penalty during the simplification of HENs by using loop-breaking, loops which include only cold streams (or only hot streams) should not be excluded from the set of independent loops.

Keywords:

• Heat exchanger networks
• loop-breaking
• independent loops
• loop addition

Notes

Leave absence from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.

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