Pinch approach for targeting in multi-contaminant material recycle/reuse network

Abstract

This work presents a systematic resource targeting procedure in the domain of multiple contaminants water recycling/reuse network. A resource-allocation model was developed and modified to determine the model characteristics, to obtain the optimal solution. By inferring from the formulations, it is recognised that each water sink is constrained by a certain contaminant. This plays a vital role in determining the assignment of sinks to the proper contaminants cascade, classifying them to below or above the Pinch Region, and the source allocation strategy. Multiple Targeting Pinch Diagrams with Source and Sink Composite Curves then should be plotted for each contaminant. Each contaminant is assigned a specific separate Pinch Plot and analysed sequentially until the demands of all sinks are fulfilled. The credibility of the novel approach is demonstrated by several industrial case studies encompassing problems with a fresh and impure resource. The method provides insights into the problem while providing the minimum resource target.