Energy optimization by using pinch analysis for chlorination process in glove manufacturing plant

Abstract

The manufacturing industry has been driven to reduce its energy use due to the rising cost of fossil fuels and their detrimental environmental impact. Energy audits are frequently used to improve energy efficiency. Most audits, on the other hand, do not include a comprehensive review of design features for optimal energy efficiency. In thermochemical industries, pinch technology analysis, which includes heat exchanger design and retrofits, is becoming more common as a way to enhance energy efficiency. Investigations into pinch analysis have been conducted in a number of industrial and processing facilities. However, no research on pinch analysis studies in the chlorination process in glove manufacturing plant has been reported. Therefore, the use of pinch technology analysis to chlorination process in a glove manufacturing plant is presented in this study. With the help of HINT software, the goal of this study is to use a model to optimize the heat exchanger network of chlorination process in the glove manufacturing plant and to estimate the minimum cost required for the heat exchanger network without compromising the energy demand by each stream. In order to increase the energy efficiency, retrofit analysis is done for the existing system in the plant and grassroot design will be created for chlorination process setup for the upcoming new glove manufacturing plants. From the study, the improved HEN in the retrofit design shows theoretical saving of energy cost by $ 278,630.17 per year and necessary capital investment is $ 175,056 with the payback period of 0.63 years. The total energy savings obtained from the retrofit design is estimated around 58.41% from the initial operating costs of old system. In addition, the grassroot HEN diagram for the new plant setup estimated to save maximum theoretical recoverable energy around 14,617,960 kW per year with the total cost of $ 475,083.70 per year. Based on the savings and investment made for the new setup, the payback period is around 1.83 years.