Pinch analysis

The gradual depletion of fossil fuels, the increase in greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change, and the health and environmental impacts of pollutant emissions have already profoundly changed the paradigms of energy research. Energy systems are being re-examined and redesigned with a view to radically improving their energy and environmental efficiency. Other essential criteria such as cost, compactness, tightness, flexibility, and controllability are leading to new developments with successive levels of system integration.

The pinch method enables systemic analysis of thermal operations in industrial processes. This method, which is based on the first law of thermodynamics, is essentially a graphical method that identifies the minimum energy required for a set of heating and cooling operations while indicating the potential for direct heat recovery. Applying the second law of thermodynamics makes it possible to graphically identify the best technical options for heating and cooling while reducing exergy destruction.

The use of mathematical and numerical optimization methods broadens the scope of this method to include technological and economic aspects.