*2.3.2 Solution methodology*

For each process within the site, Pinch analysis (Linnhoff et al., 1983) are often accustomed to set the minimum energy targets through thermo-economic analysis of potential recovery and process integration, and to spot heat exchanger network design and synthesis opportunities. All processes heat flow above and below the process pinch temperature is summed up for every temperature interval to get the site sink and source profiles respectively. Transfer of heat between the site source and sink streams takes place through the utility system, the quantity of heat recovery being estimated by the overlap between the two profiles. It also links the likelihood of cogeneration within the site supported by the design of the utility system. The methodology shown in **Figure 4** uses an iterative procedure to get targets for various utility system configurations and feedback among the systems. Many commercial software is accessible for heat integration within a process but only some for the site

**Figure 4.**

*Pinch methodology to achieve energy efficient facility design.*

integration, none is out there for the utility synthesis. Even commercially available software has limitations in automatic design generation and would better utilized by the expert within the field [9–11].
