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Contenuto archiviato il 2024-06-11

Water pinch : simultaneous energy and water use minimisation

Obiettivo



Objectives

The objective of the project is to develop new design methods, supported by software, for combined energy and water management. The purpose is to minimise energy consumption, fresh water use, wastewater generation whilst minimising the cost of disposal of any waste generated. Both continuous and batch/semicontinuous processes are addressed. This novel concept for combined minimisation of energy and water consumption will also be extended for use in the Pulp and Paper Industry. Where the objective is to decrease energy consumption by a minimum of 20%.
The semicontinuous and batch processes targeted for the food and drink industries also offer the potential for significant reductions of about 40% in water and 60% in energy consumption.

Technical Approach

Pinch analysis is well established for studying heat recovery in the process industries. This method has now been extended to the problem of water and wastewater minimisation. Water use can be minimised by re-use, or by regeneration, followed by either re-use or recycling. The methodology first sets concentration limits for contaminants for each water-using operation. Knowing the flow rate of water to each operation allows a concentration composite curve to be plotted. Matching a water supply line against the concentration composite curve allows the target for maximum water re-use to be set. Design methods allow the targets for minimum water use to be set. Many uses of water in the process industries require the water to be heated. Water re-use enables direct heat recovery. This requires simultaneous consideration of both the level of contamination and temperature. The recovery of heat can be direct by re-use or indirect using heat exchangers. To analyse this problem the two methodologies for energy and water minimisation must be merged into a new one.

Expected Achievements and Exploitation

New methods for combined minimisation of energy and water consumption based on this novel concept will be available for use in industry. Energy will be saved and possible surplus energy used to reduce the use of fresh water by purifying and recycling process wastewaters. Up to 100% recycling is a real possibility.
The Pulp and Paper Plant of the future will require full wastewater recirculation. In order to achieve this, the energy consumption of the plant may increase. Consequently, economic viability will depend upon major energy efficiency improvements. Semicontinuous and batch processes (e.g. speciality chemicals, brewing and food processing) are characterised by a variety of reaction steps, solvents, or separation methods for the recovery and purification of the products. As a result, a variety of aqueous effluents are created. Any systematic effort must therefore be concentrated on a realistic water management scheme based on economic appraisal of different options, and a processing optimisation scheme guided by minimum pollution. The food and drink industry offers great potential for exploitation of the technology.

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Coordinatore

University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST)
Contributo UE
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Indirizzo
Sackville Street
M60 1QD Manchester
Regno Unito

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Costo totale

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Partecipanti (7)

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