Martin Treitz

Towards sustainable production networks

With the advent of more advanced process models and computational power, process integration technologies have gained in importance in improving production networks to a more sustainable production. The pinch analysis approach from the chemical engineering field in connection with multi-criteria analysis provides a consistent assessment method for different mass and energy flows within a company, an industry park or even throughout a supply chain network. It consequently strives for a more comprehensive approach to optimize the systems performance as opposed to focusing on single operational units. The advantage of the pinch analysis can be seen in the determination of the theoretical optimum for a given set of heat and material streams. The approach is illustrated in this by a case study on a bicycle company in China, where target values were identified for heat integration, water management and solvents recovery. A subsequent multi-criteria analysis facilitates the selection of a preferred option by combining the different target values and investigating the overall optimization potential of different process design options.

Integrated technique assessment based on the pinch analysis approach for the design of production networks

Abstract Integrated Process Design aims at a holistic approach to process design, retrofitting, and operations planning. Cost and energy “targets” (i.e. the minimum possible values for these objectives) can be calculated based on pinch technology, which defines the enthalpy at which the hot and cold process streams are separated by the minimum temperature difference in heat exchanger networks. This approach is well established in process engineering and has recently been expanded to mass pinch analysis. The combination of engineering, process integration and Operations Research allows the consideration of a variety of economic and environmental process attributes for an integrated technique assessment, as a case study in the sector of automotive serial coating shows.

Production planning by pinch analysis for biomass use in dynamic and seasonal markets

The planning of production capacity has been extensively discussed in the literature. Seasonal demand of products or seasonal availability of input materials can make the problem even more challenging, due to a constant need for capacity adjustments. For example, the energetic or industrial use of biomass has several distinct characteristics in contrast to conventional chemical processes, such as a time dependent availability of raw materials. Therefore, suitable planning tools are required that take into account the dynamics of the production system (for example, by following the seasons and the yearly changes). Thus a recently proposed heuristic approach for aggregate production planning when facing a seasonal demand is analysed. This method is inspired by the graphical pinch analysis from chemical engineering; it is first illustrated with data from a bicycle company facing seasonal demand showing its plainness and some limitations. Then the transfer to situations with seasonal supplies of input materials is presented, as for biomass use in dynamic and seasonal markets. Using these applications, the simple heuristic, its limits and its benefits are put up for discussion.

Moderated Decision Support and Countermeasure Planning for Off-Site Emergency Management

Emergency situations, both man-made and natural, can vary substantially, however, they do share the characteristic of sudden onset and the necessity for a coherent and effective emergency management. In the event of a nuclear or radiological accident in Europe, the real-time on-line decision support system RODOS provides support from the early phase through to the medium and long-term phases.

Multi Objective Pinch Analysis (MOPA) for Integrated Process Design

The combination of process integration and Operations Research enables an integrated technique assessment and a subsequent process design. The application of Multi Objective Pinch Analysis (MOPA) permits the identification of overall saving potentials for energy, water and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). In this paper the general concept of MOPA is described and its application is shown in its first steps for a bicycle coating plant in Chile.

Multi Objective Pinch Analysis (MOPA) Using PROMETHEE to Evaluate Resource Efficiency

Process optimisation on the basis of detailed process characteristics requires the simultaneous consideration of different mass and energy flows and leads to a multi-criteria problem. Different technological options can be compared based on targets calculated by pinch analyses and further criteria. The approach is applied to a case study on bicycle coating.

Technique assessment for eco-industrial parks in China

The planning of large scale industrial parks in China began in the 1980s. The circular economy, especially in eco-industrial parks, is supported; thus the need for technique assessment methods for cleaner production measures in such complex production networks. This paper presents the concept of the multi objective pinch analysis (MOPA), which consists of a combination of pinch analyses with different targets (energy consumption, wastewater generation, consumption of solvents, etc.) and a subsequent multi-criteria analysis. The starting point for its development was the fact that pinch analyses are well-established tools for plant layout design in large chemical installations, whereas such support for small and medium sized enterprises (SME) is still lacking. With the proliferation of industry parks (especially in industrialising countries) and the agglomeration of SME in close neighbourhoods, the potential arises for a coupling of by-product streams for reuse, once a critical mass is reached. In such production networks, various kinds of process streams exist, which call for the various types of pinch analysis. The application of MOPA is demonstrated in a case study on bicycle coating.

Modeling and Integrated Assessment of Mass and Energy Flows within Supply Chains

For an integrated assessment of mass and energy flows the specification and detailed mapping of the technical requirements and the material properties is essential. Integrated process design of supply chain structures aims at a holistic approach to process design and operations planning, since changes in materials and operating states influence the whole supply chain. The combination of methods of process integration and Operations Research (OR) in Multi Objective Pinch Analysis (MOPA) allows the consideration of a variety of economic and environmental process attributes for an integrated technique assessment. Consequently, the focus here will be the development of a method for optimizing inter-enterprise plant layout planning in dynamic mass flow networks.

Integrated process design for the inter-company plant layout planning of dynamic mass flow networks. PepOn

Inter-company production networks can improve the resource efficiency of production processes. This book shows the results of the research project Integrated Process Design for the Inter-Company Plant Layout Planning of Dynamic Mass Flow Networks (PepOn). A systematic approach for process design for the best utilisation of process streams based on multiple pinch analyses is proposed for a holistic evaluation of process alternatives and for determining saving potentials for production networks.

Production Planning in Dynamic and Seasonal Markets

In chemical engineering, pinch analysis holds a long tradition as a method for determining optimal target values for heat or mass exchanger networks by calculating an optimal alignment of available flows. A graphical representation of the time-material production relationship derived from the original pinch analysis can be used for aggregate production planning. This can deliver insights in the production planning problem as several production strategies can be compared. The approach is applied to a case study on bicycle coating.