Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 13241333

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Energy conservation in methanol plant using CHP system

Marjan Azadi, Nassim Tahouni , M. Hassan Panjeshahi
School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

h i g h l i g h t s

Feasibility of turbo expander integration with an industrial plant was studied.

Combined pinch-exergy analysis was used to achieve optimum performance of process.

Generation of power led to profitability of gas turbine integrated plant.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 11 June 2015
Revised 10 June 2016
Accepted 4 July 2016
Available online 14 July 2016
Keywords:
Integration of gas turbine
Methanol production process
Energy saving
Combined pinch and exergy analysis
CHP

a b s t r a c t
Today, the efficient use of energy is a significant critical issue in various industries such as petrochemical
industries. Hence, it seems essential to apply proper strategies to reduce energy consumption in such
processes. A methanol production plant at a live Petrochemical Complex was selected as the case study
in this research. The plant was first evaluated with combined pinch and exergy analysis from exergetic
dissipation point of view. Owing to high temperature and pressure of reactor outlet stream, methanol
synthesis reactor products contain considerable content of exergy. For the purpose of the present survey,
the available content of exergy was used for power production by integrating a turbine expander with
methanol reactor product. Utilization of reactor products high pressure in turbine reduces the temperature of turbine outlet stream to levels lower than those required for heating demands of existing streams
in methanol synthesis cycle. Therefore, to keep the stream thermally balanced, the required hot utility of
the process is increased and to compensate this increase, the heat exchanger network of the process was
retrofitted based on pinch analysis concepts. The results showed that in gas turbine integrated scheme,
approximately a net power of 7.5 MW is produced. Also, the total investment of turbine, compressor and
heat exchangers area equals to 18.2  106 US$, and the annual saving value is about 6.1  106 US$/y.
Based on economic data, payback period is estimated to be 3 years.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Energy considerations have always been a significant issue in
almost every industrial process, especially chemical industries processes. The idea of optimization of energy consumption has been
formed with the beginning of energy crisis and intense increment
of oil price in 1970. Hence, industrial countries, in particular,
importers of crude oil and other petroleum products have launched
wide research to achieve novel technologies for energy optimization since then. Because of its application in production of various
products such as solvents, detergents, paints, antifreezes, acetic
acid, and formaldehyde methanol, also known as methyl alcohol,
is a chemical with great importance in petrochemical industries.
It can also be used as liquid fuel or raw material in production of

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ntahuni@ut.ac.ir (N. Tahouni).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.07.023
1359-4311/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

gasoline and olefin. Diversity of methanol derivatives has made it

a strategic product, so its price fluctuation remarkably influences
on other industries. Methanol production plants are considered
to be energy-intensive plants of petrochemical industries, because
huge amount of energy is needed in the form of heating, cooling
and shaft work for each step of process from feed preparation to
purification of desired product such as desulfurization of natural
gas, production of synthesis gas, compression of feed gas, and reactions and distillation of product.
In recent years, widespread researches have been conducted on
reduction of energy consumption in methanol production plants. A
noticeable solution has been the expansion of heat and power coproduction systems which not only causes reduction in fossil fuel
utilization, but also leads to decrease in the emission of greenhouse
gases. Currently, many scientists focus on systems with combined
production of heat and power because of their effects on enhancement of thermodynamic efficiency of processes.

M. Azadi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 13241333

1325

Nomenclature
TLM
T0
DTmin
Tci
Tco
Thi
Tho
P
H
DH
S

logarithmic mean temperature difference (C)

ambient temperature (C)
minimum temperature difference (C)
exchanger cold inlet stream temperature (C)
exchanger cold outlet stream temperature (C)
exchanger hot inlet stream temperature (C)
exchanger hot outlet stream temperature (C)
pressure (kPa)
enthalpy (kW)
enthalpy change (kW)
entropy (kW/K)

In a recent survey, a comparison between stand-alone plants

and polygeneration plant of methanol and power with both recycle
and once-through configuration has been studied from synthesis
gas consumption and catalyst activity points of view [1]. Another
study assesses the configuration of the methanol and power polygeneration system and compares the operability of the combined
system with single production plants by defining such technoeconomical parameter as primary cost saving ratio. Presence or
absence of shift unit and recycling or not recycling the unreacted synthesis gas has a tremendous effect on thermodynamic
performance of the polygeneration system [2]. A noteworthy way
to efficiently use energy in methanol production process is to use
both natural gas and biomass as materials. A study and evaluation
was done on systems using natural gas or biomass, where the
system with utilization of natural gas and biomass served as
co-feedstock. Achieving an optimum natural gas/biomass ratio prevents the system energy wastage and results in omission of additional CO2 [3]. In another study, development of a non-emission
integrated plant for combined production of power and methanol
through utilization of fossil fuel and wind renewable energy has
been carried out and the integrated plant has been analyzed
techno-economically [4].
In the contemporary world, the application of energy conversion devices such as gas turbine cycle and expander gas turbines
is a prevalent method for optimum usage of energy, drawing the
attention of many researchers. Integration of gas turbine with
methanol production plant aiming at co-generation of electricity
is an example of applying an energy conversion device in conventional industrial plants. Some of the studies available in this case
examined the gas turbine integrated process with a mathematical
method called NLP Optimization. In these studies, a mathematical
model was applied to find the optimum value of some key factors
resulting in the increase of methanol production rate, electricity
co-generation, heat integration of streams in exchangers, attainment of optimum flow rate of streams such as purge gas [57].
Utilization of reactor heat by integration of a turbine expander is
another research work with the goal of reduction of compressor
duty without any change in conversion of methanol product. In
fact, in this case study, high recycle ratio and operating pressure
have been exploited for power generation in methanol synthesis
cycle [8]. In another research work [9], a new methodology called
energy level composite curves was developed for investigating
energy integration of intensive process and its proficiency was
probed by exerting it on a methanol case study. Apart from the
abovementioned studies in methanol plants, scientists conducted
surveys on energetic and exergetic performance of various
energy-intensive processes such as ammonia [10,11], phthalic
anhydride [12], and synthesis gas generation [13].
This paper is aimed at investigation of an existing methanol
plant to recognize the potential of the plant available for energetic

DS
W
DEx
O
n
R
NLP
A
LPS
CW

entropy change (kW/K)

power (kW)
exergy change (kW)
energy level
molar flow (mol/s)
universal gas constant (J/mol K)
nonlinear programming
area (m2)
low pressure steam
cooling water

and exergetic improvement through incorporation of an expansion

gas turbine within the process. To achieve this purpose, first of all,
applied theory and methodology of the research which is Combined Pinch and Exergy Analysis will be introduced. Then, a conventional methanol production plant will be evaluated as case
study of the research from shaft work targeting point of view.
Afterward, to take advantage of existing power generation potential of the plant, an expander will be integrated with methanol production cycle. To minimize the exerted changes on the plant due to
integration of the expander, heat exchanger network of plant will
be retrofitted by Pinch method and finally, authenticity of the proposal will be assessed economically.

2. Theory and methodology

2.1. Analogy between gas turbine integrated chemical production cycle
and Brayton cycle
In petrochemical industries, achieving high conversion of desirable product has undoubtedly been a fundamental issue. Accordingly, most exothermic petrochemical processes are operated in a
cycle with the following unit operations: feed and recycle compressors, reaction chamber, heat exchangers, and desired products
separators. A typical exothermic cyclic chemical production process is indicated in Fig. 1. When an exothermic reaction occurs in

Fig. 1. Exothermic cyclic chemical production process.

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M. Azadi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 13241333

Table 1
Operating conditions of existing methanol production cycle streams.
Stream name

Mass flow (kg/s)

Temperature (C)

Pressure (kPa)

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2018
2019
2021
2021-1
SCWS
SCWR
AE-air inlet
AE-air outlet

247.7
247.7
247.7
247.7
247.7
88.94
88.94
171.1
171.1
794.3
794.3
1102
1102

222
175.1
126.2
65
39.73
112
190
55.36
120
35
43
25
121.6

7000
6940
6900
6860
6800
12,450
12,400
7650
7600
450
350
100
100

Table 2
Calculation of O and H for existing cycle.
Fig. 2. Gas turbine integrated chemical production plant.

the reactor, especially in a high pressure one, the reaction heat

should be driven out of the reaction medium to prevent instability
of reaction mixture against temperature rise. To do so, and for the
efficient use of available driving forces, direct conversion of the
reaction heat to power by integration of an expansion gas turbine
is proposed for taking advantage of available heat at high temperature and pressure. When an expansion gas turbine is integrated
immediately after the exothermic reactor, a structural analogy
can be observed between chemical production cycle and Brayton
power cycle and the process fluid goes through the same steps as
the working fluid of Brayton power cycle does. In other words,
the exothermic reactor in the chemical production cycle serves
as the combustion chamber for Brayton cycle, and the heat exchanger as well as the separator act as the heat rejection step in Brayton
cycle. The gas turbine integrated chemical production plant is presented in Fig. 2.
2.2. Combined pinch and exergy analysis
In process design and integration, the designer should have a
deep understanding of the details and the whole process. Therefore, applying conceptual methods can help the designer exert logical changes to the system under study. Pinch and exergy analysis
are two thermodynamically based tools with various usages in
improvement of processes. Pinch analysis is a systematic proce-

Unit operation

Exergy Source
(inlet stream/
outlet stream)

Oin
Oout

Exergy Sink
(inlet stream/
outlet stream)

Oin
Oout

DH (kW)

E-2002

2006
2007

0.398
0.335

2018
2019

0.226
0.356

32,499

E-2003

2007
2008

0.335
0.253

2021
2021-1

0.1
0.242

33,687

AE-2001

2008
2009

0.253
0.118

Air inlet
Air outlet

0
0.245

107,997

E-2006

2009
2010

0.118
0.047

SCWS
SCWR

0.032
0.057

28,733

dure that enables us to target minimum requirements of energy

and heat exchanger network area and to achieve the target values
in design step of a process. The main characteristic of this methodology is the graphical representation of the process via such simple
diagrams as composite curves and grand composite curve [14].
Exergy analysis is another method of evaluation that investigates
both components of energy involved in a system: amount and
potential. Exergy is a quantity based on the second law of thermodynamics and is an appropriate criterion for the measurement of
the irreversibility of a real process that occurs as a result of entropy
in any real process. Hence, exergy is considered to be a suitable
tool to evaluate the process efficiency [15].
Taking into account the strength of both pinch analysis and
exergy analysis, combined pinch and exergy analysis has been

Fig. 3. Process flow sheet of existing methanol production cycle.

M. Azadi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 13241333

1327

Fig. 4. O-H diagram of existing methanol production cycle.

Fig. 5. Grid diagram of existing heat exchanger network.

introduced to compensate the weak point of pinch analysis which

is its deficiency in assessment of processes with composition and
pressure changes common in petrochemical industries, especially
in combined production systems [16,17]. Owing to its substantial
efficiency, this approach is widely used in various fields of process
industries such as chemical plants [18,19] and power plants
[20,21].
2.2.1. The concept and definition of O
A graphical representation called O-H diagram has been
exploited in examination of system efficiency via combined pinch

and exergy analysis. In this diagram, O and H parameters denote

the quality of energy or energy level and the quantity of energy.
The diagram has the capability of specifying the exergy sources
and sinks of the whole process, and based on exergetic definitions,
the area enclosed between exergy sources and sinks indicates the
exergy loss or irreversibility of the process. Based on the primary
definition of energy level which is the ratio of exergy to energy,
O parameter is formulated as follows:

Exergy
Enthalpy

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M. Azadi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 13241333

Fig. 6. Exergy composite curves of existing network at DTmin of 53.94 C.

According to the above definition, for a steady-state nonisenthalpic process stream, O is calculated as below:

DEx
T 0 DS
1
DH
DH

It is worth saying that regardless of the core process that is

always accompanied by changes in composition, no matter how
much the complexity of a combined production system is, it can
be divided into two sub-systems for further investigation: thermal
sub-system (including heat exchangers, boilers, heaters, and coolers) and mechanical sub-system (including turbines, compressors,
and pumps).
For thermal subsystem such as heat exchanger that is only
accompanied by temperature change during the process, O equals
to Carnot Factor:

DH1  TTLM0
DH

1

T0
TLM

Table 3
Operating conditions of gas turbine integrated methanol production cycle streams.
Stream name

Mass flow (kg/s)

Temperature (C)

Pressure (kPa)

2006
2006-1
2007
2008
2009
2010
2018
2019
2021
2021-1
2012
2012-1
2012-2
SCWS
SCWR

247.7
247.7
247.7
247.7
247.7
247.7
88.94
88.94
171.1
171.1
171.1
171.1
171.1
794.3
794.3

222
176.6
142.3
108.4
65
41.79
112
164.6
67.64
120
41.77
86.68
51
35
43

7000
4500
4440
4400
4360
4300
12,450
12,400
7650
7600
4290
6540
6540
450
350

In heat exchanger network, the hot streams passing through

heat exchangers serve as exergy source and the cold streams passing through heat exchangers act as exergy sink, and the difference
of these two values are considered to be exergy loss of heat
exchangers due to temperature driving force [22]. Another way
to demonstrate thermal exergy loss of process is by using pinch

analysis. In this case, the Exergy Composite Curves (ECCs), made

by substitution of Carnot Factor with temperature in Composite
Curves (CCs) [23], plays the same role as the O-H diagram in combined pinch and exergy analysis does. In ECCs, the area between
utility lines and hot and cold exergy composite curve illustrates
the thermal exergy loss of heat exchanger network and this area
is an appropriate criterion for shaft work targeting.

Fig. 7. Process flow sheet of gas turbine integrated with methanol production cycle.

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M. Azadi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 13241333

Table 4
Calculation of O and H for gas turbine integrated plant.

Table 5
Targeting results of integrated plant at DTmin of 12 C.

Unit operation

Exergy Source
(inlet stream/
outlet stream)

Oin
Oout

Exergy Sink
(inlet stream/
outlet stream)

Oin
Oout

DH
(kW)

Turbine

2006
2006-1

1.08

Produced
power

28,238

New
compressor

Consumed
power

2012
2012-1

0.876

21,045

E-2002

2006-1
2007

0.337
0.282

2018
2019

0.226
0.321

22,453

E-2003

2007
2008

0.282
0.218

2021
2021-1

0.125
0.242

26,139

AE-2001

2008
2009

0.218
0.118

Air inlet
Air outlet

0
0.21

90,722

E-2006

2009
2010

0.118
0.053

SCWS
SCWR

0.032
0.057

28,733

For expansion turbine; X


For compressor; X

DEx
DH


T0
T2
P2
nRT 0 ln
ln
T2  T1 T1
P1

Exergy W

1
Energy W

Target
area (m2)

Investment
(US$)

Energy saving
(US$/y)

Payback
(y)

12

10,075

26,610

1,542,047

2,930,120

0.53

Like other methanol production plants under license of Lurgi Company, the plant consists of three major phases:

Synthesis gas production (reforming).

Methanol production.

Methanol purification.



DEx
<1
DH Turbine


>1

To estimate the performance of the process and the correlation

between different parameters, reforming and methanol production
phases were simulated with a commercial simulator software. The
following assumptions were exerted in simulation of the process:

Peng Robinson-RB equation of state was used for calculating
physical properties of process streams.

All compressors performed adiabatically with isentropic efficiency of 85%.

All turbines performed adiabatically with isentropic efficiency
of 90%.

All heat exchangers were simulated based on weighted model.

Compressor

In expansion turbine, expanding process stream or working

fluid is the exergy source and the generated power is the exergy
sink. In compressor, the power consumption is the exergy source
and compressing process stream is the exergy sink. The O value
of the work related to expansion turbine and compressor is
expressed as below:

Target hot
utility (kW)

Utility cost (US$/kW y): LP steam: 222.4 [24], cooling water: 41.5 [25], power: 880
[10].
Heat exchanger capital cost (US$): 8600 + 670 (Area)0.83 [26].

For process streams passing through mechanical sub-system

including expansion turbine and compressor, O can be derived as
follows:


DExTurbine=Compressor H2  H1 1 

DTmin
(C)

3. Case study
3.1. Existing plant
A live Petrochemical Complex which is one of the largest producers of methanol (with production rate of 5000 ton per day) all
over the world is chosen as the case study for the present work.

3.1.1. O-H diagram of existing plant

As it was mentioned before, based on the analogy between gas
turbine integrated chemical production cycle and Brayton power
cycle, the power production potential of methanol synthesis cycle
should be evaluated carefully. To do so, the data required for plotting O-H diagram of methanol synthesis cycle should be extracted
from simulation results. Process flow sheet of existing methanol
production cycle and operating conditions of the cycle streams
are presented in Fig. 3 and Table 1.
For constructing O-H diagram of methanol synthesis cycle,
exergy sources and exergy sinks of the cycle should be identified.
In the cycle, due to its high temperature and pressure, reactor outlet stream which has substantial content of thermal and mechanical exergy is considered as the only source of exergy. Boiler feed
water, recycle stream to synthesis reactor, coolant of air cooler,
and sea cooling water are also considered as sinks of exergy. Based
on the data presented in Table 2, the O-H diagram of the existing
cycle is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 8. O-H diagram of gas turbine integrated methanol production cycle.

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M. Azadi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 13241333

Fig. 9. Pinched grid diagram of gas turbine integrated heat exchanger network at DTmin of 12 C.

Table 6
Characteristics of modified existing and additional heat exchangers.
HEX
Name

Thi
(C)

Tho
(C)

Tci (C)

Tco
(C)

Heat Load
(kW)

Area
(m2)

E-1002
E-1013
E-1014
E-2003
N1
N2
N3
N4
N5
N6

366.75
489.2
357.72
143.2
375
112
445.52
112
112
112

112
445.52
176
112
366.75
94.65
357.72
103.15
51.67
107.99

100
351.95
100
100
164.6
20
100
67.64
39.67
25

351.95
380
330
120
166.7
100
243.8
100
100
100

27,353
2905
11,592
21,830
895
1244
5727
4310
5036
5385

5228.2
87.1
7884
1255.8
9.2
123
123.7
225.6
602.9
2760.9

As can be seen in Fig 4, the area under the source curve demonstrates the total exergy change of reactor outlet stream before
entry to D-2002. But, based on thermodynamic concepts, part of
this available potential which is equal to area under E-2002 and
E-2003 curves, is used by sinks of exergy, and the rest of it, shown
with shaded area in the figure, is considered as exergy loss of this
part of process. By calculating the shaded area of Fig. 4, it can be
said that from 44.94 MW exergy which is available by reactor outlet stream (exergy source), only 15.49 MW is gained by boiler feed
water and recycle stream and the rest which equals to 29.45 MW is
considered as exergy loss of this part of process. Therefore, the
exergetic efficiency of the cycle is 34.47%.

3.1.2. Exergy composite curves of the existing plant

For calculation of thermal exergy loss occurring in heat exchanger network of the existing plant by using exergy composite
curves, the plant should be targeted for achieving minimum temperature difference and pinch point of the network. All targeting
calculations in this research are carried out via heat integration
software PILOT 2.12. The results of targeting indicate that DTmin
of existing network is 53.94 C and the process has pinch point at
hot temperature of 153.94 C and cold temperature of 100 C. Grid
diagram of existing heat exchanger network is presented in Fig. 5.
As it was mentioned in methodology section, by substituting
Carnot Factor with temperature, composite curves of plant change
into exergy composite curves, making it possible to calculate thermal exergy loss of heat exchanger network by measuring the area
enclosed by exergy composite curves and utility curves. Exergy
composite curves of existing network at DTmin of 53.94 C are
shown in Fig. 6.
3.2. Modified plant
Given the main purpose of this research, for recovering exergy
loss of the process, integration of a gas turbine with outlet stream
of methanol synthesis reactor is recommended. Process flow sheet
of gas turbine integrated methanol synthesis cycle is presented in
Fig. 7 and the operating conditions of gas turbine integrated cycle
are presented in Table 3. As can be seen in Fig. 7, gas turbine is
located exactly after methanol synthesis reactor and exploits high
pressure and temperature of reactor product for power generation.
It should be stated that for compensating the pressure drop due to

M. Azadi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 13241333

1331

Fig. 10. Final grid diagram of gas turbine integrated heat exchanger network.

Fig. 11. Exergy composite curves of gas turbine integrated network at DTmin of 12 C.

the presence of gas turbine, recycle stream should be compressed

in a new compressor after separation of crude methanol and purge
of gas from it.
After the gas turbine is placed, the most influential parameter
which directly affects the outlet temperature of gas turbine, compressor power consumption, and gas turbine power generation is
outlet pressure of gas turbine and should be fixed carefully. Applying sensitivity analysis on methanol synthesis cycle revealed that a
maximum amount of net power generation is gained at turbine
outlet pressure of 4500 kPa.

3.2.1. O-H diagram of gas turbine integrated plant

After gas turbine and new compressor are added to the existing
plant, plotting O-H diagram of new plant would help gain a considerable understanding of plant from exergy loss aspect. On the basis
of calculated values presented in Table 4, O-H diagram of gas turbine integrated methanol production cycle is demonstrated in
Fig. 8.
As it is obvious in Fig. 8, a considerable amount of exergy content
of source stream is recovered by incorporating a gas turbine in the
existing plant. In this figure, rectangular areas are indicative of

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M. Azadi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 13241333

Fig. 12. O-H diagram of modified methanol production cycle.

Table 7
Results of comparison of O-H diagrams for base case and modified plant.
Case

Shaft work (kW)

Exergy loss (kW)

Exergy efficiency (%)

Base case
Retrofitted
case

0
7460

29,450
21,432

34.47
65.22

Table 8
Result of comparison of exergy composite curves for base case and modified plant.
Case

Exergy loss (kW)

Exergy efficiency (%)

Base case
Retrofitted case

90,171
79,140

66
69

exergy loss in gas turbine and new compressor and other shaded
areas are indicative of exergy loss in thermal subsystem of the cycle.
3.2.2. Effect of gas turbine presence on heat exchanger network
When gas turbine is integrated with methanol production cycle,
temperature of process gas emitting from the turbine (T = 176.6 C)
is not as high as outlet reactor temperature stream before being
integrated with gas turbine (T = 222 C). This process stream
should preheat the boiler feed water (BFW) of process from
112 C to 190 C, but as it lost part of its thermal energy during
its expansion in gas turbine, it is not able to heat up the BFW to
its desired value. Since any small changes in operating condition
of BFW lead to huge changes in steam network of process, BFW
should reach its approximate target temperature. To do so, the
hot utility value of plant should be increased. The results indicate
that integration of gas turbine with process leads to increase in
hot utility value from 9637 kW to 20,607 kW. In addition, after
integrating the gas turbine, because of temperature drop of turbine
outlet stream, power consumption of air cooler which cools down
the process stream (AE-2001) is reduced by 246.12 kW. Beside, in
new configuration of the plant, a hot stream between new and
old compressor is added to system. All these modifications result
in changes in plant stream data and properties compared to the

Table 9
Investment cost of unit operations.

Gas turbine
Compressor
Heat exchanger
Total investment

Capacity (kW)

Cost ($)

28,430
20,970

10.6 e6
6.3 e6
1.3 e6
18.2 e6

Table 10
Energy saving data.

Additional hot utility (LPS)

Additional cold utility (CW)
Net shaft work
Air cooler saving
Total saving

Amount (kW)

Cost ($/y)

438
13,320
7460
246.12

98,287
552,780
6,564,800
216,586
6,130,319

existing plant. To minimize additional hot utility, heat exchanger

network of plant is retrofitted using concepts of pinch analysis.
On the basis of results obtained from range targeting of gas turbine
integrated process, choosing DTmin of 12 C as the operating point
of plant leads to achievement of appropriate values of investment,
saving, and payback period. Targeting results of integrated plant at
DTmin of 12 C are presented in Table. 5.
3.2.3. Heat exchanger network retrofit of gas turbine integrated plant
For modifying heat exchanger network of gas turbine integrated
plant, the network is shown on a pinched grid diagram at DTmin of
12 C in Fig. 9.
As presented in the figure, E-1002, E-2003, and E-1014 are
cross-pinch heat exchanger and should be shifted to one side of
pinch border and also E-1022 and E-1020 are wrongly installed
heaters based on pinch rules, and should be omitted from left side
of pinch border. Correcting the mentioned exchangers causes some
changes in area, heat load, and middle temperatures of streams
and also appears heat pockets on some part of the network. By
adding new heat exchange areas, these gaps would be eliminated

M. Azadi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 13241333

from network and then the network should be evaluated for breaking thermal loop to the extent possible. Characteristics of modified
and new heat exchangers are presented in Table 6 and final modified network is shown in Fig. 10.
Total sum of additional area equals to 8633.3 m2, indicating a
10% difference with targeted area which is equal to 7810.3 m2.
After exerting final modifications on process, exergy composite
curves and O-H diagram of modified plant are indicated in Figs. 11
and 12 for analyzing final configuration of plant from exergetic
view point.
4. Results and discussion
Analyzing the O-H diagram of both base case and modified process reveals that in the modified process, the amount of exergy loss
is considerably reduced and consequently, the modified process
has an exergetic efficiency higher than that of the base case. Based
on comparison between X-H diagram of methanol synthesis loop
in base case and retrofitted case and calculation of area enclosed
by exergy source and sink diagrams, it can be perceived about
29 MW exergy losses in base case cycle due to the lack of proper
utilization of mechanical potential of the reactor outlet stream.
While, by integration of a turbine expander with this stream about
7.5 MW shaft work is recovered. This will lead to the increase of
exergetic efficiency of the cycle about 30%. This owes to the fact
that in the modified process, by generation of shaft work, the
remarkable potential of reactor outlet stream related to its high
pressure is gained by incorporation of gas turbine in process. The
results of comparison of these two cases are presented in Table 7.
In addition to exergy analysis of methanol synthesis cycle via OH diagram, the exergy loss of the heat exchanger network of the
whole process can be evaluated by drawing exergy composite
curves. On the basis of Fig. 6, the total exergy loss of base case
process is 90,171 kW, while after exerting final modification on
the process, the amount of exergy loss decreases to 79,140 kW.
The main reason for reduction of exergy loss in the retrofitted case
is that after modifying the heat exchanger network by Pinch
method, heat transfer between hot and cold streams takes place
more monotonically and this is owed to the fact that by employing
Pinch analysis, heat transfer in the exchanger network of the plant
will be closer to the ideal state. The results of exergetic evaluation
of base case and the modified exergy composite curves are illustrated in Table 8.
In order to assess the authenticity of the proposed plan, the final
step of this research is allocated to the economic evaluation of process. Items which should be taken into consideration in the investment and saving evaluation are gas turbine cost (based on its
power production rate), compressor cost (based on gas flow rate),
additional heat exchanger area cost, additional hot and cold utilities, and reduction of air cooler power consumption. All these
items are presented in Tables 9 and 10.
As can be seen in Tables 9 and 10, on the basis of total investment and total annual saving values which are 18.2  106 US$
and 6.1  106 US$/y, respectively, payback period of proposed plan
is estimated to be about 3 years.
5. Conclusion
This paper provides a research aiming at enhancement of exergetic efficiency and saving the energy of a methanol production
plant by power generation through integration of a gas turbine
with an existing methanol plant. To have adequate understanding
about the process, the plant is investigated with combined pinch
and exergy approach by plotting O-H diagram of methanol synthesis cycle and exergy composite curves of the whole heat exchanger

1333

network. Calculation of areas enclosed by these diagrams makes it

easy to diagnose power generation potential of the plant. After
integration of gas turbine with the existing plant and determining
the optimum outlet pressure of gas turbine to achieve the highest
shaft work value, hot utility of the process is increased, because the
plant is not able to fulfill its heating demand owing to temperature
drop of gas turbine outlet stream. To compensate this addition, the
existing heat exchanger network is retrofitted by adding heat
exchanger area to the network. After modifying the gas turbine
integrated plant, economical calculations state that the total
investment value of 18.2  106 US$ and total annual saving of
6.1  106 US$/y accompany the payback period of around 3 years
for this plan.
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