Ishaq  Alhassan Mohammed, Abubakar  Garba Isah, Oluwatosin  Sarafa Azeez, Danjuma  Mohammed Kolo, Kolawole  Rasheed Onifade, 
    Pinch Analysis of Crude Distillation Unit using the HINT Software and Comparison with
Nonlinear Programming Technique,
    Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences,
    Volume 15,Issue 19,
    2020,
    Pages 3414-3423,
    ISSN 1816-949x,
    jeasci.2020.3414.3423,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=jeasci.2020.3414.3423)
    Abstract: In this study, the effectiveness of HINT was
first verified by the application to a case study
investigated for minimum area target and then applied to
a Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) after obtaining a
satisfactory solution which was within 1% when
compared with existing solution for minimum area target.
The HINT package accomplished the maximum heat
recovery between the hot streams and the cold streams
and later identified the utility required for the heat balance
in the Heat Exchanger Networks (HENs). Pinch analysis
of the CDU plant showed that both hot and cold utilities
are still needed after the maximum energy recovery
between all the hot streams and all the cold streams
present in the HENs synthesized. The total hot utility
required was found to be 4.99&times;108 kJ h<sup>&#150;1</sup> while that of
cold utility was 5.08&times;108 kJ h<sup>&#150;1</sup>. The &#916;T<sub>min</sub> that gives the
minimum total annual cost was found to be 2.95 K
and the corresponding total annualized cost was
$4.88 million/year. The findings also revealed that HINT
is capable of returning solutions that are comparable with
those of mathematical based techniques such as the
Nonlinear Programming (NLP) technique used as a basis
for comparison.
    Keywords: crude distillation unit;HINT;Pinch analysis;NLP;HENs