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Analysis, synthesis and optimization of complex cooling water systems

Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013.

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Other Authors: Majozi, Thokozani
Format: Thesis
Language:Eng
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Majozi, Thokozani
author_browse Majozi, Thokozani
author_facet Majozi, Thokozani
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria
description Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language Eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:40:30.132Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/32820 Analysis, synthesis and optimization of complex cooling water systems Majozi, Thokozani u29665893@tuks.co.za Gololo, Khunedi Vincent Cooling water systems Optimization of heat exchanger network Optimization of the cooling towers Multiple cooling towers Heat exchangers UCTD Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. Cooling water systems are used to remove excess heat from a chemical process to the atmosphere. The primary components of these systems are the cooling tower and the heat exchanger network. There is a strong interaction between these individual components, thus their performances are interrelated. Most published research in this area has focused mainly on optimization of the individual components i.e. optimization of heat exchanger network or optimization of the cooling towers. This approach does not optimize the cooling water system as a whole. Previous research work in which a holistic approach was used is limited to cooling water systems with single cooling water source. This work presents a technique for integrated optimization of complex cooling water systems. The system under consideration consists of multiple cooling towers each supplying a set of heat exchangers. A superstructural approach is employed to explore all possible combinations between the heat exchangers and the cooling towers. The cooling water reuse opportunities within the heat exchanger networks are also explored. A detailed mathematical model consisting of the cooling towers and the heat exchanger networks model is developed. Two practical scenarios are considered and the mathematical formulations for Case I and II yield nonlinear programing (NLP) and mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) structure respectively. Although the reuse/recycle philosophy offers a good debottlenecking opportunity, the topology of the associated cooling water network is more complex, hence prone to higher pressure drop than the conventional parallel design. This is due to an increased network pressure drop associated with additional reuse/recycle streams. Therefore, it is essential to consider pressure drop during the synthesis of cooling water networks where the reuse/recycle philosophy is employed. The on-going research in this area is only limited to cooling water networks consisting of a single cooling water source. The common technique used is mathematical optimization using either superstructural or non superstructural approach. This work further presents a mathematical technique for pressure drop optimization in cooling water systems consisting of multiple cooling towers. The proposed technique is based on the Critical Path Algorithm and the superstructural approach. The Critical Path Algorithm is used to select the cooling water network with minimum pressure drop whilst the superstructural approach allows for cooling water reuse. The technique which was previously used in a cooling water network with single source is modified and applied in a cooling water network with multiple sources. The mathematical formulation is developed considering two cases. Both cases yield mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) models. The cooling tower model is also used to predict the exit condition of the cooling tower given the inlet conditions from the cooling water network model. The results show up to 29% decrease in total circulating cooling water flowrate when the cooling water system is debottlenecked without considering pressure drop. Consequently, the overall cooling towers effectiveness was improved by up to 5%. When considering pressure drop the results showed up to 26% decrease in total circulating water flowrate. gm2013 Chemical Engineering unrestricted 2013-12-10T08:49:42Z 2013-12-10T08:49:42Z 2013-09-04 2013 Thesis Gololo, K.V. 2013, Analysis, synthesis and optimization of complex cooling water systems, PhD thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/32820> D13/9/1041/gm http://hdl.handle.net/2263/32820 Eng © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Cooling water systems
Optimization of heat exchanger network
Optimization of the cooling towers
Multiple cooling towers
Heat exchangers
UCTD
Analysis, synthesis and optimization of complex cooling water systems
title Analysis, synthesis and optimization of complex cooling water systems
title_full Analysis, synthesis and optimization of complex cooling water systems
title_fullStr Analysis, synthesis and optimization of complex cooling water systems
title_full_unstemmed Analysis, synthesis and optimization of complex cooling water systems
title_short Analysis, synthesis and optimization of complex cooling water systems
title_sort analysis synthesis and optimization of complex cooling water systems
topic Cooling water systems
Optimization of heat exchanger network
Optimization of the cooling towers
Multiple cooling towers
Heat exchangers
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/32820