A Novel Mass-Heat Exchange Network Analogy, Regression, and Synthesis Method for Mass Exchanger Networks

Abstract

The mass exchanger network (MEN) synthesis is significant for material savings and pollution reduction in process industries. Considering its small magnitude and the concentration constraints, the optimized MEN configuration could easily violate the concentration constraints, leading to a reduction in the structural diversity during the optimization process compared to that of an heat exchanger network （HEN）of the same size. Moreover, the constraint on the mass transfer driving force based on the equilibrium composition might also have major effects on the optimization process. To address this, this paper presents a process-equipment-system analogy between the MEN and the HEN, proposing a novel mass-heat exchange network analogy, regression, and synthesis method. First, the generalized HEN was established by an analogy considering the MEN based on either the original or the equilibrium compositions. In this regard, a coordination coefficient was introduced to correct the deviation of the analogy relationship between the heat transfer and the mass transfer processes. Then, the generalized HEN was optimized by employing the random walk algorithm with compulsive evolution (RWCE). A regression method was proposed to regress the optimized HEN solution to the MEN expression, allowing the continuous optimization by the RWCE with finer parameters. The final optimal solution obtained is found to be lower than those reported in the literature with enhanced structural diversity, demonstrating the method’s effectiveness and providing new ideas for further synchronous optimization of combined heat and mass exchanger networks.

Keywords: mass exchanger network, heat exchanger network, mass-heat analogy, Optimization