Centralised utility system planning for a Total Site Heat Integration network

Total Site Heat Integration (TSHI) is a technique of exchanging heat among multiple processes via a centralised utility system. An analysis of the integrated multiple processes, also known as the Total Site (TS) system sensitivity, is needed to characterise the effects of a plant maintenance shutdown, to determine the operational changes needed for the utility production and to plan mitigation actions. This paper presents an improved Total Site Sensitivity Table (TSST) to be used as a systematic tool for this purpose. The TSST can be used to consider various ‘what if’ scenarios. This tool can be used to determine the optimum size of a utility generation system, to design the backup generators and piping needed in the system and to assess the external utilities that might need to be bought and stored. The methodology is demonstrated by using an Illustrated Case Study consisting of three processes. During the TS normal operation, the Total Site Problem Table Algorithm (TS-PTA) shows that the system requires 1065 kW of High Pressure Steam and 645.5 kW of Medium Pressure Steam as the heating utility, while for the cooling utility, 553.5 kW of Low Pressure Steam and 3085 kW of cooling water are required. The results of the modified TSST proposed that a boiler and a cooling tower with the system design requiring a maximum capacity of 2.172 MW of steam and 4.1865 MW of cooling water are needed to ensure an operational flexibility between the three integrated processes.