Water and energy integration: A comprehensive literature review of non-isothermal water network synthesis

•A comprehensive review of the synthesis of non-isothermal water networks is presented.•Review includes studies based on pinch analysis, mathematical programming or their combination.•Review highlights possible future directions and challenges within non-isothermal water networks.

Synthesis of non-isothermal water networks consisting of water-usage, wastewater treatment, and heat exchanger networks has been recognised as an active research field in process systems engineering. However, only brief overviews of this important field have so far been provided within the literature. This work presents a systematic and comprehensive review of papers published over the last two decades and highlights possible future directions within this field. This review can be useful for researchers and engineers interested in water and energy integration within process water networks using systematic methods based on pinch analysis, mathematical programming, and their combination. We believe that this research field will continue to be active in the near future due to the importance of simultaneous optimisation of process, water and energy integration for achieving profitability and sustainability within process industries.

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