CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS  
 

VOL. 52, 2016 

A publication of 

 

The Italian Association 
of Chemical Engineering 
Online at www.aidic.it/cet 

Guest Editors: Petar Sabev Varbanov, Peng-Yen Liew, Jun-Yow Yong, Jiří Jaromír Klemeš, Hon Loong Lam 
Copyright © 2016, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l., 

ISBN 978-88-95608-42-6; ISSN 2283-9216 

Sequential Initialisation Technique for Synthesising Multi-

Period Multiple Utilities Heat Exchanger Networks 

Adeniyi J. Isafiade*a, Oludare J. Odejobib 

aDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, South Africa  
bDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. 

 Aj.isafiade@uct.ac.za 

This paper presents a new method for synthesizing heat exchanger networks involving multi-period operations 

and multiple utilities. Since process parameters, such as streams’ flowrate and supply/target temperatures, in 

multi-period operations usually fluctuate around some nominal conditions, the synthesis models developed for 

their optimisation need to ensure that the heat load requirement of every stream in every period of operation is 

satisfied. Solving problems of this nature is not a trivial task due to the presence of multiple periods of 

operations. The complexity is further compounded in situations where multiple options of utilities are involved 

in the optimisation task. Hence in this paper, a new synthesis method which involves firstly, solving single 

period models for each period of operation in the problem, after which the selected matches from each of the 

single period solution are systematically used to initialise the multi-period superstructure. Contrary to existing 

methods where utilities are placed or appended only in the first and last stage of the multi-period 

superstructure model, the newly presented method positions utilities in all stages of the superstructure where 

process streams of the opposite kind exist. The new approach is applied to two examples and the solutions 

obtained demonstrate the benefits of the method.    

1. Introduction 

Energy using processes such as those found in chemical and petroleum industries are under pressure to 

reduce the amount of energy consumed in their operations. This is due to the highly uncertain costs and 

availability of fossil based fuels. One other key reason for which energy usage should be reduced, especially 

those that are fossil based, is the associated environmental impact which is gradually having its toll on the 

world’s environment. A large number of studies have been carried out on ways of achieving the 

aforementioned reductions in energy usage and one of them is through designing efficient networks of heat 

exchangers. However, most papers presented in this area have been based on the assumption that process 

operating parameters are fixed, as done in the paper presented by Short et al. (2015). However, in reality, 

process stream parameters do vary within certain ranges due to issues such as changes in environmental 

conditions, plant start-ups/shut downs, changes in feed/product quality, etc. Hence, this implies that heat 

exchanger network synthesis (HENS) design methods need to be capable of handling the aforementioned 

changes in process operating conditions. Networks, that fulfil these criteria, are called multi-period networks. 

The work of Verheyen and Zhang (2006) addressed the synthesis of multi-period heat exchanger networks 

using a modified version of the stage-wise superstructure (SWS) of Yee and Grossmann (1990). Isafiade and 

Fraser (2010) also presented an approach for solving multi-period problems using their interval based 

superstructure approach. Other studies which addressed the multi-period design problem are that of Kang et 

al. (2015), where a 2-step approach was used, and that of Jiang and Chang (2015), where the time sharing 

scheme was used. Although these methods addressed the multi-period HENS problem, however, they are 

limited in that they considered only one option of utility, and this utility was placed or appended to the first and 

last intervals (for hot and cold utilities respectively) of the stage-wise superstructure. The work of Isafiade et al. 

(2015), which also used the multi-period SWS model, however considered multiple utilities in solving HEN 

multi-period problems. This approach was limited due to the fact that it placed all hot utilities only in the first 

interval of the multi-period superstructure and all cold utilities only in the last interval. In as much as this 

                                

 
 

 

 
   

                                                  
DOI: 10.3303/CET1652125 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Please cite this article as: Isafiade A. J., Odejobi O. J., 2016, Sequential initialisation technique for synthesising multi-period multiple utilities 
heat exchanger networks, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 52, 745-750  DOI:10.3303/CET1652125   

745



superstructure definition approach has the benefit of simplifying the solution generation process by virtue of 

the fact that the number of potential discrete variables are reduced, its main drawback is that for cases where 

the multiple utilities have significantly different temperature ranges, they will not have the opportunity to 

exchange heat with streams of the opposite kind through an optimal use of driving forces. Hence in this paper, 

a new approach which positions every utility in all intervals of the multi-period superstructure where process 

streams of the opposite kind exist, is presented. The authors of this paper are aware that this superstructure 

definition approach has the tendency to increase the computational intensity involved in solving the problem, 

as it will result in an increase in the degree of non-linearity of the model, as well as increase in the number of 

discrete variables. However, in order to circumvent this potential problem, a systematic initialisation 

procedure, which is newly generated in this paper is adopted.  

2. Problem statement 

The problem solved in this paper can be stated as follows: Given a set HP of hot process streams, and a set 

CP of cold process streams, with their supply temperatures, target temperatures and flowrates at specified P 

periods of operations. The hot and cold streams have to be cooled and heated respectively. Given also are a 

set of hot (HU) and cold (CU) utilities which can be used in any of the specified periods of operations. The task 

is to synthesize a heat exchanger network which would satisfy the heat demand of all process streams in all 

periods of operations while using utilities and heat exchangers in a cost effective manner. 

3. Model development 

Figure 1 shows the modified multi-period stage-wise superstructure used in this paper. This representative 

superstructure involves 2 hot process streams, 2 cold process streams, 2 hot utilities and 2 cold utilities. The 

process streams are represented as thick lines while the utility streams are represented as dashed lines in the 

figure. What is unique to this superstructure is that hot utilities 1 and 2 are both made to participate in stages 

2, 3 and 4, where cold process streams 1 and 2 exist. Also, cold utilities 1 and 2 are made to participate in 

stages 1, 2 and 3 where hot process streams 1 and 2 are present. However, the hot and cold process streams 

run from their starting intervals, as shown in the figure, to the end of the superstructure, while the utilities may 

or may not cross intervals. The utilities will not cross intervals in cases where they do not have a significant 

temperature change, e.g. steam, while they will cross intervals in cases where they have significant 

temperature change, e.g. hot oil. This new representation of multi-period stage-wise superstructure implies 

that for the specific case of Figure 1, process heat exchangers can only exist in stages 2 and 3 (represented 

as two black circles connect with a line) while utility exchangers (represented as two white circles connect with 

a line) can exchange heat in all stages of the superstructure (stages 1, 2 and 3 for cold utilities and stages 2,3 

and 4 for hot utilities). The same assumption of equal temperature mixing for split streams, as presented by 

Yee and Grossmann (1990) for the single period scenario, is also adopted in this paper for both single and 

multi-period scenarios. It should be known that Figure 1 is illustrated for a single period case, however in order 

to convert it to a multi-period model, the index 𝑝, which represents each period of operation, is included in the 

single period model equations.   

 

HU1 HU1 HU1

HU2HU2HU2

CU2 CU2 CU2

CU1 CU1 CU1

HP1

HP2

CP1

CP2

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4

 

Figure 1: Modified multi-period stage-wise superstructure used in this work 

746



Due to space limitation, the detailed set of model equations will not be shown here, however, the reader can 

get the details from the work of Verheyen and Zhang (2006) and later Isafiade et al. (2015). Only the objective 

function used is shown in this paper which is illustrated in Eqs(1) and (2).   

 

𝐴𝑖,𝑗,𝑘 ≥
𝑞𝑖,𝑗,𝑘,𝑝

(𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷𝑖,𝑗,𝑘,𝑝)  (𝑈𝑖,𝑗 )
                                                                                                                                                                (1) 

𝑚𝑖𝑛 {∑ (
𝐷𝑂𝑃𝑝

∑ 𝐷𝑂𝑃𝑝
𝑁𝑂𝑃
𝑝=1

∑ ∑ ∑ 𝐶𝑈𝐶𝑗 ∙ 𝑞𝑖,𝑗,𝑘,𝑝
𝑘𝜖𝐾𝑗𝜖𝐶𝑈𝑖𝜖𝐻𝑃

+
𝐷𝑂𝑃𝑝

∑ 𝐷𝑂𝑃𝑝
𝑁𝑂𝑃
𝑝=1

∑ ∑ ∑ 𝐻𝑈𝐶𝑖 ∙ 𝑞𝑖,𝑗,𝑘,𝑝
𝑘𝜖𝐾𝑗𝜖𝐶𝑃𝑖𝜖𝐻𝑈

)

𝑝𝜖𝑃

}

+ 𝐴𝐹 (∑ ∑ ∑ 𝐶𝐹𝑖𝑗 ∙ 𝑧𝑖,𝑗,𝑘 +

𝑘𝜖𝐾𝑗𝜖𝐶𝑖𝜖𝐻

∑ ∑ ∑ 𝐴𝐶𝑖𝑗 ∙ 𝐴𝑖,𝑗,𝑘
𝐴𝐶𝐼

𝑘𝜖𝐾𝑗𝜖𝐶𝑖𝜖𝐻

)             ∀ 𝑖𝜖𝐻𝑃, 𝑗𝜖𝐶𝑃, 𝑘𝜖𝐾, 𝑝𝜖𝑃               (2)   

 

In Equation 1, 𝐴𝑖,𝑗,𝑘 represents the area (m
2) of the heat exchanger that connects hot stream 𝑖 and cold stream 

𝑗 in interval 𝑘 of the superstructure, 𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷𝑖,𝑗,𝑘,𝑝 represents the logarithmic mean temperature difference (K) 

between hot stream 𝑖 and cold stream 𝑗 in stage 𝑘 and period 𝑝 of the superstructure, 𝑞𝑖,𝑗,𝑘,𝑝 represents the 

amount of heat (kW) exchanged between hot stream 𝑖 and cold stream 𝑗, in period 𝑝, 𝑈𝑖,𝑗 represents overall 

heat transfer coefficient between hot stream 𝑖 and cold stream 𝑗 ( 0.1 W/m2°C). In Eq(2), which is the objective 

function, 𝐷𝑂𝑃𝑝 represents duration of period 𝑝 while 𝑁𝑂𝑃 represents the number of periods, 𝐶𝑈𝐶𝑗 represents 

cost of cold utility ($/(kW∙y)), 𝐻𝑈𝐶 represents cost of hot utility ($/(kW∙y)), 𝐴𝐹 represents the annualisation 

factor (0.2), 𝐶𝐹𝑖𝑗 represents the cost of installing each unit of heat exchanger (8,333.3 $), 𝑧𝑖,𝑗,𝑘  represents the  

binary variable whose purpose is to show the existence, or otherwise, of a match between any hot and any 

cold streams in the superstructure, 𝐴𝐶𝑖𝑗 represents area cost of heat exchangers (641.7 $/m
2) while 𝐴𝐶𝐼 

represents heat exchanger area cost index. Equations 1 and 2 show that the maximum area approach as 

used by Verheyen and Zhang (2006) and later by Isafiade et al. (2015) is also used in this paper. The 

maximum area ensures that the area used for the calculation of heat exchanger sizes in the objective function 

is the area of the maximum of heat exchanger areas exchanging heat between the same pair of streams 

existing in different periods of the superstructure for interval 𝑘. Apart from the modified multi-period stage-wise 

superstructure used in this paper, another unique feature of the new method is the solution approach adopted. 

The solution technique entails basically using a systematic approach to initialise the multi-period 

superstructure at various times, so as to obtain a good solution in reasonable time. This is necessary because 

apart from the nonlinear expressions in the model, the presence of multiple periods of operations also 

complicates the solution generation process. A further complexity inherent in the model is the fact that the 

number of discrete variables are significantly increased since the utilities are made to participate in every 

interval where process streams exist. However these difficulties are overcome in this paper using the solution 

procedure outlined next. 

Generate a single period superstructure model for each period of operation using the modified single period 

SWS superstructure shown in Figure 1.  

i. Solve each of the single period models generated in the first step (using the same number of 

superstructure stages for each period) as a mixed integer non-linear program (MINLP) and identify the 

selected matches. Matches which are selected in more than one period should be represented only 

once in the list of identified matches.  

ii. Use the set of identified matches in the second step to initialise the multi-period model, which is a 

multi-period superstructure version of Figure 1. It should be known that despite the fact that the multi-

period model at this stage is initialised with a set of matches, the model is still solved as an MINLP 

because the initialising matches represent the binary variables. The multi-period model at this stage 

should have the same number of stages as used in the second step for the individual single period 

models. 

iii. Systematically add or remove matches in the reduced multi-period superstructure of the third step 

while solving until an optimal solution is obtained.    

It is worth stating that Isafiade et al. (2015) used a somewhat similar solution generation approach to that 

outlined above. However, their method restricted utilities to only the first and last stages of the superstructure. 

Also, Isafiade et al. (2015) did not solve individual single period models so as to generate the set of initialising 

matches, instead they solved a full multi-period model a number of times, and then identified the selected 

matches in about 2 or 3 of the best solutions depending on the size of the problem. The identified matches 

were then used to initialise the multi-period model. A key shortcoming of this approach is that since the utilities 

are restricted to only one interval of the superstructure, there may not be an optimal use of driving forces, 

747



especially for intermediate utilities. Furthermore, chances of getting good solutions at the stage of solving the 

full multi-period model may be reduced due to the highly non-linear nature of MINLP multi-period multiple 

utility models.     

4. Examples 

The newly developed method is applied to 2 examples both having equal period durations. The first example 

is taken from Isafiade et al. (2015) while the second example is generated in this paper so as to fully 

demonstrate the benefits of the new approach.  

4.1 Example 1 
The process stream data for this example are shown in Table 1, while the cost data for its utilities are: HU1 = 

70 €/(kW∙y), HU2 = 50 €/(kW∙y), HU3 = 40 €/(kW∙y), CU1 = 1.3 €/(kW.y). Other capital cost data are presented 

with Equation 1. Applying the 1st and 2nd steps of the solution procedure gives the set of matches (and total 

annual costs, TAC) for each of periods 1, 2 and 3 shown in Table 2. Based on these set of selected matches, 

a new set of matches which are common to periods 1 to 3, or present in at least one of the periods, were 

chosen for use in the 3rd step to initialize the multi-period model. These new set of matches, known as 

initializing matches, are shown in the last column of Table 2. Using these set of initializing matches in the 

multi-period model greatly reduces the number of discrete variables, hence simplifies the solution generation 

process. Solving the model at this stage gave a TAC of € 4,416,756 with 13 units. This solution was obtained 

in 2.12 s of CPU time. The last step was then carried out by removing matches (HP1,CP1,3) and (HP1,CP2,3) 

and the model was solved again. At this last step, a solution with a TAC of € 4,413,854, having 9 units, was 

obtained in 1.67 s of CPU time. It is worth stating that exactly the same TAC and number of units was 

obtained by Isafiade et al. (2015), however the structures of the solution networks are different. Further 

excluding matches (HP2,CP2,2) and (HP3,CP1,3) does not have any effect on the solution obtained. 

However, if any of the other matches were excluded, the TAC goes up. This shows the importance of having 

the right set of matches, alongside other initializations for key variables, at the initialization stage, in solving 

multi-period problems in a mathematical programming environment. Systematically initializing the model at the 

third step, which is the step at which the multi-period model is solved, helps position the solver within the right 

region of finding good solutions in reasonable time. The structure obtained using the method of this paper is 

shown in Figure 2.   

Table 1:  Process stream data for Example 1 

Streams Periods 

Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 

 Ts (°C) Tt (°C) F (kW/°C) Ts (°C) Tt (°C) F (kW/°C) Ts (°C) Tt (°C) F (kW/°C) 

HP1 393 60 201.6 406 60  205 420 60 208.5 

HP2 160 40 185.1 160 40 198.8 160 40 175.2 

HP3 354 60 137.4 362 60 136.4 360 60 134.1 

CP1 72 356 209.4 72 365 210.3 72 373 211.1 

CP2 62 210 141.6 62 210 141.0 62 210 140.5 

CP3 220 370 176.4 220 370 175.4 220 370 174.5 

CP4 253 284 294.4 250 290 318.7 249 286 271.2 

HU1 490 490 - 490 490 - 490 490 - 

HU2 438 438 - 438 438 - 438 438 - 

HU3 375 375 - 375 375 - 375 375 - 

CU1 0 10        

 

In this figure, the representative areas (i.e. the maximum areas) for each exchanger is shown above the 

exchanger. It can be seen in the figure that HU3 and CU1 are both used in intermediate stages, which is stage 

2. This is unlike the solution of Isafiade et al. (2015) where utilities are only used in the first and last intervals, 

which are the only available utility stages. In the solution of Isafiade et al. (2015), only HU2 and HU3 were 

used as hot utilities, while CU1 was used as cold utilities.  

4.2 Example 2 
The process stream data for this example are shown in Table 4 while the cost data for its utilities are HU1 = 

70 €/(kW∙y), HU2 = 30 €/(kW∙y), HU3 = 20 €/(kW∙y), CU1 = 1.3 €/(kW∙y), CU2 = 1.0 €/(kW∙y). Other capital 

cost data are presented with Equation 1. Note that this example has 2 cold utilities, unlike Example 1 which 

has 1 cold utility. Applying the 1st and 2nd steps of the solution procedure gives the set of matches, for each of 

the periods, shown in Table 3. It can be seen that the set of matches obtained for each of the periods in step 2 

748



contains a large number of selected matches that are unique to each of the periods. Therefore, when the 

initializing matches were identified from the pool of matches obtained in step 2, a total of 23 initializing 

matches was obtained. Since this is a large number for a moderately sized problem, a systematic approach 

was used in reducing these set of initializing matches. The approach used entails solving a multi-period 

version of the problem using the modified multi-period SWS model but with all multi-period binary variables 

present in the model. A solution having the following matches (HU1,CP1,1), (HU1,CP3,2), (HU2,CP1,2), 

(HU2,CP4,2), (HU3,CP2,1), (HP1,CP2,2), (HP1,CU2,4), (HP2,CP2,3), (HP2,CU1,4), (HP3,CP1,3), 

(HP3,CU2,4) with a TAC of € 6,331,908 was obtained. After a series of repeated addition/elimination of 

matches, using the resulting selected matches from the conventional solution approach as a guide, the set of 

initializing matches were ultimately reduced to those shown in the last column of Table 3. Solving the multi-

period model with these final set of initializing matches gave a solution having 11 units with a TAC of € 

6,240,266. This solution was obtained in 0.97 s of CPU time. Solving this problem using the conventional 

method gives a solution having a TAC of € 7,507,781 with 10 units. The solution was obtained in 7.49 s of 

CPU time. Figure 3 shows the final solution network obtained for Example 2. This solution has 2 process heat 

exchangers, 7 heaters, and 3 coolers. It can be seen that 4 of the heaters are used in the intermediate stages. 

This implies that process streams such as CP1, CP3 and CP4, all have the opportunity of having their 

intermediate temperatures determined as a result of heat exchange with the intermediate placement of hot 

utilities. This would not have been possible if the utilities had been restricted to only the first and last stages of 

the superstructure. 

Table 2: Selected matches for individual periods for 

Example 1 

Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Selected 

matches for 

step 3  

 

HU2,CP3,1 

HU3,CP4,3 

HP1,CP1,2 

HP1,CP1,3  

HP1,CU1,4  

HP2,CU1,3  

HP3,CP1,3  

HP3,CP2,3  

HP3,CU1,4 

 

 

 

 

TAC:  

€ 4,801,926 

HU2,CP1,1  

HU3,CP4,3  

HP1,CP1,2  

HP1,CP2,3  

HP1,CP3,2  

HP1,CU1,4  

HP2,CU1,2  

HP2,CU1,3  

HP3,CP1,2  

HP3,CP1,3  

HP3,CU1,4  

HP3,CP3,2  

 

TAC: € 

4,877,509 

HU1,CP1,1 

HU1,CP3,1 

HU2,CP1,2 

HU2,CP3,2 

HU2,CP4,1 

HP1,CP1,3 

HP1,CU1,4 

HP2,CP2,3 

HP2,CU2,4 

HP3,CP2,2 

HP3,CU2,3  

 

 

TAC: € 

6,377,848 

HU2,CP1,1  

HU2,CP3,1 

HU3,CP4,3  

HP1,CP1,2  

HP1,CP1,3  

HP1,CP2,3  

HP1,CP3,2  

HP1,CU1,4  

HP2,CU1,2  

HP2,CU1,3  

HP3,CP1,2  

HP,CP1,3  

HP3,CP2,3  

HP3,CP3,2  

HP3,CU1,4 

 

 

Table 3:  Selected matches for individual periods for 

Example 2 

Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Selected 

matches for 

step 3  

 

HU1,CP1,1 

HU1,CP3,2 

HU2,CP1,2 

HU2,CP3,3 

HU2,CP4,2 

HP1,CP2,3 

HP1,CU1,4 

HP2,CU2,2 

HP3,CP2,2 

HP3,CU1,4  

 

 

TAC:  

€ 6,390,959   

HU1,CP1,1 

HU1,CP3,1 

HU2,CP1,2 

HU2,CP3,2 

HU2,CP4,3 

HU3,CP2,1 

HP1,CP2,2 

HP1,CU2,3 

HP2,CU2,2 

HP3,CP1,3 

HP3,CU2,4  

 

TAC: 

€ 6,461,437 

HU2,CP3,1  

HU3,CP4,3  

HP1,CP1,3  

HP1,CU1,4  

HP2,CU1,2  

HP2,CU1,3  

HP3,CP2,3  

HP3,CP3,2  

HP3,CU1,4 

 

 

 

TAC: 

€ 4,636,293 

HU1,CP1,1 

HU1,CP3,1 

HU2,CP1,2 

HU2,CP3,3 

HU2,CP4,2 

HU3,CP2,1 

HP1,CP2,2 

HP1,CU1,4 

HP2,CU1,4 

HP2,CU2,2 

HP3,CP1,3 

HP3,CU1,4 

 

 

5. Conclusions 

Presented in this paper is a new synthesis method for multi-period heat exchange network problems involving 

multiple utilities. The method positions every utility in the problem in every stage of the superstructure where 

process streams of the opposite kind exist, so that there can be an optimal use of available driving force. 

Using this superstructure generation approach increases the complexity of solution generation, therefore the 

new method uses a solution approach where the multi-period problem is initialized using selected matches 

from each period’s optimal solution network. This new method overcomes some of the drawbacks associated 

with current multi-period synthesis techniques that are based on the SWS model, in that good solutions can be 

obtained in reasonable times. One of the main drawbacks associated with this new method is that there are no 

specific rules to follow concerning addition/removal of matches in the last step of the new method, hence this 

step may become tedious to handle for large problems.        

749



Table 4:  Process stream data for Example 2 

Streams Periods  

Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 

 Ts (°C) Tt (°C) F (kW/°C) Ts (°C) Tt (°C) F (kW/°C) Ts (°C) Tt (°C) F (kW/°C) 

HP1 213 60 201.6 206 60  205 220 60 208.5 

HP2 160 40 185.1 160 40 198.8 160 40 175.2 

HP3 254 60 137.4 262 60 136.4 260 60 134.1 

CP1 72 356 209.4 72 365 210.3 72 373 211.1 

CP2 62 210 141.6 62 210 141.0 62 210 140.5 

CP3 220 370 176.4 220 370 175.4 220 370 174.5 

CP4 253 284 294.4 250 290 318.7 249 286 271.2 

HU1 490 490 - 490 490 - 490 490 - 

HU2 338 338 - 338 338 - 338 338 - 

HU3 275 275 - 275 275 - 275 275 - 

CU1 0 10        

CU2 15 30        

Acknowledgements  

This work is based on research supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa for 

rated researchers, grant numbers: 87744 and 85536.  

References 

Isafiade A., Bogataj M., Fraser D., Kravanja Z., 2015, Optimal synthesis of heat exchange networks for multi-

period operations involving single and multiple utilities, Chemical Engineering Science, 127, 175-188.   

Isafiade A.J., Fraser, D.M., 2010, Interval based MINLP superstructure synthesis of heat exchanger networks 

for multi-period operations, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 88(10), 1329 - 1341. 

Jiang D., Chang C.-T., 2015, An algorithmic approach to generate timesharing schemes for multi-period HEN 

designs, Chemical Engineering Research Design, 93, 402-410. 

Kang L., Liu Y., Hou J., 2015, Synthesis of multi-period heat exchanger network considering characteristics of 

sub-periods, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 45, 49 – 54. 

Short M., Isafiade A.J., Fraser D.M., Kravanja Z., 2015, Heat exchanger network synthesis including detailed 

exchanger designs using mathematical programming and heuristics, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 

45, 1849-1854. 

Verheyen W., Zhang N., 2006, Design of flexible heat exchanger network for multi-period operation, Chemical 

Engineering Science 61, 7760-7753. 

Yee T., Grossman I., 1990, Simultaneous optimization models for heat integration—II. Heat exchanger 

network synthesis, Computers & Chemical Engineering, 14(10), 1165-1184.  

Stage 4 Stage 3 Stage 2 Stage 1

490
490490490490490

438
438438438438438

375
375375375375375

0 0 010 10 10

HP1

HP2

HP3

CP1

CP2

CP3

CP4

900.5

1560

7038

13272861

1229

2864

1156

1991

 
Figure 2: Final multi-period network obtained for 

Example 1 

HU1

HU2

HU3

CU1

Stage 4 Stage 3 Stage 2 Stage 1

490
490490490490490

338
338338338338338

275
275275275275275

0 0 010 10 10

HP1

HP2

HP3

CP1

CP2

CP3

CP4

2864

1991

15 15 1530 30 30CU2
  

 

Figure 3: Final multi-period network obtained  

for Example 2 

750