Process Integration and Pinch Analysis

Industrial facilities are complex and consist of many interacting energy systems and equipment items. CanmetENERGY promotes the use of process integration to optimize the energy consumption and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of industrial facilities with complex energy systems.

Energy Savings of up to 30%

Process integration is a comprehensive and systematic approach for analyzing an industrial process as a whole, rather than solely considering individual equipment pieces or energy systems independently, in order to determine the best strategies for an efficient use of energy and resources. This method can be used to improve a plant’s energy efficiency and reduce its energy costs, but also to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption.

Pinch Analysis is one of the most practical tools to have emerged in the process integration field, and by far the one that is most widely used. Its popularity is due to the simplicity of its underlying concepts and, especially, to the impressive results it has achieved in numerous industrial projects worldwide.

Depending on the industry and a plant’s energy performance, process integration techniques can typically lead to substantial energy savings ranging from 10 to 30% – and sometimes even more – with payback periods of 1 to 3 years. Several projects demonstrating the benefits of process integration in many industrial processes are showcased in the success stories section.

Support for the Use of Process Integration

CanmetENERGY, in collaboration with its industrial partners, provides tools and services to support the use of process integration in Canadian plants. These products and services are aimed at:

• Plant engineers and energy project leaders
• Industrial site managers and institutional partners

Products and Services

Process integration is a highly effective approach to improving the energy efficiency of large and complex industrial facilities with energy-intensive systems. A process integration study performs a comprehensive and systematic analysis of a plant or process as a whole, rather than considering individual operations and integral parts of an energy system separately. This thorough overview makes it possible to identify the best strategies for an efficient energy and resource use.

Energy Saving Products and Services for Industrial Facilities

CanmetENERGY promotes a site-wide approach for the identification of energy saving projects within industrial facilities. In collaboration with its partners, the Centre jointly provides knowledge and tools aimed at expanding the process integration market in Canada.

For this purpose, CanmetENERGY offers several products and services to engineers working in the field of industrial energy efficiency:

• INTEGRATION software
• Heat Integration of Industrial Processes training course
• Technical support for process integration studies

Moreover, customized process integration awareness and on-site consultation services are offered to industrial plant engineers and managers. If you wish to know whether your plant could potentially benefit from a process integration study, please contact us.

To learn more about process integration, consult our documents and material:

• Process Integration Brochure (PDF, 350 KB)
• Pinch Analysis Guide (PDF, 1.1 MB)
• Pinch Analysis Application Examples for Several Industrial Processes
• Process Integration Success Stories

Industrial site managers and institutional partners

Energy Efficiency Programs

Several financial aid programs are available to provide industries with incentives for reducing their energy consumption and environmental footprint. These programs are designed to help Canadian companies carry out energy analyses and implement measures to reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Process integration studies are eligible for many of these funding programs.

Additional Resources:

• Steps of a Process Integration Study