Abstract
The synthesis of heat exchanger networks (HENs) has received significant attention in the last four decades. On the other hand, mass exchanger networks (MENs), whose synthesis methods have been based on analogies drawn from HEN synthesis, has received relatively less attention. This paper presents a new synthesis method for interplant MENs synthesis by drawing analogies from the interplant synthesis methods developed for its HENs counterpart. The approach adopted in this paper entails the utility hub concept where the plants that are participating in the integrated network are connected through external mass separating agents located at the utility hub. The integrated network of this paper is modelled using a modified version of the stage-wise superstructure synthesis method for MENs. The newly developed method is applied to a case study involving two plants and one utility hub. The solution obtained involves two mass exchangers in plant 1, two mass exchangers in plant 2 and four mass exchangers at the utility hub. A 21 % reduction in cost was obtained when the same external mass separating agent is used to absorb multiple components from rich streams at the utility hub when compared to the case where different external mass separating agents are used.