Energy integration of nitric acid production using pinch methodology

Pinch methodology was applied to the heat exchangers network (HEN) synthesis of nitric acid production. The integration is analyzed in two ways, and the results are presented as two different solutions: (i) the first solution is based on the original heat transfer equipment arrangement, (ii) in order to eliminate the shortages of the first solution the second HEN was obtained using process simulation with optimized process parameters. Optimized HEN, with new arrangement of heat exchangers, gave good results in energy and process optimization.