Heat Integration optimization in a Multiproduct Biorefinery

The biorefining is a fast-growing topic and laboratory data about biorefineries accumulate sharply, but this type of process is still mainly unknown at the industrial scale. In this context, it is necessary to propose a method that permits to evaluate the industrial interest in order to design and to build the biorefinery. Moreover, the optimization of water and energy consumption represents two of the most important operating costs in a biorefinery. Thus, to limit utilities consumption, energy integration has to be incorporated for all process design alternatives. The proposed MILP program minimizes utilities consumption in coupling cold streams and hot streams through heat exchangers.