Synthesis of property-based total water systems with multiple interceptors by using operator potential concepts

The synthesis of property-based total water networks with multiple interceptors is investigated by using operator potential concepts. Two kinds of network configurations are considered according to whether process sources are allowed to mix at inlet of the interceptors. For a non-mixing network, each interceptor treating one process source, the synthesis procedure is simple. However, too many interceptors might be needed and the corresponding costs will be high for the systems with a large number of process sources. For a mixing network, process sources are allowed to mix at inlet of the interceptors, the network construction can be simplified and the total annual costs can be reduced. An iteration procedure is proposed to design mixing-configuration networks. In the synthesis procedure, the values of operator potential of demands are used to determine the sequence of demands to be satisfied, the values of operator potential of sources are used to select the process sources to be treated. A linear programming approach is adopted to allocate the sources to each demand. The results of four examples obtained with the proposed methods show that the networks with lower fresh source consumption, or simpler structure, or lower total annual cost can be obtained compared to the literature results. In addition, the proposed methods have the features of simple calculation and clear engineering meaning.