A novel mass–heat exchange network analogy, regression, and synthesis method for mass exchanger networks

Synthesis of mass exchanger network (MEN) is significant to save the material and reduce the pollution for process industries. Considering its small magnitude and concentration constraints, the optimized configuration of MEN can easily violate the concentration constraints, leading to a reduction in the structural diversity during the optimization process compared to that of a heat exchanger network (HEN) of the same size. Moreover, the constraint on the mass transfer driving force based on the equilibrium composition may also have major effects on the optimization process. To address these issues, this study presents a process–equipment–system analogy between the MEN and the HEN, proposing a novel mass–heat exchange network analogy, regression, and synthesis method. First, the generalized HEN was established by using an analogy considering the MEN based on either the original composition or the equilibrium composition. In this regard, a coordination coefficient was introduced to correct the deviation of the analogy relationship between the heat transfer and the mass transfer processes. Then, the generalized HEN was optimized by employing the random walk algorithm with compulsive evolution (RWCE). A regression method was proposed to regress the optimized HEN solution to the MEN expression, allowing the continuous optimization by using the RWCE with finer parameters. The final optimal solution obtained was found to be lower than those reported in the literature with enhanced structural diversity, demonstrating the effectiveness of the presented method and providing new ideas for further synchronous optimization of combined heat and mass exchanger networks.