New directions in the implementation of Pinch Methodology (PM)

Abstract The emergence of Pinch Analysis from more than four decades ago opened a new area of intense research development that has even accelerated in recent years. Initially, Pinch Analysis (PA) provided a systematic thermodynamic-based approach to address the need for large energy savings around the 1970s oil crises. Since inception, the Pinch Methodology (PM) has flourished considerably, finding meaningful application to a wide range of industrial, regional, and global challenges well beyond heat – it’s most well-known and first application. This review represents an attempt to identify and substantiate future directions of research for the most significant implementations of Pinch Methodology. Reported applications in the literature range from Heat Integration, Total Site and Water Integration through to Emergy and even Financial Investment Planning; cutting across multiple engineering fields – Mechanical, Chemical, Process, Power, and Environmental Engineering – as well as entering the research domains of Management and Finance. Key findings of this review include: (1) the need for more awareness within the engineering and science research communities of the latest and continuing developments of the Pinch Methodology; (2) a need for complete tool sets covering targeting through to engineering design for many of the Pinch Methodology applications; and, (3) the full benefits of Pinch Methodology can only be achieved in developing design solutions with an appreciation for the most recent developments.