How is a pinch analysis organized?

A pinch analysis is usually carried out in two phases. The content of each phase, the expected results, the project duration and the costs are roughly described below.

Pinch-Grobanalyse

Phase 1. Pinch Rough Analysis: The following tasks are part of a Rough Pinch Analysis:

Rough determination of the most important heat flows in production and the infrastructure.
Evaluation and plausibility check of the available information on energy supply and how it is being used.
Conducting an initial - usually still incomplete - breakdown of the heating and cooling requirements for the individual consumers.
Identification of energy weak spots, e.g. use of heating steam for heating requirements at a low temperature, addition of cold feed streams in evaporation plants or cold reactant streams in reactors, mixing of media at different temperatures, etc.
Completion of a pinch rough analysis to determine the potential for increasing efficiency and optimizing the energy supply.
Derive initial optimization measures from the pinch rough analysis to exploit the determined optimization potential.
Estimation of investment costs for the implementation of these optimization measures and the associated energy cost savings.
Submission of a concrete recommendation for further action, taking into account possible multiple benefits and also regarding the continuation of the cooperation within the framework of a detailed pinch analysis.

Expected results of a Rough Pinch Analysis:

Overview of the company's energy balance and use (e.g. in the form of a pie/bar chart, Sankey diagram, tables, etc.).
Transparent representation of the key operating parameters and process requirements used.
Existing energy-saving potential through direct and indirect heat recovery and potential for optimizing the energy supply.
Basic approaches for exploiting the optimization potential including rough investment and energy cost savings.
Concrete recommendation for the next steps, including a list of open questions, and a rough pinch analysis to clarify whether a detailed pinch analysis should be carried out.

Important: The analysis depth of the rough pinch analysis is rather superficial yet plausible. Often, the provided data is still incomplete, and certain systems are often neglected due to missing data. The roughly conceived optimization measures will also need to be further developed.

Duration:

The duration of the project, from the beginning to the presentation of the results, depends on many factors and can vary between 1 to 6 months.

Costs:

The costs for conducting a rough pinch analysis depend primarily on the complexity of the production plants and infrastructure systems, as well as the available information. Typically, costs range from 5,000 to 30,000 CHF.

The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) financially supports the implementation of rough pinch analyses. The scope of financial support and the conditions for support can be found on the energieschweiz website.

Own contributions:

For the success of the project, close technical collaboration from the company is required, particularly in the acquisition process data. The effort on the part of the company is difficult to estimate, as it strongly depends on the availability of the required information. For data acquisition (including additional key measurements), participation in meetings, and clarification with plant suppliers, the effort for the company will be between 20 to 80 hours.

The person from the company coordinating the rough pinch analysis should ideally have a technical background and good knowledge of the production plants and infrastructure systems. However, individuals from production or controlling may also need to be involved if, for example, production-related questions need to be discussed or economic indicators are required.

Pinch-Detailanalyse

Phase 2 - The following tasks are part of a detailed Pinch Analysis:

Extension of the data basis by direct process measurements or simulations. Assumptions are often made to complete the information in the rough analysis. These data gaps are to be closed in the detailed pinch analysis.
Full determination of energy flows in production and infrastructure.
Evaluation and plausibility check of the entire database on energy use and the utility system. Due to the improved data basis, various cross-comparisons can be made to check plausibility.
Elaboration of a breakdown of the heating and cooling requirements for the individual streams.
Specific measures to address the identified energetic weak spots together with a cost/benefit analysis must be determined and a recommendation made as to whether these measures should be implemented, particularly on the basis of economic criteria.
Development of the detailed pinch analysis using suitable software. The energy model from the rough pinch analysis should be refined, e.g. time dependencies, different operating cases (summer/winter) or scenarios (single-shift, multi-shift production) should be taken into account. As a rule, the process parameters assumed in the rough analysis are replaced by measured or simulated parameters in the detailed pinch analysis. The potential for increasing efficiency and optimizing the energy supply identified in a detailed pinch analysis has less uncertainty than in the rough analysis.
Deriving specific measures at a concept level from the detailed pinch analysis to exploit the optimization potential. Different variants for optimizatin measures to exploit the determined energy efficiency potential are developed and compared with each other. The most promising variant is then worked out in more detail.
Submission of a concrete recommendation for further course of action regarding the implementation of measures and also regarding the continuation of cooperation in the realization of the measures and their performance monitoring.

Expected results of a Detailed Pinch Analysis:

Complete overview of the company's energy balance and use (e.g. in the form of a pie/bar chart, Sankey diagram, clear tables, etc.).
Transparent representation of the proces operating parameters, operating cases, scenarios and time dependencies.
Existing energy saving potential through direct and indirect heat recovery and potential for optimizing the energy supply.
Concrete measures to exploit the optimization potential, including investment and energy cost savings.
Concrete recommendation for further course of action including any questions still open.

Important: The analysis depth of the detailed pinch analysis should be significantly deeper than that of the rough analysis. The measures should be designed to the extent that a well-founded decision regarding implementation is possible. Among other things, it must be clarified whether the proposed measures are technically feasible. Detailed engineering is not included in pinch analyses. However, the developed measures form the basis for subsequent planning.

Duration:

A pinch analysis can be conducted in several phases, which may extend the project duration over a longer period. It is important for the company and the pinch service provider to coordinate well, then project processing within 2 to 3 months is also possible. The schedule is to be designed individually according to the needs of the partners.

Costs:

The costs for conducting a pinch analysis depend on the same factors as those for the rough analysis. Therefore, a flat-rate offer is not possible. Typically, the costs for conducting a pinch analysis range between 20,000 and 80,000 CHF.

The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) financially supports the implementation of pinch analysis. The scope of financial support and the conditions for support can be found on the energieschweiz website.

Own contributions:

For the successful completion of the project, close technical support from the company is required during the implementation of the pinch analysis. Particularly in data acquisition and in the detailed development of measures, the pinch service provider relies on the support of the company. By closely accompanying the development of measures, the company can contribute early and express its views and concerns. Experience shows that close collaboration is crucial for the success of the project and ultimately promotes trust in the project results. Typically, the company's own contributions to conducting a detailed pinch analysis can be estimated at around 20% of the total project cost.