PinCH – an Engineering Tool for Large Scale Industrial Enterprises and SMEs

PinCH is a further development of the PinchLENI software from the ETH Lausanne (EPFL). The first version of the engineering tool Pinch (PinCH 1.0) was developed by the Competence Center for Thermal Energy Systems & Process Engineering (CC TEVT) and distributed Secure Software Systems (D3S), both departments of Luzern University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU T&A), with the support of the Bundesamtes für Energie (BFE) and in close collaboration with a team of experts. The user-friendly interface allows for a quick familiarization with the method as well as a target-oriented and cost effective implementation of classical pinch analysis in industry. With this approach PinCH enables the heat integration analysis of not only large enterprises, but also small and medium enterprises.

A particular strength of PinCH is the heat exchanger network (HEN), which offers a wide range of functions for the design of heat exchanger networks. The software architecture is based on a flexible structure that allows for future enhancement. Unique with in the lastest release is support for the integration of thermal energy storages for indirect heat recovery.

What Makes PinCH Unique?

• The intuitive user interface with descriptive graphics leads you step-by-step through the pinch analysis.
• PinCH is a cost effective module for pinch analysis. No additional expensive modules are necessary.
• It is possible to analyze both continuous and discontinuous processes!
• The PinCH software is continually evolving: Future PinCH versions will see the introduction of the E-Module Explorer with an interface to Excel based tools for calculating the energy requirements of individual basic processes.
• The correct integration of storage units is now possible in PinCH 3.0!
• Various scenarios can be quickly calculated and compared with each other, e.g. increasing energy costs, 2 or 3 shifts, etc.
• PinCH is a tool for professionals that allows them to perform classic pinch analyses!