Designing the Heat Exchanger Network9 / 17
Matching Streams at the Pinch
The feasibility rule that decides which streams can be matched right at the pinch, and a fully worked network.
11 min read · Jacob Willis, Net Zero Lead · Last reviewed July 2026
Knowing the pinch temperature and the minimum utility targets tells you the best a design could achieve. Actually building a network of heat exchangers that hits those targets is the next step, and it turns out not every pairing of hot and cold streams is thermodynamically possible right at the pinch. This lesson gives you the rule that decides which matches work, and builds a complete, feasible network from it.
In this lesson
- 01The feasibility rule
- 02Checking it on a real match
- 03Building the network
- 04The complete network
- 05Sources and further reading