Designing the Heat Exchanger Network11 / 17
Minimum Number of Units & Network Simplification
Targeting the fewest heat exchangers a network needs, and simplifying an over-complicated design by breaking loops.
10 min read · Jacob Willis, Net Zero Lead · Last reviewed July 2026
A feasible network isn't automatically an economical one. Every heat exchanger, heater and cooler costs capital, so a network with more units than it needs is spending money for no extra energy saving. This lesson gives you a target for the fewest units a network can get away with, and a way to spot when an existing design has more than that.
In this lesson
- 01The units-target formula
- 02Applying it to the two-stream network
- 03Spotting an over-complicated network
- 04Sources and further reading