Pinch Analysis Fundamentals2 / 17
Hot & Cold Streams and the Minimum Approach Temperature
Classifying every stream on a site as hot or cold, and the ΔTmin concept that governs how close they can approach each other.
10 min read · Jacob Willis, Net Zero Lead · Last reviewed July 2026
Before you can find a pinch, you need to describe every stream in the process the same simple way, and understand the one parameter, the minimum approach temperature, that governs how close any of them can get to each other.
In this lesson
- 01Classifying every stream: hot or cold
- 02Heat capacity flow rate: one number per stream
- 03The minimum approach temperature: ΔTmin
- 04Setting up a stream table
- 05Sources and further reading