Finding the Pinch — Targeting Minimum Utilities7 / 17
The Golden Rules: Don't Cross the Pinch
The three rules that keep a design at its true minimum utility — and the energy penalty of breaking each one.
10 min read · Jacob Willis, Net Zero Lead
The previous lesson split every process into two regions: above the pinch (a net heat sink, needing only hot utility) and below the pinch (a net heat source, needing only cold utility). From that single fact, three design rules follow — and breaking any one of them carries a penalty you can calculate exactly.