FeatureBuilt · in the lab
Pinch and heat integration
Targets and exchanger networks.
Use this add-on:
Screenshots and a short video come with the listing (AL.3).
Overview
Pinch and heat integration is a planned add-on for CadCraft (roadmap row CH.22). It is meant to take stream data from a flowsheet, work out the minimum heating and cooling targets, draw the composite and grand composite curves, show the trade-off against the minimum temperature difference, and lay out a heat exchanger network grid. It is not built as an add-on: no command or panel works today.
Who it’s for
- Process engineers who look for heat recovery in a flowsheet (intended).
- Energy engineers who want targets before they design a network (intended).
What you can do
- Nothing works today: the add-on is planned. What is intended for row CH.22: stream data taken from the flowsheet, a problem table, composite and grand composite curves, the temperature difference trade-off, and a heat exchanger network grid with targets.
Methods and standards
The planned add-on sits on the process library, lib/process. Its pinch.js module is built as an engine: the problem table algorithm (Linnhoff and Flower, 1978), composite curves (Umeda and others, 1979), an area target (Townsend and Linnhoff, 1983) and a minimum-units count, and a helper that turns a process stream's enthalpy into segments so latent heat is handled. No app mounts it.
Data and sources
Planned: no data ships. Stream data would come from the flowsheet or be typed.
Verification
Not yet checked as an add-on: planned, no add-on test exists. The engine has tools/process-test/test.mjs, recorded in docs/0.8-sessions/process_PART_3.md as 122 passed, 0 failed on 2026-10-28; that log lists a four-stream pinch example from a textbook (20 kW hot, 60 kW cold, pinch at 90 and 80 C, 7 units) among its cases.
Limits
Planned and not built. In the engine, the heat exchanger network grid with matches is not built, and getting stream data from a flowsheet has one test through the pinch table only. No host mounts it. Targets are a design aid, not a design.
Files and formats
Nothing yet. Stream data would be read from the flowsheet; no file format is defined for this add-on.
Get started
- This add-on is planned (roadmap row CH.22). Nothing is installed or switched on today.
- Follow row CH.22 in /roadmap-issues for its status.
- Until then the pinch module is a library only, with no command or panel in CadCraft.
Languages
No languages are listed for this add-on yet. Its maker may add some.
Works in
| Edition | Works | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Browser (/use) (yours) | Added on demand | Fetched the first time you use it, then kept for offline use. |
| Studio from getcadcraft.com | Added on demand | Fetched the first time you use it, then kept for offline use. |
| Microsoft Store | Added on demand | Fetched the first time you use it, then kept for offline use. |
| Google Play | Added on demand | Fetched the first time you use it, then kept for offline use. |
| iPad and iPhone (App Store) | Included; switch it on | Part of the reviewed app; your list switches it on. |
| Custom build | Added on demand | Fetched the first time you use it, then kept for offline use. |
Comes with
- Process simulation Size when built
- Process engine 2.5 MB
- P&ID 3.3 MB
- Schematics and connectivity 800 KB
Adding it brings these too. Engines are shared: each downloads once for every add-on that uses it.
Needed by: Chemical and process engineering, Food and beverage process engineering, Petroleum and refining engineering.
Versions
| Version | Channel | Date | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0 | lab | October 31, 2026 | First version in the Library. |
Licence and maker
CadCraft (CadCraft, first-party). Licence: Apache-2.0. Dependencies carry their own licences, listed on their pages.