Heat integration across plants, i.e., involving streams from different plants in a complex, involves many difficulties. However, even though complicated, on heat integration field, energy savings can be accomplished either by integrating the streams of the single process or by integrating two or more plants. This is the so-called "Total Site" concept, that describes a set of processes serviced by and linked through a central utility system. Much has been said about the usefulness of using an existing utility system, once in multi purpose sites, there are, in general, different types of utilities for cooling and heating the process streams. From this variety, the most used one, for heating purposes, is the vapor. It has also the additional facility of being present at different pressure levels inside the side, enlarging the set of options to the integration of systems. Having the selection of the utility to be used been solved, the problem remains on the location of the plants that will serve as the source and sink of the problem and defining the inlet and outlet positions of the utility streams coming from the central system, their inlet and outlet temperatures and their next position inside the network. This location is very much important, in order to accomplish maximum energy savings, as well as maintaining security standards and checking out then- feasibility. Though, it is very much important the previous knowledge of the engineering staff over the process streams. The present work proposes a methodology to locate utility streams based on the Grand Composite Curves coupled with the staff knowledge over the process reaching a maximum saving setting.
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