Production of formalin, which is among the highest production volume chemicals, is highly energy-intensive; thus, reduction of energy use is very important in reducing cost and emissions. The aim of this and its larger overall research is to systemically analyze how to improve sustainability of processes producing formalin as an intermediate or final product. In this part of the work, energy consumption requirements are analyzed for the conventional formalin production process via methane steam reforming, where opportunities for energy consumption reduction are identified. This work will serve as a base case for further investigation of alternative formalin production pathways. To achieve energy savings, heat integration technology by combined pinch analysis and mathematical programming is applied. The formalin production process is simulated using Aspen HYSYS, and heat integration of the production process was performed based on simulated design using GAMS software. Economic and environmental footprint analyses were performed for both non-integrated and integrated designs. Results show that heat integration reduces heat consumption by around 39%, leading to a saving of 11% in capital cost and turning annual operating cost into positive revenue. Heat integration also improves the environmental aspect, where a 7–22% reduction in selected environmental footprints is achieved.

中文翻译：

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通过甲烷蒸汽重整降低福尔马林生产过程的成本，能源和排放

作为产量最高的化学药品之一，福尔马林的生产是高能耗的。因此，减少能耗对降低成本和减少排放非常重要。该研究及其更广泛的总体研究的目的是系统地分析如何提高生产福尔马林作为中间产品或最终产品的过程的可持续性。在这部分工作中，将通过甲烷蒸汽重整来分析常规福尔马林生产工艺的能耗需求，从而确定降低能耗的机会。这项工作将作为进一步研究替代福尔马林生产途径的基础。为了实现节能，应用了通过夹点分析和数学编程相结合的热集成技术。使用Aspen HYSYS对福尔马林生产过程进行了仿真，并使用GAMS软件基于模拟设计对生产过程进行了热集成。对非集成设计和集成设计都进行了经济和环境足迹分析。结果表明，热集成使热量消耗减少了约39％，从而节省了11％的资本成本，并将年度运营成本转化为正收入。热集成还改善了环境方面，在此方面，选定的环境足迹减少了7-22％。结果表明，热集成使热量消耗减少了约39％，从而节省了11％的资本成本，并将年度运营成本转化为正收入。热集成还改善了环境方面，在此方面，选定的环境足迹减少了7-22％。结果表明，热集成使热量消耗减少了约39％，从而节省了11％的资本成本，并将年度运营成本转化为正收入。热集成还改善了环境方面，在此方面，选定的环境足迹减少了7-22％。