OpenPinch Guide
OpenPinch is a Python toolkit for Pinch Analysis, Total Site heat integration, graph interpretation, Heat Pump and refrigeration screening, exergy post-processing, cogeneration targeting, and heat exchanger network synthesis. It is built for engineers and researchers who need reproducible thermal targeting workflows in scripts, notebooks, and applications.
OpenPinch exposes PinchProblem and PinchWorkspace as its package-root
process-engineer workflows. Named target and design methods execute analyses;
read, report, plot, and export methods consume prepared or cached state.
The published CLI is intentionally narrow: openpinch notebook copies the
packaged notebook series, while solving, validation, graph export, Excel
export, and advanced targeting all happen in Python.
Start Here
- I want to solve a case
Start with Getting Started, then use First Solve with Python for the main Python workflow or Notebooks and Sample Cases for packaged examples.
- I need to understand the method
Start with What Is OpenPinch?, then read Pinch Analysis, Direct vs Indirect Integration, and Graphs and Interpretation.
- I am building a reusable study
Start with Package-Root API and Package Architecture. The generated module appendix documents implementation owners for contributors.
What OpenPinch Covers
direct process Pinch Analysis and indirect Total Site targeting
hierarchical zone modeling from unit operation to site scale
Composite Curve, Grand Composite Curve, Total Site profile, and SUGCC graphs
JSON, Excel, CSV-bundle, schema-first, and packaged sample-case inputs
structured variable-heat-capacity streams with one physical parent identity and ordered piecewise thermal segments
Heat Pump and refrigeration screening, including simulated-cycle backends
direct gas/vapour MVR process-component studies
exergy and cogeneration post-processing on solved thermal targets
heat exchanger network synthesis through the
problem.designaccessor
The documentation is organized as a manual first and an internal reference second: overview pages help you choose a workflow, fundamentals explain the method, guides provide runnable tasks, examples map packaged assets to decisions, and API pages distinguish the supported workflow facade from contributor-owned implementation modules.