Effect of Technology on Our Lives
In the late 1970s, Pinch Technology was developed as a thermodynamic approach to energy conservation in industries. The basic tool was called the "Composite Curve" plot, which represented graphically the heat available and heat required by a process flowsheet. These curves also allowed a designer to set realistic targets for the minimum heating and cooling utilities required, and identify the existence of the "pinch point" which constrains further heat recovery.