Advances in process integration, energy saving and emissions reduction

1. IntroductionThe efficient use of energy is a very important issue for the processing industry, businesses and services, residential sector and agriculture. There are not just monetary incentives but also a growing challenge for a cleaner environment. The impact of energy generation, transport and consumption systems on environmental pollution have both local and global effects. Over the years there have been various powerful methodologies developed to cope with those problems. Heat integration based on pinch technology [1–3] extended into the total site [4] and integration of the renewable energy sources [5] has been one of them. The performance of the heat exchanger network in a system is an important aspect of energy conservation. Its efficiency, flexibility, reliability and maintenance are very important issues. The ways to deal with pollution and emissions including CO2 have received growing attention.Because of the increasing urgency to successfully deal with these and related problems, various conferences are being held to encourage closer collaboration among people of many nations.The series of conferences on ‘‘Process Integration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction” (PRES) is one such opportunity for cross-fertilisation, running now into its second decade. It has been established originally to address issues relevant to process energy integration in connection with efficient heat transfer issues. The organisers of the PRES conferences are proud to continuously attract delegates from numerous countries world-wide providing a friendly and highly collaborative platform for fast and efficient spreading of novel ideas, processes, procedures and energy saving policies. PRES conferences have a comprehensive publication strategy. This Special Issue is already the tenth of Applied Thermal Engineering dedicated to selected contributions from PRES conferences The collaboration started in 2000 with PRES’99 [6] and successfully continued with PRES 2000 [7], PRES’01 [8], PRES 2002 [9], PRES’03 [10], PRES 2004 [11], PRES’05 [12], PRES 2006 [13] and PRES’07 [14].Beside Applied Thermal Engineering some other well-known journals have been collaborating with PRES conferences – Heat Transfer Engineering [15], Journal of Cleaner Production [16], Cleaner Technologies and Environmental Policy [17], Resources, Conservation and Recycling [18] and Energy [19] supported by related workshops publications [20].However, the collaboration with Applied Thermal Engineering has the longest tradition and has been mutually greatly appreciated.Societal challenges to develop and implement energy efficient, clean and sustainable technologies are taken up by academia and industry. They have been increasingly responding to the economic, environmental and sustainability challenges. The economic crisis is widely regarded as a barrier for implementation of advanced and clean technological solutions. However, should the recent political initiatives towards energy efficiency be translated into legislative, regulatory and economic incentives there is a good chance for a wide range of advanced and sustainable technologies to take off.One of the most established and world renowned conferences in this field is PRES.The 11th Conference on Process Integration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction – PRES 2008 – which was held in Prague in August 2008, provided an excellent opportunity for researchers and industry for dissemination of novel ideas, processes, procedures and energy saving policies.PRES 2008 was held, following tradition, every second year in collaboration with the 18th International Congress CHISA 2008 in the heart of Europe – in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.This Central European capital, known as a city of thousand spires and a golden city, welcomed so far a record number of PRES delegates from more than 55 countries. 987 authors submitted 345 contributions. They represented, beside traditional European countries, Asia, Africa, Australia and North and South America.