Transitioning heat exchanger network (HEN) synthesis designs to industrial application involves operational, environmental, and cost considerations, posing computational challenges. This study proposes a systematic optimization approach integrating multi-objective, multi-period optimization HEN synthesis with waste heat recovery and multiple utilities. The proposed methodology incorporates a novel two-step unit reduction strategy to overcome the increase of model combinational complexities arisen from the multi-period features, thereby facilitating the solving of large-scale problems. Meanwhile, environmental impacts are concerned by using the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution approach. A new optimization route, Enhanced Pinch-assisted Multi-Objective Optimization is proposed to obtain the final decision in this multi-objective problem time-efficiently. The case study includes a 15 streams problem, and a real industrial-scale crude oil distillation preheat system. The results showed that assigning carbon compensation to the waste heat recovery option can significantly reduce carbon emissions and change energy distribution.

Spiral-wound heat exchangers (SWHEs) offer high heat transfer efficiency and compact design advantages, making them well-suited for services in process industries. Accelerating the application of SWHEs demands design methodologies that avoid extensive user manipulations and complex solution procedures. This study develops a novel incremental-based heat transfer framework for the automated design of single-phase SWHEs, which simultaneously optimizes multi-stream allocation across activated tube layers and exchanger geometries. At each increment, energy balances are enforced for all streams using local heat transfer coefficients and areas. On the tube-side, flow distribution is optimized by permitting variable split heat capacities and mass flow rates within tube layers while ensuring pressure balance for each stream at the bundle outlet. New correlations for shell-side flow regimes are introduced into the proposed sizing model to link discrete tube-layer selections with their corresponding cross-sectional areas throughout the optimization process. The capability of the proposed framework is demonstrated through four case studies, including model validation, two-stream and multi-stream SWHE design, and application to an industrial-scale heat exchanger network (HEN). Rigorous Aspen EDR-CoilWound simulations validate the proposed model and design results, with the HEN case exhibiting only a 2.95 % deviation from the target duty. In Case Study 2, SWHE results in a 24.29 % reduction in required heat transfer area. Case Studies 3 and 4 demonstrate that SWHE configurations can achieve 31.8 %–40.7 % reductions in exchanger volume, attributable to their superior compactness relative to conventional shell-and-tube heat exchangers (STHEs). Benchmarking against detailed STHE designs further clarifies optimal deployment strategies and highlights residual limitations of SWHE technology.