OpenPinch
OpenPinch is an open-source Python toolkit for advanced Pinch Analysis and Total Site Integration. It supports direct and indirect heat integration targeting, graph interpretation, Heat Pump and refrigeration screening, exergy and cogeneration post-processing, heat exchanger network synthesis, multi-period analysis, stream piece-wise linearisation (for variable heat capacity and phase change streams), and file-backed or schema-first workflows.
Full documentation is available at https://openpinch.readthedocs.io/en/latest/.
Install
Install the base package for validation, targeting, summaries, and schema-first Python workflows:
python -m pip install openpinch
Install optional extras only for the workflows that need them:
python -m pip install "openpinch[notebook]" # Jupyter, Plotly graphs, Excel I/O
python -m pip install "openpinch[dashboard]" # Streamlit dashboard
python -m pip install "openpinch[synthesis]" # HEN synthesis, then run: idaes get-extensions
python -m pip install "openpinch[brayton_cycle]" # TESPy-backed Brayton-cycle tooling
python -m pip install "openpinch[tespy]" # TESPy HPR targeting and performance maps
python -m pip install "openpinch[full]" # all optional surfaces, including synthesis
OpenPinch currently requires Python >=3.14.2.
Both synthesis and full install the IDAES/Pyomo synthesis stack. Complete
the IDAES installation before running solver-backed workflows:
idaes get-extensions
First Solve
OpenPinch exposes two package-root workflow classes. Use PinchProblem for one
case and PinchWorkspace for named cases and scenarios.
from OpenPinch import PinchProblem
problem = PinchProblem(
{
"streams": [
{
"name": "Hot feed",
"zone": "Process",
"t_supply": 180.0,
"t_target": 80.0,
"heat_flow": 1000.0,
},
{
"name": "Cold feed",
"zone": "Process",
"t_supply": 20.0,
"t_target": 120.0,
"heat_flow": 800.0,
},
],
"utilities": [],
},
project_name="First solve",
)
problem.validate()
problem.target.all_heat_integration()
print(problem.summary_frame())
Analysis is explicit: named methods execute work, while summaries, reports, plots, and exports consume prepared or cached state.
Packaged Resources
OpenPinch ships maintained sample cases and notebook workflows. The resource helpers below are useful repository tooling, but are not compatibility protected:
from OpenPinch.resources import (
list_notebooks,
list_sample_cases,
notebook_metadata,
sample_case_metadata,
)
print(list_sample_cases())
print(sample_case_metadata("basic_pinch.json").description)
print(list_notebooks())
print(notebook_metadata("01_first_solve_and_core_curves.ipynb").title)
Copy the notebook series from the CLI:
openpinch notebook -o notebooks
Notebooks and sample cases live in OpenPinch/tutorials/notebooks and
OpenPinch/tutorials/sample_cases, with discovery and copying available through
OpenPinch.resources.
The nineteen-notebook series progresses from first solve through multiperiod HPR, cogeneration, HEN synthesis, and publication workflows.
The CLI intentionally copies notebooks only. Solves, validation, graph export, Excel export, dashboards, and advanced targeting happen through Python.
Documentation Map
- Getting started: https://openpinch.readthedocs.io/en/latest/getting-started.html
- Workflow choice: https://openpinch.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/workflow-map.html
- Guides: https://openpinch.readthedocs.io/en/latest/guides/index.html
- API reference: https://openpinch.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/index.html
Testing
Run the test suite locally:
uv sync --frozen --group dev
uv run --no-sync ruff check .
uv run --no-sync coverage run --branch --source=OpenPinch -m pytest --hypothesis-seed=20260715 -m "not solver"
uv run --no-sync coverage report --fail-under=95
uv run --no-sync python scripts/build_docs.py
uv run --no-sync python scripts/build_dist.py
Ubuntu runs the complete CI suite. Windows and macOS install the generated
wheel and verify the core import, CLI, and packaged resources. Tests marked
solver require external solver binaries; CI installs the IDAES extensions
and runs them for pull requests into main and for every release. Run it locally with
uv run pytest -m solver when the required binaries are available.
Release Process
The first merge into develop after a release automatically bumps the patch
version (bump-version.yml); bump minor or major yourself with
uvx bump-my-version bump minor. Merge the develop → main pull request once
CI OK (main) is green. Every push to main runs the full CI suite; when the
version has no v<version> tag yet, release.yml publishes the wheel and sdist
that CI built to PyPI through the protected pypi environment, then creates
the tag and GitHub release. See
Releasing for details and recovery.
Build the documentation locally:
uv run scripts/build_docs.py
History and Citation
OpenPinch started in 2011 as an Excel workbook with macros. The Python implementation began in 2021 to make the workflows scriptable and testable.
In publications and forks, please cite and link the foundational article and this repository:
Timothy Gordon Walmsley, 2026. OpenPinch: An Open-Source Python Library for Advanced Pinch Analysis and Total Site Integration. Process Integration and Optimization for Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41660-026-00729-6
Contributors
Founder: Tim Walmsley, University of Waikato
Stephen Burroughs, Benjamin Lincoln, Alex Geary, Harrison Whiting, Khang Tran, Roger Padulles, Jasper Walden, Caleb Archer
License
OpenPinch is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.
3 maintainers
Metadata
3 maintainers
Release files for OpenPinch 0.6.11
For a detailed explanation of source distributions (sdists) and built distributions (wheels), please see the package formats documentation.
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Total release size: 1.3 MB
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| Uploaded via |
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