heat exchanger design and rating software

[krissmilek]

frustrated1
Can somebody advice me on sources of free or low cost (up to $500) software for shell&tube and double pipe heat exchanger which would be able to handle two-phase heat transfer? I need that this software is capable of calculations pertinent to the heat transfer occuring when there is the condensation of one fluid achieved by the evaporation of the counter current fluid (both shell side and tube side fluids going through phase change simultaneously). By "fluid" I mean not only water but also refrigerants, hydrocarbons, C02 and etc. I am also looking for the flat plate heat exchanger deign software which would have the above mentioned capabilities (also free or low cost). Thanks.

 

[Montemayor]

Kriss:

Get real. Nothing worthwile is free - much less complex and specialized engineering programs. If you want results, you have to pay; if you don't want to pay (or can't) then you have to develop the software yourself. A lot of engineers have done the latter.

A double pipe type of exchanger is never employed as a condenser - for obvious configuration difficulties - and is so small and simple that no one I know sells such an application. Don Kern wrote the algorithm back in 1950 and published it in his book "Process Heat Transfer", which you should be able to read and write a small Visual Basic routine.

No recognized PHE (plate heat exchanger) program is available that I'm aware of - and I seriously doubt there would be. That technology is highly proprietary - just ask ALFA LAVAL.

I'm afraid that the response is: "If you want to play, you've got to pay". Sorry.

 

[rmw]

Go to

http://www.processassociates.com

and look under their 'tools' link. If your application falls within their sizing limits, you should be able to do something there.

There is a web based program for P&F's mentioned in other threads in this forum, but I will leave the search for it up to you, as I am short on time at the moment.

I seem to remember the name PHE Works as its name, but my shortcut to it is on a different computer.

It is a little hard to use for phase change situations, but it can be done. I have done it for a steam/water application. The owner of the program was real helpful.

rmw

 

[krissmilek]

Hallo Montemayor,
thanks for the response to my question and for information on the guy who published an algoritm. First, thermodynamics is not my specialty even I know by now a little bit of it. I am considering to write my own program. But, books I searched to date (approximately 10)are always shy of outlining the algoritm of calculation for condensing one fluid by the evaporation of the other fluid. No calculated examples.At the best you can get example of a liquid being either heating medium for evaporation or cooling medium for condensation of the other fluid. Even in theoretical books like "Practical thermodynamic tools for heat exchanger design" by Henri Soumerai which devotes quite a bit of it's volume to the two-phase change there are no such examples. I gues I am lacking confidence that an algoritmus I put together from these correlations is the correct one. And there is no example to compare results of my efforts. It seems to me that there is not even specific name of an equipment for this type of heat exchange. When I read about condenser or evaporator it is always regarding to the two-phase change on one side only.
Regarding price, there used to be company (I think from Brasil) advertising on internet shell&tube heat exchanger software which was supposed to handle this type of heat transfer but the link which I put down does not work anymore. Their price was supposidly $350. Anyway.Thanks
Kris

 

[zerok]

Krissmilek,

-There are several excellent books on heat exchangers design for single and phase change applications. The most complete but expensive is Heat Exchanger Design Handbook (see begell house web site at

http://www.begellhouse.com).

See also process heat transfer (not from kern) by the same editor. Volume 6 of Chemical Engineering by Richardson and Coulson has several detailed examples including phase change apps (costs around 180 $).

- PHE Works is available @

http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/innohex.

I've been in touch by email with its owner recently and he said that a new version will be released whihin the next couple of weeks.

-Commercial softwares for STHEs like Aspen B-JAC, Aspen Tasc or Aspen Tasc+ cost thousounds of dollars.

-Commercial programs for Plate and frame HX: aspen Aple, HTRI Xphe.

Hope this helps.

zerok

 

[krissmilek]

Hi zerok,
thanks for tip regarding exhample in a book and link to software site. I am in hurry to find out.
Kris

 

[erpop]

Hi krissmilek,

If it's not too late for your project, you can check the following website

http://www.rithmware.com

for heat-exchanger design software (also for drying and evaporation process simulation). The name of the software is ProcesSimO 1.0.

Hope this helps.

 

[UmeshMathur]

I'm afraid I must say that the kinds of problems you are interested in require a level of chemical engineering analysis (simultaneous heat and mass transfer, multi-phase flow in complex geometries, plus phase equilibria) that is not easily mastered by novices. The major commercial programs have been developed over decades of patient laboratory measurements and research to develop the required correlations for many commercially important exchanger geometries.

The development of computer codes for the highly iterative calculations implicit in heat exchanger design and rating is also not for the faint of heart. Finally, the physical properties and thermodynamic routines require an additional level of sophistication not easy to come by. That is why such software requires a multi-disciplinary effort and should not be attempted unless your purposes have little or no commercial significance.

 

[Latexman]

Mr. Montemayor,

I stumbled across Alfa Laval's webcALc^TM today. It is plate and frame heat exchanger and brazed heat exchanger design webware with limited capability. It only handles water, seawater, ethylene glycol and propylene glycol.

http://extranet.alfalaval.com/webcalc/

http://wwwcalc/DesignDuty.asp?ident=new:WebCalc

Neat!

Good luck,
Latexman

 

[Lblopez]

Hello Kriss,

There are mani software free for trial in the internet. If you type "process simulation software for free" in google search box, you can find mani demos of process simulation package. However, you wouldnt use this package to work and gain some money, for this pourposes your company must pay.

Best regards,

Lblópez.