Condenser Design on Aspen-Plus Software

(Heat Exchanger design with a phase change)

Author: Jim Lang (©SDSM&T, 2000)

This is a continued look into the process of condensation and condenser design on Aspen-
Plus. The following example will be used.

Problem statement : Saturated steam at 1atm and 101° C needs to be condensed so that
it may be used as a stripping fluid in a column downstream. Once again, Ethylene Glycol
is available at 340 K and 1 atm. All of the steam needs to be condensed. The plant
manager recommends using a vertical countercurrent heat exchanger with the steam in
the tubes. Pressure drop is not a concern.

Schematic:

Sat. steam
64 kmol/hr
Ti = 374 K
Pi = 1 atm Ethylene Glycol
To = 365 K

Ethylene Glycol
657 kmol/hr
Ti = 340 K
Pi = 1 atm
Condensed steam
To = Tsat
Condenser Design Procedure © SDSM&T 2/9

Once again, hand calculations will be needed for the condenser design. Before beginning
the actual design on Aspen, make sure to read the following selections to become familiar
with the mechanisms of condensation.

Recommended readings:

Perry’s 7th edition; pg. 5-20 through 5-22 and 11-11 through 11-12
Incropera and DeWitt; pg. 554 through 568.
Geankoplis; pg. 263 through 266

General Design considerations

When a surface temperature of a solid is lower than the saturation temperature of a gas,
condensation occurs. There are two forms of condensation: film and dropwise
condensation. The latter gives higher heat transfer coefficients; however, generally you
need surface coatings to achieve the dropwise mechanism. From this aspect, design of
condensers is usually done with the assumption of film condensation; as was done with
this example. Just as in boiling design, the condensation heat transfer coefficients are on
the scale of 103 W/ m K.

An example of a condenser can be seen in Coulson and Richardson. Physically,

condensers are very similar to normal shell-and-tube heat exchangers. The condensation
can occur on the outside or inside of the tubes. Each setup requires different
considerations as well as different heat transfer correlations. (See recommended readings)
This example will use a vertical condenser with the condensation inside the tubes.
Physically, the steam will flow from top to bottom inside the tubes while the Ethylene
glycol will move countercurrently in the shell area.

Design on Aspen is very similar to that of boiling design. (See reference two) Hand
calculations will be needed again since Aspen has difficulty estimating condensation heat
transfer coefficients accurately. On the other hand, the hand calculations can become
very tedious. Generally, a system of equations from energy balances has to be solved and
possible iterations are needed.
Condenser Design Procedure © SDSM&T 3/9

Start by creating a flowsheet of a block from the HeatX icons. (See reference one or two
for help)
After the flowsheet is complete (shown above), give Aspen the other required
information: title, property methods, and the stream data given in the problem statement.
(Note* you may want to run a simulation using the Heater block as was done in the
previous examples, this step will be skipped in this manual)

Now at the Setup page for

the heat exchanger (shown
at left), run a shortcut
calculation based on the
“Hot stream outlet vapor
fraction.” Set the
specification to 0.0 so that
the steam will leave the
exchanger as saturated
water.
The flow will be
countercurrent.

Click Next and run the

simulation.
Condenser Design Procedure © SDSM&T 4/9

Here are the results from

the shortcut calculations.
Make sure and check the
outlet conditions of both
streams. The steam has
completely condensed and
the Ethylene glycol has
risen to 365 K, the design
outlet temperature.

Also notice the saturation

temperature of the steam.

Return to the Setup page

and change the calculations
to “Detailed.” The
exchanger specification
will remain the same.

Now click on the U-methods page and specify that the overall heat transfer coefficient
will be calculated using “Film coefficients.” We will specify the calculation method for
the individual heat transfer coefficients on the next page. (Note*: this is just one way to
calculate heat transfer coefficients for condensation, a Fortran subroutine can be
implemented to calculate the coefficients, see reference one)
Condenser Design Procedure © SDSM&T 5/9

Shown above is the Film Coefficients input page. Just as in the previous example we
will need to enter in the heat transfer coefficients manually. (See reference two) Also
remember that this page can only be reached if the overall heat transfer coefficient is
calculated from “Film coefficients.” Here for the hot stream, enter in the values
obtained from hand calculations. The steam will have two phases so both the “vapor”
and the “condensing” spaces need to be filled. Remember the correct units.

Now specify the outside heat transfer coefficient by entering results from hand
calculations in the “cold stream” spaces. The glycol stream has only the liquid phase so
you just need a value for the “liquid.” (Shown below)
Condenser Design Procedure © SDSM&T 6/9

Now to set the geometry of

the exchanger. Shown at
left is the input page for the
shell. As done before, enter
in the shell type, number of
tube passes, shell diameter
and the shell clearance.
Also remember to specify
the exchanger orientation.
The condenser in this
example has vertical
orientation with the
tubeside fluid flowing
down.

Click on the Tubes page.

The tubes are entered just as

before. (See reference one
and two)

Note*., the length of tubes

in condensers are typically
around 16 ft. (~5 m)

Click on the Baffles page.

Condenser Design Procedure © SDSM&T 7/9

Baffles are needed in

condensers for effective
heat transfer. Enter the
results from hand
calculations.
If design values are
unknown, then start with
the number of baffles
equal to twice the length
of the tubes in meters.
In this case, the length of
the tubes is 5 meters, so
10 baffles is a good
place to start.

Again, do the same thing with the baffle spacing. If the baffle spacing is unknown, input
the distances between the first baffles and the tubesheet. (See reference one for help)

Click on the Nozzles page.

Shown at left is the nozzles

input page. Input the
nozzles diameters. (See
reference one or two for
recommendations)

Also remember that the

steam is changing from a
gas to a liquid within the
tubes, so the tube side inlet
diameter will be greater
than the outlet nozzle
diameter.

Click Next and run the simulation.

Condenser Design Procedure © SDSM&T 8/9

The Summary page of the

results section is shown
here.

Check the outlet conditions

of both streams; make sure
the steam condensed
completely.

Here is the Exchanger

Details page.

Compare the actual and

required areas for the
exchanger. Remember it is
safe to over-design by
about 10%.

As you can see, Aspen has

“calculated” an average
heat transfer coefficient.
(1467 W/m2 K) Actually,
Aspen just found an
average value from the
numbers that you entered
earlier.

The other results can be seen in the Detailed Results section. All of the results pages
should be looked at to ensure the design is accurate and to make sure the exchanger is
within recommended limits. Of course, more optimization may be needed.
Condenser Design Procedure © SDSM&T 9/9

The simulation should be rerun with a different exchanger specification, perhaps with the
geometry. This will give you a good idea if the exchanger layout is designed properly.
Once the design is completed print out the input page as well as the results.

Closing comments

This example showed one setup for condenser design. Some situations will be different,
perhaps with the condensation occuring on the outside of the tubes. Remember to change
the input accordingly to comply with the new condenser.

You can apply this manual to other general forms of heat transfer unit operations.
Fortunately, one can manipulate Aspen to achieve accurate design results. However, as
said before, always question the results from Aspen. Compare the results with hand
calculations. Furthermore, this manual gives just an introduction to heat transfer design
on Aspen. More complex and detailed design calculations can be done. It just takes time
to understand how Aspen works and understanding what calculation methods give the
best results for each specific situation.

References
1. Lang, Jim. “Design Procedure for Heat Exchangers on AspenPlus Software” Design
manual. June 1999.

2. Lang, Jim. “Boiling Design on Aspen-Plus.” Design manual. July 1999.

3. Aspen Plus Simulator 10.0-1. User Interface (1998).

4. Coulson and Richardson. Chemical Engineering Fluid Flow, Heat Transfer and Mass
Transfer. Volume 1, 5th ed., Butterworth and Heinemann, 1996.

5. Geankoplis, Christie J. Transport Processes and Unit Operations, 3rd ed., Prentice
Hall, 1993.

6. Incropera and DeWitt. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer. 4th ed., John Wiley
and Sons, 1996.

7. Perry, P.H. and Green, D. Perry’s Chemical Engineering Handbook. 7th ed.,
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1997.