UniSim® Crossflow

Exchanger Modeler
(referred to as UniSim® CFE)

Reference Guide
Copyright
Release 451

The information in this help file is subject to change over time. Honeywell may make
changes to the requirements described. Future revisions will incorporate changes, including
corrections of typographical errors and technical inaccuracies.

For further information please contact

Honeywell
130 Dufferin Ave., Suite 1001
London, Ontario
N6A 5R2
Telephone: (519) 679-6570
Facsimile: (519) 679-3977

Copyright Honeywell 2017. All rights reserved.

Prepared in Canada.
 Table of Contents
1 Introduction ......................................................... 1-1
1.1 Calculation Modes ............................................ 1-3
1.2 Exchanger Geometries ...................................... 1-4
1.3 Fluid Processes ................................................ 1-5
1.4 Property Data Sources ...................................... 1-5
1.5 Output Options ................................................ 1-6

2 Using UniSim® CFE............................................... 2-1

2.1 Introduction .................................................... 2-3
2.2 Starting UniSim® CFE ...................................... 2-3
2.3 Start Up View .................................................. 2-5
2.4 Running UniSim® CFE Calculations..................... 2-7
2.5 UniSim® CFE Icons .......................................... 2-7

3 Data Input ............................................................ 3-1

3.1 Introduction .................................................... 3-3
3.2 Input Views ..................................................... 3-3
3.3 Geometry Data Input ........................................ 3-5
3.4 Process Data Input ........................................... 3-7
3.5 Distribution Data Input ..................................... 3-9
3.6 Options Data Input ........................................... 3-9
3.7 Physical Property Data Input............................ 3-10
3.8 API Input ...................................................... 3-10
3.9 Input Units .................................................... 3-11
3.10 Finding Input Items ........................................ 3-12
3.11 Input File ...................................................... 3-13
3.12 Default Input Data File .................................... 3-14
3.13 Input Errors & Warnings.................................. 3-15

4 Output .................................................................. 4-1

4.1 Introduction .................................................... 4-3
4.2 Output Views ................................................... 4-3
4.3 Output Files..................................................... 4-5
4.4 Error/Warning Message Log ............................... 4-7
4.5 Other Output ................................................... 4-8

i
5 Physical Properties............................................... 5-1
5.1 Introduction .................................................... 5-3
5.2 Properties Input ............................................... 5-5
5.3 Properties Data Input (Old Style) ....................... 5-8
5.4 Mixture Calculations (Old Style) ....................... 5-11
5.5 Property Databanks ........................................ 5-13
5.6 Importing Properties & Process Data ................. 5-14
5.7 Importing from UniSim® Design ...................... 5-16
5.8 Importing from a Properties Package ................ 5-17
5.9 Properties Output ........................................... 5-18
5.10 Pressure Dependence ..................................... 5-19

6 Other Facilities ..................................................... 6-1

6.1 Introduction .................................................... 6-3
6.2 Setting Plan..................................................... 6-3
6.3 Budget Cost .................................................... 6-4
6.4 Word Specification Sheet................................... 6-6
6.5 Project File Structure ........................................ 6-7

7 Examples .............................................................. 7-1

7.1 Introduction .................................................... 7-3
7.2 Example 1: Water Cooler................................... 7-4
7.3 Example 2: Debutanizer Overhead Condenser .... 7-16
7.4 Example 3: Oil Cooler ..................................... 7-22
7.5 Example 4: Air Conditioning Coil ...................... 7-27
7.6 Example 5: Heat Recovery Unit ........................ 7-30
7.7 Example 6: Intercooler ................................... 7-35
7.8 Example 7: Design of a Steam Condenser ......... 7-37

Index.................................................................... I-1

ii
 Introduction 1-1

1 Introduction

1.1 Calculation Modes.......................................................................... 3

1.2 Exchanger Geometries ................................................................... 4

1.3 Fluid Processes.............................................................................. 5

1.4 Property Data Sources ................................................................... 5

1.5 Output Options .............................................................................. 6

1-1
 Introduction 1-3

1.1 Calculation Modes

UniSim® CFE can perform a wide range of crossflow heat exchanger
calculations. There are three basic calculation modes:

UniSim® CFE Calculation Modes

Design The program offers a range of exchanger widths and tube
(only for air-cooled lengths, which satisfy the required thermal duty for a
exchangers) given X-side* pressure drop and tube and fin geometry.
The designer can select a design subject to constraints of
maximum tubeside pressure drop and maximum and
minimum tubeside velocities.
Checking Calculates a heat transfer area ratio (actual/required) to
indicate whether a given exchanger will meet a required
duty, calculated from the tubeside flowrate and inlet and
outlet conditions. An area ratio equal to or greater than
unity indicates that the exchanger will meet the required
duty.
Simulation UniSim® CFE offers nine simulation options:
(for all types of • SIMU - Standard Simulation: Calculates the
crossflow heat tubeside outlet temperature from the tubeside inlet
exchanger) temperature and flowrate, and the X-side inlet
temperature and flowrate. Similar to the Tubeside
Outlet Temperature option described below, but
uses a combined forward and backward iteration
technique. This is the default option and has shown
to run quicker and to be more accurate than the
Tubeside Outlet Temperature option.
• SIM0 - Tubeside Outlet Temperature: Calculated
from the tubeside inlet temperature and flowrate,
and the X-side inlet temperature and flowrate.
Similar to the Standard Simulation, described above,
but uses a purely forward iteration technique.
• SIM1 - Tubeside Inlet Temperature: Calculated
from the tubeside outlet temperature and flowrate,
and the X-side inlet temperature and flowrate.
• SIM2 - Natural Convection: Calculates the X-side
flowrate during natural convection. Can be used
when all fans in an air-cooled heat exchanger are
switched off.
• SIM3 - Tubeside Flowrate: Calculated from the
tubeside stream inlet and outlet temperatures and
the X-side inlet temperature and flowrate.
• SIM4 - X-side Flowrate: Calculated from the
specified tubeside conditions and the X-side inlet
temperature.
• SIM5 - Tubeside Fouling Resistance: Calculates a
hypothetical tubeside fouling resistance to give a
process duty that matches the duty calculated from
the input tubeside conditions. This gives an indication
of the surplus heat transfer surface area available.
• SIM6 - X-side face velocity: Calculates the X-side
mass flowrate from a given X-side face velocity (at
actual conditions) and the bundle geometry and then
carries out a Standard Simulation (see above).
• SIM7 - Bundle pressure drop: Calculates the X-
side mass flowrate from a given bundle pressure
drop (at actual conditions), inlet X-side stream
density and the bundle geometry.

* In air-cooled heat exchangers the ‘X-side’ is commonly known as the ‘airside’.

UniSim® CFE’s User Interface presents a structured approach to data

1-3
1-4 Exchanger Geometries

input. The software can run at various levels of detail, and is

extensively supported by Help Text. A range of outputs are produced in
both tabular and graphical form. The output includes a Setting Plan,
Budget Cost and an API-style Specification Sheet in the form of a
Microsoft Word document, which can be customised to your own
requirements.

1.2 Exchanger Geometries

UniSim® CFE can handle geometries for the following exchanger types:
• Air-cooled heat exchangers
• Heat recovery exchangers
• Air-conditioning and refrigeration heat exchangers
• Intercoolers

Details are given below:

Exchanger Geometries
Unit Configuration 1 to 99 Bays/Unit
1 to 12 Bundles/Bay
1 to 6 Fans/Bay
Fan Configuration Forced draught
Induced draught
Exchangers with no fans
Bundles Any orientation to the horizontal
Inline and staggered bundles
1 to 100 tube rows
1 to 50 tube passes
Simple (symmetrical) and complex (non-
symmetrical) pass configurations can be specified.
Also serpentine coils of the type used in air-
conditioning equipment.
Four types of tube finning may be specified in the
same bundle.
Repeated circuits
Headers Box
D-header
Plug
Cover plate
Manifold headers
U-bends may be used for pass connection.
Tubes Circular
Non-circular (oval or flattened)
Up to 4 diameters (OD, ID) per bundle
Enhancement (twisted tape inserts, user
performance data)

1-4
 Introduction 1-5

Exchanger Geometries
Extended Surfaces Circular
Non-circular (oval or flattened)
Up to 4 diameters (OD, ID) per bundle
Enhancement (twisted tape inserts, user
performance data)
Up to 4 types and dimensions per bundle
User performance data

1.3 Fluid Processes

UniSim® CFE can perform heat transfer and pressure drop calculations
on single or two-phase streams, involving sensible heating or cooling,
boiling or condensation, or any combination of these. Allowance can be
made for subcooled boiling and wet-wall desuperheating. Streams can
be either pure components, or multicomponent mixtures. For
temperatures above 400oC, radiation effects on the X-side can be
included.

Facilities are provided whereby you can modify the heat transfer
coefficients and pressure gradients calculated by UniSim® CFE, either
by scaling them, or replacing them by values you specify. You can also
specify whether allowance is made for certain physical processes during
the calculations, such as wet-wall desuperheating.

1.4 Property Data Sources

UniSim® CFE offers a range of options for providing the physical
property information needed for heat transfer and pressure drop
calculations. If you have stream property information available, this can
be input directly, or imported provided it is in the correct format. If the
stream is a mixture of known composition, UniSim® CFE can perform
vapour liquid equilibrium and mixture calculations to determine the
stream properties. This can be done using the UniSim Thermo
package which has data for over 1000 components.

See Chapter 5 - Physical Properties for more information on the

various properties options and methods.

1-5
1-6 Output Options

1.5 Output Options

UniSim® CFE produces various types of output information. Some are
in the form of output views; information can be tabulated, plotted and
printed. Other information is available as output files, which you can
examine via the User Interface. The Find function helps to locate text
within these files. You can control the amount of information they
contain using flags in the program input.

UniSim® CFE also includes an extensive set of error and warning

messages to provide clear information on what is required if you omit
vital data or provide unusual or inconsistent input. (Chapter 4 -
Output gives more detailed information on the program output.)

1-6
 Using UniSim® CFE 2-1

2 Using UniSim® CFE

2.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 3

2.2 Starting UniSim® CFE .................................................................... 3

2.3 Start Up View................................................................................. 5

2.4 Running UniSim® CFE Calculations................................................ 7

2.5 UniSim® CFE Icons ........................................................................ 7

2-1
 Using UniSim® CFE 2-3

2.1 Introduction
The normal UniSim® CFE run procedure involves setting up the input
data representing a particular case, running the case and then
examining the results. If you open a case you have previously run, you
can examine the results without needing to run the program again.
Changes can easily be made to a case and then re-run. You can
examine the results of a changed case before deciding to save those
changes. A case can be saved with incomplete data and then be re-
opened for completion.

Facilities are provided to give a descriptive title for each run, to specify
a run number, and to add a number of lines of comments giving further
information.

See Chapter 3 - Data Input for a detailed description of the data

input and for output see Chapter 4 - Output. Extensive Help Text is
available when running the program. The Online Help covers not only
the details of input and output, but also the particulars of the User
Interface and about crossflow exchangers in general.

2.2 Starting UniSim® CFE

To run UniSim® CFE click on the Start button, select Programs,
Honeywell, UniSim Heat Exchangers Rxxx and UniSim CFE.

Alternatively, use Windows Explorer or My Computer to navigate to the

Program Files\Honeywell\UniSim Heat Exchangers Rxxx\UniSim CFE

folder and double-click on CFE.EXE. If you want, you can create a

desktop shortcut by dragging the CFE.EXE onto the desktop.

UniSim CFE icon

2-3
2-4 Starting UniSim® CFE

Once UniSim® CFE loads, you will see the Welcome view as shown.

Figure 2.1

The Welcome view contains a list of recently used input files, and gives
you the option of opening an existing file, or starting a new one.
1. Click on the New button, and the Start up view appears. You can
begin entering data for a new example.

The first time you make up a data set, save the data before
running the calculations.

You can save an example at any point during data input, or after a case
has been run.
• The next time you start UniSim® CFE, the saved case will be
listed with the recently used files and you can double-click the
listing to open it.
• If you want to find a previous input file that does not appear in
the Recently Used Project File list, click on the Existing
button. When an input file is opened, UniSim® CFE will also
open all the associated output files.

When you have your UniSim® CFE file loaded, you can start a
(different) new case:
1. Open the File menu.
2. Select the New command. This clears any existing data and set up
default data. (To return to a different existing case, you would use
the Open command under the File menu.)

Regardless of the method you choose to begin a new case, the first
You can also use the hot view available is the Start up view as shown in Figure 2.2. (You can
key combination Shift F1
to return to the Start up return to that view at any point by selecting Start up under the Input
view. menu.)

2-4
 Using UniSim® CFE 2-5

When you start an existing case, you will not be taken to the Start up
view. Instead, the Process Diagram view appears. It provides inlet and
outlet temperatures and flowrates, together with the Run Title, to
remind you of the case you have selected. (This diagram can also be
accessed at any time from the View menu or from the tool bar by
clicking on the Process Diagram icon.)
Process Diagram icon

2.3 Start Up View

The Start up view ensures that you are offered a set of input options
consistent with what you want to do. You must set the items on the
Start up view before you enter any other data.

Figure 2.2

As with all input items, Item Description

press F1 to see the online
Help when you are not
sure what the options
mean or what you should
do.
Output Option You can select Lineprinter, 80 Column or Both as
drop-down list outputs.
Application Allows you to select either an Air Cooled Heat Exchanger
drop-down list (ACHE)—which is the default selection—or Other
Crossflow Types (e.g., Heat Recovery Device or Air
Conditioning Unit).
Calculation Allows you to select a mode:
Mode drop- • Simulation mode. This is the default setting. The
down list Simulation Option drop-down list becomes active.
• Checking mode. If Checking is selected the
simulation option is ignored.
• Design mode*. If Design is selected, then the
Simulation Option becomes inactive.
Simulation If Simulation is selected as the Calculation mode, this
Option drop- list becomes active. It lets you choose one of nine
down list options as listed in the table shown in Section 1.1 -
Calculation Modes.

2-5
2-6 Start Up View

Item Description
X-side Option You can specify which type of stream you want to have
drop-down list on the X-side.
• Dry Air. This is the default setting. If you select
Dry Air (e.g., for an Air-cooled Heat Exchanger)
then UniSim® CFE will use internally stored
physical properties.
• Humid Air. If you select Humid Air (e.g., in an Air-
conditioning Unit), then UniSim® CFE will use
internally stored physical properties.
• Dry Gas (can be mixture of gases). If you select
Dry Gas, then you need to specify the properties in
the Physical Property Input section (see Chapter 5
- Physical Properties).
Basic Input You can limit the number of input items available in the
Mode checkbox following input views. If you are a new user, working in
this mode may help you get an overview of the most
important UniSim® CFE input items and options.
If you check it, you can return to the Start up view at
any time and uncheck it to gain access to the full range
of input. If you save your data while using Basic Mode
and then reopen the case later, it will again be displayed
in Basic Mode.

* Design mode is only applicable to Air Cooled Heat Exchangers (ACHE).

Advance to the input views for your new case.

2-6
 Using UniSim® CFE 2-7

2.4 Running UniSim® CFE

Calculations
Save your data before When you have prepared your data input (see Chapter 3 - Data Input
running UniSim® CFE
calculations. for further information), you must Run UniSim® CFE calculations to
generate results. You can do this either by:
• clicking on the Run icon
• selecting Calculate All under the Run menu
• pressing F4 on the keyboard.
Run icon A status view appears detailing the progress made as calculations run,
as shown below. Sometimes this text will be too rapid to follow in
detail, but it can be useful for UniSim® CFE cases that take more than
a few seconds to run.

Figure 2.3

If the extension is .CFEI, A message appears when the calculation is complete, and the Results
you are running the case Summary view and/or the Error/Warning Log appears. See Chapter
you just opened, without
having made any changes 4 - Output, for more details. The Run Progress view records the file
to it. If the file extension is that is being run.
.CFEA, you are running
the edited copy of your
original input file, having
made changes to it.
2.5 UniSim® CFE Icons
Figure 2.4

UniSim® CFE has a tool bar containing a number of buttons, which can
be clicked on as short-cuts to the frequently performed program
operations. The meaning of each icon is displayed as a Tool Tip after the
cursor has been left positioned on it for a second or two. When tool bar
icons are referenced in this guide, an image of the icon will appear in
the margin adjacent to the relevant paragraph. The following table

2-7
2-8 UniSim® CFE Icons

gives a brief description of each of the available icons.

Name Icon Function

New Create a new case.

Open Locate and open an existing

case.

Save Save the active case.

Preview Input View the input data file.

File
Find Input Item Open the Find Item view.

Bundle Open the Bundle Geometry input

Geometry form.

Extended Open the Extended Surfaces

Surfaces input form.

ACHE Geometry Open the Air Cooler Heat

Exchanger Geometry input form.

Process Data Open the Process Data input

form.

Tubeside Open the Tubeside Options input

Options form.

X-side Options Open the X-side Options input

form.
Distribution Open the Distribution Data input
Data form.

Options Open the Options input form.

Physical Open the Physical Properties

Properties input form.

Run Run the UniSim® CFE

calculations.

Process View the Process Diagram.

Diagram

Help Open the UniSim® CFE Help

Text.
Exit Exit UniSim® CFE.

2-8
 Data Input 3-1

3 Data Input

3.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 3

3.2 Input Views ................................................................................... 3

3.3 Geometry Data Input ..................................................................... 5

3.4 Process Data Input ........................................................................ 7

3.5 Distribution Data Input.................................................................. 9

3.6 Options Data Input ........................................................................ 9

3.7 Physical Property Data Input........................................................10

3.8 API Input......................................................................................10

3.9 Input Units ...................................................................................11

3.10 Finding Input Items....................................................................12

3.11 Input File....................................................................................13

3.12 Default Input Data File ...............................................................14

3.13 Input Errors & Warnings.............................................................15

3-1
 Data Input 3-3

3.1 Introduction
UniSim® CFE has a number of data input views, each comprising
several tabs. You can access these views via the Input menu. The
contents of each page may vary slightly according to the Calculation
Type (Simulation, Checking, or Design) you have specified.

Data is entered by either typing in values, or selecting an option from a

drop-down list. You do not need to fill in all the data input items, only
those that sufficiently describe the case under consideration.

Many UniSim® CFE input items have defaults. Some of these defaults
are indicated on their view, but in other cases they will depend on
context and other input values, and are set up when you Run UniSim®
CFE calculations.

If you are unsure what a data item means, position the cursor on that
item and press F1. You will be shown the online Help on that item,
which can show diagrams, define defaults, and let you explore other
relevant information. It can point you to more information on why
particular design features of crossflow exchangers are used, or on what
use is made of an input item during UniSim® CFE calculations.

For a full description of each item, and a listing of all possible items,
use the online Help. For more information on Physical Properties (input
and output), see Chapter 5 - Physical Properties.

Some input items have checks on them to prevent you from inputting
inappropriate values. However, the best check on input is to Run
UniSim® CFE. If there are any errors or warnings produced, a list is
shown.

3.2 Input Views

Under the Input menu you will see a list of input views, each of which
consists of a set of tabs. The views and their associated tabs are as

3-3
3-4 Input Views

follows.

View Tabs
Bundle Geometry Nozzles/Headers
Bundle Setup
Tube Details
Materials
Material Properties
Non-circular Tubes
Extended Surface First Fin
Second Fin (if defined)
Third Fin (if defined)
Fourth Fin (if defined)
ACHE Geometry Unit Configuration
Fan Details
Design Parameters (in Design only)
Process Data Process Streams
HTC Input
Tubeside Fouling
Air Stream Conditions
Design Parameters (in Design only)
Tubeside Options Calculation Options
Enhancement
Fouling Options
General Enhancement
Performance Data
X-side Options Fouling
1st Fin Performance Data
2nd Fin Data (if defined)
3rd Fin Data (if defined)
4th Fin Data (if defined)
Calculation Options
Distribution Data Array Size
Options Run Documentation
Main Output Options
Program Control
Monitor Output
Convergence Control
Physical Property These views have a slightly different layout from
Data other screens, and are described in Chapter 5 -
Physical Properties.

3-4
 Data Input 3-5

A typical example of an Input view is shown below.

Figure 3.1

Some views have different sets of items on them, depending on the

Calculation Mode. In the Basic Input option, a reduced set of views,
with a reduced set of input items on them is displayed.

3.3 Geometry Data Input

Three input views relate to the geometric configuration of the
exchanger and related equipment:
Some are not required in • Bundle Geometry
some circumstances • Extended Surfaces
(e.g., the Extended
Surfaces view is not • ACHE Geometry
needed for exchangers
with plain tubes). The Bundle Geometry view (shown in Figure 3.1) allows you to input
details of bundle geometry. This includes details on Nozzles and
Headers, Bundle Specification, Tube Details, Tube/Header Materials,
and Fin Material. You need to supply information to all items marked by
‘*’ in these views.

When you enter or change any information on the Bundle Setup tab
you will be presented with a Pass Layout diagram. This will allow you to
set up the pass arrangement to your own specification. See the Help for
more information on how to use this view.

The main difference in geometry input is between Design mode and

3-5
3-6 Geometry Data Input

Simulation (or Checking) mode:

In this
Specify...
Mode...
Simulation As much information as is available to describe the
(or exchanger (in terms of size and layout). Several items have
Checking) defaults however, from API recommendations, or can be
estimated. Even for such items, it is best to input all the
information you have available.
Design Less input is needed than in Simulation mode, however,
you need to select the basic Bundle Geometry, such as:
• Number of Passes (starting value for design
calculations)
• Number of Rows
• Tube Details
• Material Properties.
You also need to specify any Extended Surfaces to be used
and Fan Configuration.
The most important geometric information needs to be
entered on the Design Parameters of the ACHE Geometry
view:
• maximum and minimum tube length
• tube passes

When you run your design, UniSim® CFE will provide you with a Design
Envelope that has a Feasible Design Area. (You can select a design by
clicking the mouse anywhere on this area and UniSim® CFE will
determine all the other geometric features (tube length, number of
tubes and tubeside passes, bundle width, etc.). Alternative designs are
also provided.

Information on unit configuration and fan details is grouped under the

ACHE Geometry input view. On the Unit Configuration tab, you will
usually need to supply:
• Number of Bays per Unit
• Number of Bundles per Bay
• Number of Fans per Bay
• Fan Configuration

If you are unsure whether All other information on this view is optional. The information on the
an item is important or Fan Details view is also optional.
has a default, press F1.

If you have finned tubes, you need to give tube and fin details on the
Bundle Geometry and Extended Surfaces input views.
• If you have one type of finned tube, then the Tube Detail and
Materials tabs of Bundle Geometry will show input for one tube
type and the Extended Surfaces view will show one tab for First
Fin Details.
• If you have selected more than one tube type in Bundle Setup
tab of Bundle Geometry then input for other tube types will
appear as appropriate in both Tube Detail and Materials tabs and
Extended Surfaces input view.

3-6
 Data Input 3-7

3.4 Process Data Input

This section covers data input for the items, Process Data, Tubeside
Options, and X-side Options of the Input menu.

Some information on the Process Streams tab of the Process Data view
must always be specified, but UniSim® CFE may not need all of the
items on the view to be specified. UniSim® CFE needs sufficient
information to be able to work out the required or estimated inlet and
outlet conditions for each stream.

Figure 3.2

For the Tubeside Stream, it is necessary to provide values for the items
marked by ‘*’ in Figure 3.2 although some of these may be calculated
by the program depending on the Simulation Option used. For example
if you have selected the Tubeside Outlet Temperature as your
calculation option, the program will require a first guess for this
temperature to start the calculation with and then will iterate until a
converged solution is reached. The calculated temperature will be the
one necessary to achieve the thermal duty of the exchanger.

You also need to provide a value for Total X-side Mass Flowrate even
when the X-side Flowrate Calculation Option is selected. If you have
selected dry or moist air in the Start up view, you will see that you can
only enter the total mass flowrate on this view and you must use the
Air Stream Conditions tab to enter the air inlet conditions as described
below.

An example of alternative inputs indicated above is the heat load. This

can either be supplied explicitly, or derived from the Mass Flowrate and
Inlet and Outlet conditions.

Discrepancies tend to arise when the sources of your Process and

3-7
3-8 Process Data Input

Property data are different. For example, if you get your Properties
data from UniSim Thermo, then there may be minor discrepancies
from values for the same substance from other sources. This applies
particularly to T-h-x (Temperature-enthalpy-quality) Properties
Data. Though the discrepancies are often equivalent to less than a
degree in temperature, they sometimes represent a substantial fraction
of heat load. They may be circumvented by appropriate input. For
example, for a stream which must condense completely, it may be best
to specify the Outlet Quality (=0.0) rather than the Outlet
Temperature, which may not correspond exactly to the Bubble Point
Temperature from internal calculations.

Process Data can also be imported, along with Properties Data, from a
PSF file. See Chapter 5 - Physical Properties. In such cases data
consistency should not be a problem.

The HTC Input view allows you to input heat transfer coefficients for the
process stream regions:
• Liquid
• Two Phase
• Gas

Coefficients may be entered for one, two or three regions as required. If

a constant coefficient is required in all three regions, then the same
value must be entered in each item. These will override the values
calculated by the program. Users will normally find that the coefficients
calculated by the program represent the best available predictions.
Where there are special circumstances where the internally calculated
values are not appropriate then this view should be used.

The Tubeside Fouling tab of Process Data provides you with a Fouling
Option drop-down list to decide whether the tubeside fouling is
constant, calculated from thermal conductivity or as a function of other
parameters. If Fouling Option is a function of a parameter (e.g., velocity
or temperature), you will see that this choice will influence the
appearance of items on the Fouling Option tab of the Tubeside Options
input view to allow you to input the relevant information.

For dry or humid air calculations, the air inlet condition is specified
using the Air Stream Conditions tab. On this tab you must supply:
• Air Dry Bulb Design Temperature
• if Humid Air has been selected in the Start up view, then the
Inlet Humidity Parameter drop-down list allows you to choose
either Humidity Ratio or % Relative Humidity as an input
method for Inlet Humidity Value.
• Other input information on this form is optional, see Help Text
for default values.

Advanced features such as Tubeside Enhancement Specification and

3-8
 Data Input 3-9

Tubeside Fouling Options indicated above are available on the Tubeside

Options view.

Similarly, on the X-side you can specify fouling options and X-side
performance input data on the X-side Options form. See Chapter 7 -
Examples for details of all these features.

3.5 Distribution Data Input

If you need to specify a velocity or temperaure distribution for the
X-side stream:
1. Select Distribution Data from the Input menu.
2. Go to the Array Size tab.
3. Enter your comments and specify the following to define your array
size:
• Number of Elements Along Bundle. The range of permitted
values is from 1 to 12 inclusive.
• Number of Elements Across Bundle. The range of permitted
values is from 1 to 6 inclusive. If the bundle repeat option is
used (specified on the Bundle Specification tab of the Bundle
Geometry view), then you can only specify 1.

If the number of elements in both directions are supplied a view

appears for you to enter the distribution details (see Figure 7.7 in
Chapter 7 - Examples). In this view, you can supply one or all of
these:
1. Percentage Mass Flow value (representing your velocity). This
can be either:
a. the flow through each element as a percentage of the total flow
through the bundle (i.e., all values summate to 100), or
b. the flow through each element as a percentage of the highest
element flow. This is particularly useful when each element
represents a fan and some fans are running at full flow (100%)
and some are running at less than full flow (<100%). In this
case, the element values will summate to more than 100.
2. Temperature value for each element in flow distribution array.

See Help for detailed information on how to use Distribution Data. An

example is also given in Chapter 7 - Examples, Section 7.2.5 -
Examining the Results.

3.6 Options Data Input

Options input can normally be set to default values, unless you want to
modify the basis of the calculations, or suppress or switch on certain
parts of the output. You can also document your run by adding your

3-9
3-10 Physical Property Data Input

comments.

For advanced users, the Options input provides you with a Convergence
Control tab to control the convergence procedure if necessary. However,
in most cases it is not necessary to do this as the program defaults are
sufficient.

Monitor Output is for debugging purposes only and should not normally
be used.

3.7 Physical Property Data

Input
Physical Property Data must always be provided. This is described in
Chapter 5 - Physical Properties.

3.8 API Input

The API Input form is an alternative input form, which has the standard
layout established by API, the American Petroleum Institution (API 661,
January 1978). If you are familiar with this sheet, you may find it a
simpler method of providing the input than using the normal input
forms. You will still need to provide some information on the normal
input forms, particularly property information.

Many of the fields are blue. These are input fields, directly connected to
the normal input forms. You can make changes here and they will be
reflected in the normal input forms. Other fields contain values
calculated by the program. If you are creating a new case and you have
data available in the form of an API sheet, this method may speed up
your data input.

Additional fields in grey allow the addition of comments or items that

are not actually required for UniSim® CFE to run but may be useful in
completing an API sheet that can be printed out.

The API Form can also be selected from the Output menu after you
have Run the calculations, and it displays calculated values, as well as
your input.

3-10
 Data Input 3-11

3.9 Input Units

There are three pre-defined unit sets available in UniSim® CFE:
• SI (mm, deg C, kJ/kg etc.)
• British/US customary (inches, deg F, BTU/lb, etc.)
• Metric (mm, deg C, kCal/kg etc.)

The application allows for data to be entered in a range of alternative

units of measure. On each input item where units are accepted, access
is given via a button at the left of the field, to a list of relevant units.
The display is always in a consistent set of units. This could be one of
the standard unit sets, or a customised unit set.

To specify a customised unit set, enter the Preferences option under the
File menu and then select Display Units. One of the existing unit sets
must first be cloned and then each unit of measure can be customised
to use one of the units of measure provided.

Figure 3.3

The unit of measure for the display is selected via the drop down list at
the top of the main data input screen.

When the data is saved or passed on to the calculation engine to run

the case, it will be saved in one of the three pre-defined unit sets. You
are able to choose how the data is saved, by using the Engine Units

3-11
3-12 Finding Input Items

view under Preferences.

Figure 3.4

3.10 Finding Input Items

If you need to specify information on some aspect of an UniSim® CFE
case, and do not know where to find the relevant input view, then look
up the item in the Help Index using the Search facility. Try alternative
descriptions if you cannot at first find what you expect.

When you have found the Help topic relevant to the particular input
item, you will see that there is an Input Item Identifier at the bottom of
the Help window. This takes the form of a Line Number and Item
Number in the input file. For example the tubeside Inlet Temperature is
204.1, meaning item 1 on line 204 (there can be up to 6 items on a
line).

3-12
 Data Input 3-13

To find a particular item, use the Find Item command under the View
menu. When you type in a Line Number, you will be shown the list of
items on that line. If you click on a particular item, you will be taken to
the input view where it occurs, as shown below. For Physical Properties
input, you will just be taken to the Main Properties view, and may need
to investigate subsidiary pages yourself.

Some Error and Warning messages give Line and Item numbers. You
can use the Find Item facility to identify the item more fully, and go to
the input page where you can amend it.

Figure 3.5

3.11 Input File

When you provide UniSim® CFE input, it is used to generate an input
file, which has a simple layout and contains all the information you
have provided. The file consists of a set of lines, each identified by a
number occupying the first three characters, and followed by up to six
items of data. When only some of the items on a line are present,
asterisks (**) are used to indicate omitted items.

The data lines are gathered together into ‘blocks’, with a related set of
line numbers. The following table lists the data type and their
respective number ranges.

Data Type Range

Program Options 001-021
Geometry 101-170
Process 201-270
Stream Properties 301-335
Component Properties 401-441
Distribution Data 601-604
Performance Data 701-710

3-13
3-14 Default Input Data File

The first line in each block identifies the block and the units of the input
data. Some data blocks are repeated. For example, there is a Process
block, and at least one Properties block, for each stream.

A full listing of all possible input data items is given in the online Help.

The online Help for individual items indicates the Line Number (and
position on the line).

You can preview the Input data file before it is run, under the View
menu.

The User Interface normally holds an internal version of the input file,
which is modified in response to changes you make in the input, and
you can save this internal version of the input file at any stage when the
UniSim® CFE calculations are Run. Each time you Run calculations,
UniSim® CFE will ask if you want to save the file. UniSim® CFE will also
prompt you to save when you are exiting the program. If you do not
save it, any initial version of your input file will be left unaltered.

3.12 Default Input Data File

UniSim® CFE allows you to set up a Default Input Data File, which is
called up automatically whenever you begin a New input data file. It can
contain any amount of pre-set input data. You can set up several
default input files, and have the option of selecting from them when you
run UniSim® CFE.

To set up a default file:

1. Create a partial input data file.
2. Save it with an appropriate name.
3. Open the File menu and select Preferences.
4. Select the Files tab.
5. Set your default file under the Default Input File option.

When you use a Default Input File, ensure that you use the
Save As command (under the File menu) to save new cases.
Save your file with a name different than that of your Default
Input File, otherwise this modified file will be saved as the
default.

To change the Default Input Data File:

1. In the Preferences view, go to the Files tab.
2. Make your selection.

3-14
 Data Input 3-15

3. Click OK. UniSim® CFE will use the new file as the default input file
for all subsequent cases.

3.13 Input Errors & Warnings

If an error occurs while you are using UniSim® CFE, or if you have
provided data that cannot be interpreted, then an Information Message
view will appear. Click on this and resolve the errors before continuing.

In some circumstances, some of these input warnings will appear

repeatedly as you make use of different parts of the software.

To prevent the display of certain messages (that you can disregard or

fix later), use the Warning Messages setting to suppress the warning
messages as shown below.

Figure 3.6

1. In Preferences, go to the General tab.

2. Select the checkbox of the message type that you want suppressed.

It should be emphasised that the Warning Messages setting

does not affect the checks performed when you Run the
UniSim® CFE calculations. Error and Warning messages on
running cannot be suppressed, and are always sent to a
special message log, as well as being incorporated in the
main Lineprinter output.

3-15
 Output 4-1

4 Output

4.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 3

4.2 Output Views ................................................................................. 3

4.3 Output Files ................................................................................... 5

4.4 Error/Warning Message Log .......................................................... 7

4.5 Other Output ................................................................................. 8

4-1
 Output 4-3

4.1 Introduction
Running the UniSim® CFE calculations produces a number of different
types of output. These can be viewed using the Output menu. When
you save an example, all the key output files remain in place so that
you can view the output again when you open a case you have
previously worked on.

This chapter gives an overview of the various outputs you can inspect
to help you find specific details. A more detailed description of all the
Outputs is available in the online Help. (See Output in the Help contents
page.)

4.2 Output Views

When you have run a Simulation or Checking case, you can select from
a set of output views, which contain the main results as discussed in
the following sections:
• Results Summary;
• Full Results;
• Graphical Results.

The Results Summary view appears automatically at the end of a run

(providing UniSim® CFE has run successfully). This view contains the
main geometric, process, and performance data for the case. A
summary of the number of errors and warnings for the run are also
given. Details of these messages can be found in the Error/Warning
Message Log, described later. Figure 4.1 shows a sample of the
Results Summary view.

The Results Summary gives you the results of the particular

simulation option you have selected. For example, if you
have selected the Tubeside Flowrate Simulation Option then
the value of the tubeside flowrate given in the Results
Summary will be the value calculated by UniSim® CFE.

4-3
4-4 Output Views

Figure 4.1

The values on
the view are
shown in the
selected output
units.

Use the drop-

down menu if
you want to
view the results
in a different
set of units.
The other
controls allow
you to Print the
The resistance diagram shows the thermal
view or Copy
resistance between the X-side and Tubeside streams
the results.
broken down into five components along the length
of a horizontal bar.

All Heat Transfer Coefficients and Thermal Resistances

shown in the output are referred to the Bare Tube area. For
Low Fins, this is taken as the area of a plain tube Outside
Diameter equal to the Fin Tip Diameter.

The Lineprinter output file
(as shown in Figure 4.2)
the most comprehensive
output.
The Full Results output uses an HTML browser (i.e., Internet Explorer),
and has topic headings to give you direct access to various parts of the
results as shown in the following figure.

4-4
 Output 4-5

Figure 4.2

The Graphical Results output presents details of tubeside and X-side

pressure drop. This data can be shown as tables or charts. It is also
possible to view graphs of various parameters, which have been
calculated by UniSim® CFE (e.g., temperatures, pressures and heat
transfer coefficients). The graphs are available if Detailed Tables Output
has been selected in the Options input data.

When you have run a Design case for an air-cooled heat exchanger, the
Results view appears automatically, enabling you to select a design.
The Results Summary view appears only when you run a Simulation for
a selected design.

4.3 Output Files

Some of the UniSim® CFE output is directed to files. The user interface
has a File View facility when you select these outputs under the Output
menu. This applies to the following files:
• Brief Output. Contains similar information to the Results
Summary view.
• Lineprinter Output. The Lineprinter output is the most
comprehensive set of results from UniSim® CFE. It is up to 132
characters wide. When you run the UniSim® CFE calculations

4-5
4-6 Output Files

from the user interface, by default not all the possible

components of the Lineprinter output are produced. An example
of this output is shown in the following figure.

Figure 4.3

• 80-column Output. A more restricted version of the Lineprinter

output.
• Physical Properties Output.

4-6
 Output 4-7

To limit the information sent to the output files:

1. Open the Input menu.
2. Select Options. The Options view appears.
3. Go to the Output Options tab.
4. Select No from the drop-down list for any of the data output you do
not want.
5. Re-run the program to generate the reduced file.

For each of the output file views, four buttons are available (at the top
of the view). These buttons and their functionality are listed in the
following table:

Button Function
Font Opens a view and allows you to change the file font.
The Find operation is not Find Activates the Find operation that will locate a word or phrase
case sensitive. you specify within the Find view. Use this operation if you
want to quickly locate information on a certain aspect of an
exchanger. Type the word/phrase you want to search and the
Find operation will locate that text, if it exists, within the file.
Find Next After locating the first occurrence of a text string within the
Find view using the Find button, use the Find Next button to
locate all subsequent occurrences of this text string.
Help Opens a Viewer Help view.

4.4 Error/Warning Message

Log
When you run UniSim® CFE calculations, an extensive set of checks is
performed on the data you have provided. Further checks are made as
the program continues its operation. These checks may result in Error
and Warning messages which are collected together in a file that also
appears in the Lineprinter output (the main record of the run). The
Messages file will often be the first thing you see when you have run
UniSim® CFE:
• Errors. These are normally fatal when UniSim® CFE has
identified some fundamental inconsistency in your data, or a
lack of vital data, which means that it cannot continue with its
calculations.
• Warnings. These occur if a value you have supplied is outside
an expected range. For example, an Inlet Temperature of
-100oC, which is not impossible, but unlikely. Warnings also
occur if there is an inconsistency in your data. For example, you
cannot specify the Tubeside Flow Distribution option with a U-
tube exchanger.

With any warnings, you should check the input data to confirm that it is
as you intended, and amend it if necessary.

4-7
4-8 Other Output

Some warnings inform you about phenomena in your exchanger

(excessive erosion, etc.), or inform you that the conditions in your
exchanger are beyond the range of available correlations. In such cases
you may need to make an engineering judgement about whether your
design, or design margin is appropriate.

4.5 Other Output

When UniSim® CFE is run, it produces a file called the Intout file with
the extension .CFEF. This file contains all the principal output of the
program in a form that can be accessed by other software. From the
interface, you cannot view this file, or suppress its output.

There are seven other special outputs under the UniSim® CFE Output
menu and are described below:
• API Specification Sheet;
• Word Specification Sheet;
• Setting Plan;
• Budget Cost;
• Stream properties;
• T-H-X

The API Specification Sheet has the same structure as the API Input
described in Section 3.3 - Geometry Data Input, but will display
calculated results as well as your input.

The Word Specification Sheet has a similar layout to the API sheet, but
is a Word document and can be customised to your requirements. This
is also described in Chapter 6 - Other Facilities.

Setting Plan and Budget Cost are described in Chapter 6 - Other

Facilities.

The Stream Properties and T-H-X offer facilities to view tabulated

information on the physical properties and the temperature-enthalpy-
quality data for each stream and plot these as a function of a
temperature. This is particularly useful when you have defined your
streams as components and you want to view or plot the physical
properties calculated by the UniSim Heat Exchanger Physical Properties
Package (PPP) described in Chapter 5 - Physical Properties.

4-8
 Physical Properties 5-1

5 Physical Properties

5.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 3

5.1.1 Properties Data Input ............................................................... 3
5.1.2 Properties Used ....................................................................... 4

5.2 Properties Input ............................................................................ 5

5.2.1 Setting a Data Source............................................................... 5
5.2.2 Get Properties ......................................................................... 6
5.2.3 Rules for Direct Property Input................................................... 7

5.3 Properties Data Input (Old Style) .................................................. 8

5.3.1 Input Directly .......................................................................... 9
5.3.2 User Databank........................................................................10
5.3.3 Single Component Stream........................................................10
5.3.4 Components: Calculation of the Properties of a Mixture ................10

5.4 Mixture Calculations (Old Style) ...................................................11

5.5 Property Databanks ......................................................................13

5.6 Importing Properties & Process Data ...........................................14

5.6.1 Importing PSF Files .................................................................14

5.7 Importing from UniSim® Design...................................................16

5.8 Importing from a Properties Package ...........................................17

5.9 Properties Output .........................................................................18

5.10 Pressure Dependence .................................................................19

5-1
 Physical Properties 5-3

5.1 Introduction
A wide range of options are provided for providing the physical property
data needed by this program. The user interface contains the
UniSim® Thermo package, which contains data for over 1000
substances and a range of methods for determining vapour liquid
equilibrium and mixture properties, and can be used to set up tables of
property data for each stream.

The calculation engine contains the Physical Properties Package

(PPP), which contains facilities for checking and interpolating the
tables of property data.

Physical Properties Options are common to most UniSim

Heat Exchanger programs. Examples in this section are
based on a two stream heat exchanger, but the description
applies also to UniSim Heat Exchanger programs where the
number of streams is one (e.g., UniSim® PPL) or more than
two (e.g., UniSim® PFE, UniSim® FPH).

5.1.1 Properties Data Input

There are two separate properties options under the Input menu:
• Physical Properties
• Physical Properties (Old Style)

These are discussed in the following sections.

Physical Properties
This lets you define a stream data source (components and methods)
for the UniSim® Thermo databank, and then calculate a table of stream
properties which can be used as program input. It also lets you directly
input property data tables, or modify those just calculated. Section
5.2 - Properties Input gives more details.

5-3
5-4 Introduction

Physical Properties (Old Style)

This gives you access to all the facilities which were in UniSim Heat
Exchanger programs before the UniSim® Thermo databank was
included.

Use of the newer style input, with the UniSim® Thermo package
gives you more control. This lets you set up, check and if necessary
revise properties data before running the program. Except for the
special case when you provide direct input, the old style input only sets
up the properties data tables data when the program is run.

5.1.2 Properties Used

A set of Property Data comprises liquid properties, vapour properties
and T-h-x data as appropriate. The data required are as follows:

Property Data
Liquid Temperature for liquid properties.
Liquid Density.
Liquid Specific Heat.
Liquid Viscosity.
Liquid Thermal Conductivity.
Surface Tension (for two-phase streams,
optional).
Vapour Temperature for vapour properties.
Vapour Density.
Vapour Specific Heat.
Vapour Viscosity.
Vapour Thermal Conductivity.
T-h-x Data Temperature for T-h-x.
Specific Enthalpy [h].
Quality (vapour mass fraction) [x].

Sets of 1-24 liquid data points, 1-24 vapour data points, and 2-26 T-h-
x points are used. Although separate sets of temperatures can, in
principle, be used for each of the three subsets, when UniSim® Thermo
is used the liquid and vapour temperatures are identical with the
relevant ones for T-h-x.

The properties need not relate explicitly to the process

conditions in the equipment through which the system flows
in any way. Data can be extrapolated as well as interpolated
if necessary. The properties cover a broadly similar
temperature range to that in the equipment, as major
extrapolations are likely to be less accurate than
interpolations.

5-4
 Physical Properties 5-5

5.2 Properties Input

Properties input using UniSim® Thermo normally involves:
• Setting up one or more data Sources.
• Selecting a data source for each stream, then defining the
composition, temperatures, and pressures for the properties
data tables.
• Generating the property data tables, using Get Properties.

There are, however, four special data sources also provided:

• Direct Input. You type the numbers, copy them from a
spreadsheet, or modify values already calculated by Thermo.
See Section 5.2.1 - Setting a Data Source.
• Not set here. One of the options under Physical Properties (old
style) is used. See Section 5.3 - Properties Data Input (Old
Style).
• Air or Water - a special setting under which air or water data
are obtained from UniSim Thermo at run time. No further
settings for the stream are necessary.

The data source options, and calculated property tables are shown in
the main Physical Properties view.

Figure 5.1

5.2.1 Setting a Data Source

A Data Source defines the components in a stream, and the VLE and
properties methods to be used.

5-5
5-6 Properties Input

For a new case:

1. Click on Add to set up a new Data Source.
2. Select a set of components from the master list.
3. Add them to the list for the Data Source. (A Search facility lets you
find components in the list more easily, searching on either name or
formula. Many components can be identified under a variety of
synonyms. The form ‘*abc’ can be searched on, to find the string
‘abc’ preceded by other characters.)

Figure 5.2

To define a data
source, it is
necessary to select
a set of
components.

To define a data source, it is
necessary to select property
calculation methods from the
Property Package.
When both components and Property Package are set,
the box at the bottom right turns green and reads
Ready. You can then close this view, and on the main
Properties view, the new Data Source is available to be
selected for any stream.

If you selected a Stream Type on the main properties input form, then a
default Property Package will be selected. You can, however, change the
package used (from a selection including Peng Robinson, SRK, NRTL,
and variants on these. A brief description of each is given on the views).

5.2.2 Get Properties

Get Properties calculates properties at one or more pressure levels,
using a set of temperature points. Using the Options facility lets you
either define a temperature range and a number of points (from which
the temperature points are determined automatically), or you can enter
the temperatures to be used. A temperature range and set of pressures

5-6
 Physical Properties 5-7

are initialised from any process information you provide where possible.

Get Properties causes the spreadsheet of property data to be filled in

automatically. If a stream is two phase within or near the range of
defined temperatures, property data at the bubble and dew point are
added in.

After properties have been calculated you can delete individual data
points (data columns). You can explore the effect of changing the
Property Package, using Edit to revise the Data Source.

Once data has been generated, you can change the Data Source to
Direct Input and edit individual property values, though this is not
recommended.

5.2.3 Rules for Direct Property

Input
Data for Two Phase streams must always contain the dew and bubble
points (if these points are within the range of data you supply). If they
are outside the range of data provided, they will be estimated by
extrapolation of T-h-x data. When data are provided, the highest
Enthalpy point with Quality 0 is assumed to be the bubble point, and
the lowest Enthalpy point with Quality 1 is assumed to be the dew
point. Points need not be provided in any particular order, but are
sorted into order of increasing enthalpy by the PPP when the calculation
is Run.

The facility to supply the specific enthalpy and molecular weight of

individual phases is available via the Show Phase Enthalpies and
Molecular Weights checkbox, on the Options view. These are always
optional inputs.

For Single Phase streams, data need only be input for one phase.
Specific enthalpy data are optional, as they can be found by integrating
specific heats.

A set of Stream Properties data you specify should all relate to the
same pressure, typically some mean pressure within the exchanger.
You can supply a second set of stream data at a different pressure,
permitting the program to allow for the pressure dependence of
properties. Such dependence is sometimes significant, particularly for
thermosyphons, or if there is a very close temperature approach
between streams. For the UniSim® PPL program, pressure dependence
is mandatory. See Section 5.10 - Pressure Dependence for more
information.

5-7
5-8 Properties Data Input (Old Style)

5.3 Properties Data Input

(Old Style)
The Old Style physical properties input gives access to all the facilities
that were present prior to the introduction of Thermo. Many of these
facilities are associated with the fact that, unlike UniSim® Thermo
options, with many old-style options you cannot see the properties until
you have run the Calculation Engine.

Figure 5.3

The master view for old style input is shown in Figure 5.3. Using this,
Physical Property information can be supplied in a number of ways:
• Input Stream Properties directly. You can either type them, or
import them from a PSF file. See Section 5.6 - Importing
Properties & Process Data.
• Identify data from a User Databank. The calculation engine will
read data from this databank when it runs.
• For a single component stream, get the data for a limited
number of components directly from the UniSim Thermo
supplied with the program.
• Enter the stream components and composition, and get it to
calculate the properties.

The Data Source item on the main Physical Properties input view allows
you to select the various options. You should also set the Phase before
supplying further data. A two-phase stream means that it can be either
single phase or two phase, depending on the temperature.

5-8
 Physical Properties 5-9

If you have previously set up properties data using Thermo, or the

corresponding direct input (see Section 5.2 - Properties Input), you
will see the Data Source set to Approximately. You can change the
Data Source to Direct Input, and view and edit the properties data,
but you will not be able to access it again using the main Properties
Input.

5.3.1 Input Directly

If you set the Data Source to Input Directly, you can then click on the
Property Table button to open a view, shown in Figure 5.4, where
you can enter the properties.

Figure 5.4

If you have previously imported data from a PSF file, you will be able to
see what you have imported.

You need to specify the properties indicated above for one or both
phases. For Two-phase streams you also supply T-h-x data. Although
you can supply data at up to 24 temperature points, this is potentially
tedious if you are typing the data in, and you are most likely to use this
method when you have only one or two data points available (e.g., at
an exchanger inlet and outlet).

You can use different sets of temperatures for the Liquid, Two-phase
(Enthalpy + Quality) and Vapour Properties. You should normally fill in
the data tables from the left, without leaving gaps, though this is not

5-9
5-10 Properties Data Input (Old Style)

strictly necessary.

For Single Phase streams, T-h-x data are not usually input, as they can
be found by integrating specific heats. If, however, you do want to input
Enthalpies for a Single Phase stream, click on Show T-h-x, and that T-
h-x part of the input table will become available.

Heat Load data, rather than Specific Enthalpies, can be specified. If you
supply a heat load, you must also specify the flowrate to which it
relates.

You can supply Compressibilities instead of Vapour densities. Use the

checkbox to specify this option.

The rules for direct property input are as defined in Section 5.2.3 -
Rules for Direct Property Input. The additional facilities available
under Old Style input are as follows.

5.3.2 User Databank

If you have previously set up data in a user databank, then when you
set Data Source to User Databank, you will see a list of the datasets in
this bank under the Code drop-down list. Select the one you want. See
Section 5.5 - Property Databanks.

5.3.3 Single Component Stream

UniSim Heat Exchanger programs come with UniSim Thermo. If your
stream is a single component in this bank, all you have to do is identify
the component in the Code drop-down box. This gives direct access to
a limited number of components for compatibility with previous
versions.

5.3.4 Components: Calculation of

the Properties of a Mixture
You must specify the Mixture Composition (mass or molar) and identify
the Components. The program will calculate a full set of Stream
Properties. The methods used are not as advanced as in Process
Simulators or specialist properties software packages. See Section 5.4
- Mixture Calculations (Old Style) for more information.

5-10
 Physical Properties 5-11

5.4 Mixture Calculations (Old

Style)
Mixture calculations determine the properties of a stream given its
components and composition. If the stream is two phase, then VLE
(vapour liquid equilibrium) calculations must be performed to
determine the bubble and dew point temperatures and the
compositions of the individual phases at intermediate temperatures.
Given the phase compositions, mixing rules can be applied to
determine each stream property from the corresponding component
properties.

With the Old Style input, mixture calculations are performed when the
calculation engines run.

From the main Properties input view, set the Data Source for the
stream concerned to Components, and then click on the Specify
Mixture button. The Specify Mixture view (as shown in Figure 5.5),
lets you define the temperature range over which mixture properties
should be calculated, or amend the calculation methods or results.

Figure 5.5

More information on all these options is given in the

online Help accessed by using the Help button.

For a Two Phase stream, you can select the method to be used for VLE
calculations, SRK or Ideal. There is also a facility called T-h-x Override,
whereby you can control the results of the VLE calculations. At the basic

5-11
5-12 Mixture Calculations (Old Style)

level, you can simply specify all the temperatures at which you want the
calculations performed. You can also request that any calculated bubble
and dew points (temperatures and optionally enthalpies), be modified
to conform to pre-set values.

All the inputs on the Specify Mixture view are optional, but you must
use it to access the Define Components and Define Compositions views
via the appropriate buttons.

The Define Components view is shown below.

Figure 5.6

You can identify each component, and where data for it is to be obtained. Click
on Add Component until the correct number are identified. The number
should be the total number of components in all such mixtures.*

Select this as the

component Data
Source.
Identify the
component in the
Code drop-down list.

* If the same component occurs in more than one stream, it need only be counted
once. There is no need to include those components which only occur in pure compo-
nent streams.

You can also select from a User Databank of component data (if you
have set one up previously), or you can choose to Input Directly.
Selecting Input Directly as the Data Source enables the Property
Table button. (If you click the Property Table button, the view for direct
input of component properties appears.) The properties needed for
each component are similar to those required for a stream, but the
Liquid Properties are saturation line values, and the Vapour Properties
are ideal gas values, that is values in the low pressure limit.

Each component can be identified as Liquid only, Vapour only, or Two

5-12
 Physical Properties 5-13

Phase. It is normally safe to leave the components set to Two Phase,

but if a stream is Single Phase, you can avoid the need for VLE
calculations by specifying all the components to be Single Phase as
well. For a Two Phase stream you can specify some of the components
(incondensibles) as Vapour-only if you want, but not as Liquid-only.
With the SRK method (discussed later), it is best to leave all
components set as Two Phase.

When you have defined components, click on the Specify

Composition button on the Define Components view, or back on the
Specify Mixture view.

On the Compositions view, enter the compositions (as fractions, flows,

or percentages). Identify whether you are supplying Mass or Molar
values.

Figure 5.7

5.5 Property Databanks

The program contains the UniSim® Thermo databank for physical
properties.

The UniSim® Thermo databank contains data for over 1000

substances, and is accessed via the User Interface to set up tables of
Physical Properties data as part of the program input. To see the list of
substances in UniSim® Thermo, go to the Physical Properties input
screen, and click on Add in the Data Source box.

The UniSim® Thermo databank includes software for performing

vapour liquid equilibrium (VLE) and mixture calculations, using a
variety of methods. This includes interaction parameters appropriate to
each of the methods offered. In principle the UniSim® Thermo
package can be linked to a variety of Properties databanks, but as
supplied with UniSim Heat Exchanger programs, only the Honeywell

5-13
5-14 Importing Properties & Process

databank is available.

Properties from UniSim® Thermo will depend on the equation of state

used in the properties method selected, even for pure components.

You can set up a User Databank with the properties of any

components which you may frequently need to access. The structure of
the databank is very similar to that of the Component blocks of an
Input file. The Help Text gives full details.

You can also set up a User Databank containing the properties of

streams. The User Interface lets you add the properties of any
stream to such a databank. Use the Output to Databank check-box
on the Properties Output Options screen (via the main Properties
input screen). You are advised to run the program first without this
check-box set, to ensure that the stream properties produced are
acceptable. Then re-run the program with the check-box set. Make
sure that the stream has a meaningful name you will recognise in
future. When you have put one or more sets of stream data in the
userbank, on subsequent runs you can select User Databank as the
Data Source on the main Properties input screen using the Code
drop-down box, select from among the previously established data.

The User Databanks of stream and component data are files. Specify
their location by selecting Preferences, under the File menu on the
Files tab, specify the appropriate tab.

5.6 Importing Properties &

Process Data
There are three ways you can import properties and process data into
the case you are running:
• Import a PSF file (set up by a Process Simulator).
• Import from UniSim® Design (if this is available).
• Generate and Import a PSF setup using your company’s own
physical properties software while you are using this UniSim
Heat Exchanger program.

5.6.1 Importing PSF Files

PSF files are files containing process and/or property information for
one or more streams. They can be generated by Process Simulators,
and have the file extension .PSF. It is normally best to import PSF data
before entering any other process or properties data.

5-14
 Physical Properties 5-15

The data from a PSF file go directly into your input file. The import
facility can be accessed via either the Input or the File menus. The
first step is to identify the particular PSF file from which you want to
import data. You will then be taken to the Import PSF Data view.

Figure 5.8

If the PSF file has been prepared specifically for the exchanger you are
interested in, you may simply be able to click on OK. You can, however,
use the Import PSF Data view to direct only part of the information
from a PSF file into the input file.

You can:
• View the stream Names, Number and Inlet/Outlet Temperatures
in the file.
• Import data for some streams but not others.
• Import Process data, or only Property data, or both.
• Import data at any selection of pressure levels (PSF files often
contain properties data at the Inlet, Outlet and Mean Pressures
in the exchanger).
• Change the stream Number when you import data.

The Import facility shows you the stream names and inlet/outlet
temperatures in the PSF file. The temperature units of the display can
be reset by clicking on the box in the top right corner.

The PSF file itself is largely in basic SI units, and when

imported to the input file, the data can be viewed in
whatever units have been set for process and property data.

The Import To column shows the Stream Number to which data will be
imported. This is initially set to the Stream Number from the PSF file,
but you can reset it to a different number if you wish, or if it is
necessary for the program. You can set it to ignore, enabling you to
import data for only one stream (or fewer than all the streams for

5-15
5-16 Importing from UniSim® Design
PSF file layout and
contents are defined in the
online Help.
multi-stream exchangers). You cannot set two stream numbers to be
the same.
The Use Properties column lets you select which pressure levels in a
PSF file to use for Properties data. If there are data for three pressure
levels, you can select two (upper and lower), one (middle level), or you
can opt for a special selection.
If you want to import the properties data but not the process data, click
on Separate Process and Properties, and you will see that the
Import To column is divided in two. The left side relates to Process data,
the right to Properties. You can set either one to Ignore, so that only
the other is imported.
Normally, when you import Process and/or Properties data for a stream,
any data you have already entered for that stream is overwritten. You
can however, cause the Properties data to be added to any data
currently present, provided that it relates to a different pressure. Use
the Merge with Existing Data checkbox.
Click on OK to transfer the Process/Properties data selected from the
PSF file to the input file. Select Process or Properties (old style)
under the Input menu to see what has been imported.
5.7 Importing from UniSim®
Design
If you can run the UniSim® Design Process simulator on your
computer, you can select an exchanger in a UniSim® Design case, and
import the data directly into your UniSim Heat Exchanger program. The
exchanger can also be a UniSim® Design LNG block, when appropriate.
Though this facility is available within most UniSim Heat
Exchanger programs, it is only directly useful when the
UniSim Heat Exchanger program is for equipment
corresponding to a UniSim® Design exchanger.
1. Open either the Input or File menu.
2. Select Import from UniSim® Design. You will be presented with a
view to select an existing UniSim® Design case.
3. UniSim® Design will then be started.
4. Load the chosen case and the import interface will generate a list of
all heat exchangers within that case.
5-16
 Physical Properties 5-17

5. You can select an exchanger, and for each stream in that exchanger,
the temperatures and pressures will be shown.

Figure 5.9

6. You can revise the temperatures and pressures.

7. Click OK. UniSim® Design will perform the flashes needed to
generate the data for a PSF file. You can then review and select
from the data as for a normal PSF import.

5.8 Importing from a

Properties Package
There is an option for importing properties and process data by
accessing your company’s own physical properties software while you
are running an UniSim Heat Exchanger program (if this facility has been
made available):
1. Open the File menu.
2. Select the Import from Other Package command.
3. Provide input on stream inlet/outlet conditions, stream
compositions and components, on the methods to be used, and the
temperature/pressure range of data to be set up.
4. When you have supplied the necessary information, a PSF file will
be generated.
5. You will be taken to the PSF import facility, where you can opt to
import the data you have created into the input file of your UniSim
Heat Exchanger program.

5-17
5-18
The third and fourth
items are only relevant
where mixture
calculations have been
performed. Only the
second item is produced
by default.
See the Help Text for
more information on the
contents of the various
parts of the output.
The second type of
Physical Properties
Package output, in
Windows format, is not
yet available in all UniSim
Heat Exchanger
programs. When it is
available, you will see
Stream Properties and T-
h-x as Output menu
items.
Properties Output
To set up a facility to import data from your company’s own physical
properties software you must write an interface to this property
package and register it so that your UniSim Heat Exchanger program
will recognise it. You must create an executable with project name
Properties Package and a class name PSFFileGen.
The online Help provides detailed information on the structure of the
interface, and on the contents of the PSF file it must generate.
5.9 Properties Output
The Physical Properties Package can be used to generate two types of
output. The first is in file format, the second in Windows format. All the
output relates to tables of property values which are set up at the
beginning of the program, and subsequently interpolated during heat
transfer and pressure drop calculations.
The first type of output can be either held in a separate file, or directed
to the main Lineprinter file. The separate file is the default. If you want
it in the main Lineprinter output, or turned off, select this on the Output
Options view, using the Options command under the Input menu.
Putting the Physical Properties output in the Lineprinter file means that
you will be able to see it in the Full Results output (in programs with
this facility).
The contents of the file format Physical Properties output can be set via
the Properties Output Options view, accessed from the main Physical
Properties (old style) input view. The output is in four parts:
• Input data for each stream/pressure level.
• Table of properties for each stream/pressure level.
• Stream/phase compositions for each stream/pressure level.
• Table of properties for each component.
A further option lets you output stream data to a stream properties
databank (see Section 5.5 - Property Databanks).
Stream Properties gives the properties of each phase in both tabular
and graphical forms. The graphical form has a range of options. The
default is to plot all properties relative to their maximum value, so you
can immediately see if any property does not have a smooth variation.
This can be very useful for identifying typographical errors if you have
input the properties data yourself.
T-h-x gives tabular or graphical presentations of the temperature,
specific enthalpy and quality (vapour mass fraction) for each stream.
The graphical version also shows a set of interpolated points, so that
5-18
 Physical Properties 5-19

you can see the way properties data (input or calculated) is interpreted
when it is interpolated during heat transfer calculations.

5.10 Pressure Dependence

The effect of pressure on properties is most likely to be significant in
the changes it produces in vapour density, and in dew and bubble
points, which may be important when there is a close temperature
approach between streams. Allowing for pressure dependence is
optional in most UniSim Heat Exchanger programs (it is mandatory in
UniSim® PPL).

The normal way of ensuring pressure dependence is allowed for is to

provide properties data at two pressure levels.

If you are using the program to calculate stream properties for a

mixture of known composition, then it is very simple to define two
pressure levels in the properties input. This normally happens by
default when you are using Thermo. If you are using Physical Properties
(old style) input you will need to use the Add Pressure key. You must
then specify the pressure for each level (if you only have one level, you
can use a default pressure). You should select the pressures to span the
range expected in the exchanger.

You can specify data at more than two pressure levels for a stream if
you wish. This is unlikely to be necessary if the stream pressure change
is less than 30% of the (absolute) inlet pressure.

When data are available at only one pressure, the PPP can, if specified,
estimate an allowance for pressure dependence, using the Clausius
Clapeyron equation. This will be less accurate for wide boiling range
mixtures. To allow for pressure dependence in such cases, use the
checkbox on the main Physical Properties (old style) input view.

If you are supplying pre-calculated properties data at two pressures,

you should use specific enthalpies, not heat loads, and ensure that the
enthalpies have a consistent zero.

If the properties data you have available are not isobaric data, but
contain some inherent pressure dependence (for example from inlet to
outlet), then in many cases you can use this data with relatively minor
inaccuracies. You should not select Pressure Dependence in such cases.
Data with an inherent pressure dependence are, however, not
acceptable for two-phase streams that are pure substances, or
azeotropes, or for which the change in saturation temperature due to
pressure changes is comparable with, or larger than, the isobaric
boiling range.

5-19
 Other Facilities 6-1

6 Other Facilities

6.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 3

6.2 Setting Plan ................................................................................... 3

6.3 Budget Cost ................................................................................... 4

6.4 Word Specification Sheet............................................................... 6

6.5 Project File Structure..................................................................... 7

6-1
 Other Facilities 6-3

6.1 Introduction
This chapter introduces you to some of the other features that are
available with UniSim® CFE.

6.2 Setting Plan

The Setting Plan is accessed from the Output menu. It shows principal
dimensions of the overall unit including bays and nozzles. The scale of
views will automatically adjust to fit the page size so that a unit with
one bay or fifteen or more bays could be shown satisfactorily. You can
modify any of the input data within Setting Plan.

Figure 6.1

First click on
the tab
containing
the data you
want to
change,
make your
change.

Some input data to Setting Plan can be transferred to the package from
UniSim® CFE via the interface file (.CFEF). These include UniSim® CFE
input data, UniSim® CFE defaults, or from the results of Calculations.
Other dimensions will be based on estimates generated by the Setting
Plan package.

The geometric data needed to construct setting plans can be held in a

user setting plan default file using the Save Default File As in the File
menu of Setting Plan. A number of these files can be held for different
user layout requirements and all data can be accessed on line for user
modification from the File menu.

If you made any changes, you can view them on the Views tab and
select one of four views: Plan, Front, Side or Unit view, as shown below.
The printed output combines all these views on a single sheet to give
you the Unit view.

6-3
6-4 Budget Cost

Figure 6.2

Revisions made using the Setting Plan only affect the Setting Plan
display, and do not affect your UniSim® CFE input. You must go back to
the UniSim® CFE Input, make the corresponding revisions and re-run
UniSim® CFE calculations if you want to see the consequences on
exchanger performance of modifying dimensions in the exchanger.

The Setting Plan can be exported as a WMF file (Windows Meta File).
For instructions on how to do this, and further details about the
package, consult the online Help of the Setting Plan.

6.3 Budget Cost

The Budget Cost is a separate application that you can access from the
Output menu after you have run your UniSim® CFE case successfully.

This application calculates a budget cost for an Air-cooled Heat

Exchanger. The cost includes the bundles, plenum chambers, fans and
drive motors, and the support structure.

When you select Budget Cost from the Output menu, you will be
presented with the ACHE Budget Cost view shown below.

Some of the geometric data required by the application will be loaded

automatically from the UniSim® CFE interface file (.CFEF) and placed
under the section labelled as Data From UniSim® CFE Intout File. These
data are always shown in SI units, however, if you wish, you can
change the units to British or Metric from the Units drop-down menu.

Any changes you make to the geometry data loaded from the interface
file are local to the ACHE Budget Cost application and are not sent back
to UniSim® CFE. This allows you to investigate the consequence of

6-4
 Other Facilities 6-5

Figure 6.3

changing exchanger geometry on the overall cost. When you change

any of the geometry data you will be prompted that the cost calculation
may not represent your UniSim® CFE run and the label on the top of
the form will change to Data Changed from UniSim® CFE Intout File.

The other input data in the section labelled User Input Data can be
changed if the default values provided are not appropriate.

The cost can be given in any major currency with current exchange
rates. A Currency Exchange Rate server is provided to allow you to
edit/update currency data and set your default currency for future runs
as shown.

6-5
6-6 Word Specification Sheet

Figure 6.4

This application may be run as stand-alone and has its own online Help
which provides detailed help on all input items.

6.4 Word Specification Sheet

The Word Specification Sheet can be used if you have Microsoft ® Word
for Windows (Word6 or higher). The Word Template (APIWW63.DOT)
supplied has a standard API type layout, equivalent to what you see in
the UniSim® CFE internal API Input/Output sheet.

Before using the Word Specification Sheet you must specify the location
of the relevant WINWORD.EXE file in your UniSim® CFE Preferences:
1. Open the File menu.
2. Select Preferences.
3. Select the Word tab and specify the path of the WINWORD.EXE file
of the version of Word you are using in the Word Processor group.
4. You can also select the Template file (extension .DOT) to be used by
specifying the path in the API Sheet Template group.

After running UniSim® CFE calculations:

1. Open the Word Specification Sheet by selecting this under the
Output menu.
2. The Word template opens. You can edit and/or save as a .DOC,
specifying the file name and location.

6-6
 Other Facilities 6-7

3. You can edit the template to contain information relevant to your

company. It can be translated into a different language, if required.
If you do so, it is a good idea to save the new template with a
different name, keeping the original template on file.
4. You can create multiple templates, and select from among them
when you run UniSim® CFE. Use the Word tab under Preferences
under the File menu to set the template to be used.

The templates contain Bookmarks. UniSim® CFE uses OLE automation

to transfer data calculated and/or held within the UniSim® CFE User
Interface to the Word file. The Bookmarks can be re-arranged or
deleted. You cannot modify them or add Bookmarks. See your Word
documentation for more information.

6.5 Project File Structure

An UniSim® CFE Project is initially set up as an input file. The various
files are outlined in the following table.

File Name Description

name.CFEI UniSim® CFE input file, where name is the name of the
Project. After you have run the project, some or all of the
following files will also have been set up.
name.CFEF The Intout file, containing all of the main input and results.
The format of this file is described in the Report DR61 part 4
(which is supplied on your UniSim® CFE Software media). All
the UniSim® CFE Results windows, which you can view under
Output, take data from this file. You can use this file as a
source of information for in-house software, if you wish.
name.CFEL The Lineprinter output file.
name.CFET The 80-column output file.
name.CFEE The Error/Warning Messages file.
name.CFEP The Physical Properties output file.

When you Run calculations from the user interface, most of the project
output files are set up by default. Apart from the Physical Property
output file, you can not switch any of these files off. However, you are
able to switch on/off some parts of Lineprinter output file.

You can also decide where your Physical Properties are to be directed:
1. Choose Options, under the Input menu.
2. Select the Output Options tab, and you will see drop-down lists
controlling these outputs.

6-7
6-8 Project File Structure

You cannot switch off the .CFEF file because it is needed for
the main Output views and the Error/Warning log.

The Iteration Convergence output will be available if you choose

Monitor Output tab and select Yes to Iteration Convergence.

The Monitor Output file cannot be viewed using the viewing

facilities within UniSim® CFE. This file contains debugging
information, which may be used when something has gone
wrong in the UniSim® CFE calculations, e.g. if UniSim® CFE
has not converged to a solution. It may be quite large and
the data it contains will be meaningless to a non-expert in
UniSim® CFE. The amount of information in the file is
controlled by the Monitor Output tab in the Options view.

The file extension .CFEA is used for an edited copy of the input data.
This is the version stored internally by the user interface, which you can
run without saving. If you save the file, the main input, name.CFEI is
updated. The .CFEA file is not saved when UniSim® CFE is shut down.

6-8
 Examples 7-1

7 Examples

7.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 3

7.2 Example 1: Water Cooler ............................................................... 4

7.2.1 Specification............................................................................ 4
7.2.2 Start Up View .......................................................................... 6
7.2.3 Entering the Data..................................................................... 7
7.2.4 Running the UniSim® CFE Calculations ......................................10
7.2.5 Examining the Results .............................................................10
7.2.6 X-side Distribution Data ...........................................................13

7.3 Example 2: Debutanizer Overhead Condenser ..............................16

7.3.1 Specification...........................................................................16
7.3.2 Entering the Data....................................................................18
7.3.3 Examining the Results .............................................................21
7.3.4 Tubeside Flow Distribution........................................................21
7.3.5 Natural Convection Mode .........................................................22

7.4 Example 3: Oil Cooler....................................................................22

7.4.1 Specification...........................................................................22
7.4.2 Entering the Data....................................................................24
7.4.3 Examining the Results .............................................................25
7.4.4 Tubeside Enhancement ............................................................26

7.5 Example 4: Air Conditioning Coil...................................................27

7.5.1 Specification...........................................................................27
7.5.2 Entering the data ....................................................................28
7.5.3 Examining the Results .............................................................30

7.6 Example 5: Heat Recovery Unit.....................................................30

7.6.1 Specification...........................................................................30
7.6.2 Entering the Data....................................................................32
7.6.3 Examining the Results .............................................................33
7.6.4 X-side Performance Databank ...................................................33

7.7 Example 6: Intercooler .................................................................35

7.7.1 Specification...........................................................................35
7.7.2 Entering the Data....................................................................36
7.7.3 Examining the Results .............................................................37

7.8 Example 7: Design of a Steam Condenser .....................................37

7-1
7-2 Examples

7.8.1 Specification...........................................................................37
7.8.2 Entering the data ....................................................................38
7.8.3 Selecting a Design ..................................................................40
7.8.4 Simulating a Design ................................................................41

7-2
 Examples 7-3

7.1 Introduction
The following examples will guide you through a number of cases which
illustrate some of the typical problems that UniSim® CFE can help
solve:
1. Water Cooler. Air-cooled Heat Exchanger, Standard Simulation,
single phase on tubeside, SI units. Use of the API Input Sheet. Use
of Distribution Data input.
2. Debutanizer Overhead Condenser. Air-cooled Heat Exchanger,
Standard Simulation, multi-component condensation on tubeside,
British/US Customary units. Use of Tubeside Flow Distribution and
Natural Convection options.
3. Oil Cooler. Tubeside Inlet Temperature, viscous fluid on tubeside.
Use of Tubeside Enhancement.
4. Air Conditioning Coil. Condensing refrigerant on tubeside, humid
air on X-side, repeated circuit, tube-in plate fins.
5. Heat Recovery Unit. X-side Flowrate Option, Gas on X-side. Use of
X-side Performance Data.
6. Intercooler. Standard Simulation.
7. Multi-Component Condenser. Air-cooled Heat Exchanger, Design
Mode, Simulate from Design.

In a number of these examples you will be shown input and

results views. Since UniSim® CFE is continually being
updated, when you run your version of UniSim® CFE, you
may find that certain details of the view layout you see, or of
the numerical values on your view, differ from those shown
in this guide. If you want to check detailed numerical values,
use the QA files supplied with the program (see the Getting
Started Guide).

The table below summarises the main features of each example.

Example 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Calculation SIMU SIM2 SIM1 SIMU SIMU SIMU DES
Mode
ACHE a a a a
Viscous Cooler a
Air-conditioning a
Heat Recovery a
Tubes/Fins G-fin G-fin L-fin T.I.P* G-fin T.I.P G-fin
X-side Option Dry Air Dry Air Dry Air Humid Gas Dry Air Dry Air
Air
Single Phase a a a a

7-3
7-4 Example 1: Water Cooler

Example 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Condensation a a
Evaporation a
Single a a a a a
Component
Multi- a a
component

T.I.P = tube-in-plate fins

7.2 Example 1: Water Cooler

7.2.1 Specification
This example will illustrate how to use the API input to simulate the
performance of a Water Cooler. The input and output will be in SI units.
Geometric and process details are given in the following tables. The
tubes are carbon steel and the fins are aluminium. Default values
should be used for any items not specified.

Geometric Data Value

Number of Inlet Nozzles 4
Number of Outlet Nozzles 4
Inside Diameter of Inlet Nozzle 101.2
[mm]
Inside Diameter of Outlet Nozzle 101.2
[mm]
Number of Tubes 162
Number of Rows 4
Number of Passes 3
Bundle Type 4 (Staggered - extra tube in even
rows)
Effective Tube Length [mm] 6020
Transverse Tube Pitch [mm] 58.4
Layout Angle [deg] 30
Tube Inside Diameter [mm] 21.3
Tube Outside Diameter [mm] 25.4
Fin Frequency [/m] 433
Fin Tip Diameter [mm] 57.2
Mean Fin Thickness [mm] 0.46

7-4
 Examples 7-5

Bundle Arrangement
Row 4 Pass 1
Row 3 Pass 1
Row 2 Pass 2
Row 1 Pass 3

The above pass arrangement may not be suitable for a water

cooler but is used to illustrate the method of setting up a
non-symmetrical bundle in UniSim® CFE.

Process Data Tubeside X-side

Total Mass Flow [kg/h] 30500 177500
Inlet Temperature [C] 92 37
Estimated Outlet Temperature 56
[C]
Inlet Pressure [bar] 1.2
Estimated Pressure Drop [bar] 0.18
Fouling Resistance [m2K/W] .00002
Fluid Water Dry Air

This example illustrates the use of the interactive API Sheet and
introduces some of the output features. It also demonstrates how
simple it is to enter data into UniSim® CFE.

As well as the interactive API Sheet (used for input and

output), there is also a second API Sheet (available under
the Output menu) which uses Microsoft Word to enable you
to view the data and gives you the full functionality of
Microsoft Word to customise the layout of the results.

7-5
7-6 Example 1: Water Cooler

7.2.2 Start Up View

1. Start up UniSim® CFE (see Introduction).
2. Click the New button on the Welcome view. The Start up view
appears as shown.

Figure 7.1

The first five items need not be changed as the

defaults are sufficient.

Although we are using the API Input Sheet for this example, you can
still switch on Basic Mode by checking the box to limit the amount of
input available. Basic Mode does not affect the calculations
preformed when you run UniSim® CFE.

3. When you have seen the input views in Basic Mode, you can close
these views.
4. On the Start up view, uncheck the Basic Mode checkbox. On
returning to the other views, you will see the other optional inputs.
5. The Nozzles and Headers tab of the Bundle Geometry view appears.
6. You will not use the standard input views for this example. Instead,
you will use the API Input as described in the next section.

7-6
 Examples 7-7

7.2.3 Entering the Data

Some important defaults have already been set, or will be assumed,
when you run UniSim® CFE (unless otherwise specified):
• One bay per unit
• One bundle per bay
• Two fans per bay
• Forced Draught fan configuration
• Carbon steel tubes with Aluminium G-fins
• 30-degree layout angle
1. Click on API Input under the Input menu. The interactive UniSim
Heat Exchanger Specification Sheet (API Sheet) appears (see
Figure 7.4).

This is an alternative to using the standard input views and will enable
you to enter the data and see the results for simple cases.
2. For this example, the input units should be set to SI. If you want to
change to British/US or Metric, then select Units from the menu
options at the top of the API Sheet and click on the unit set you
want.

The SI, British/US, and Metric units of input and output used
by UniSim Heat Exchanger are not the pure units, but a more
convenient set (e.g., SI flowrate in kg/h not kg/s, SI/Metric
length in mm not m, and viscosity in cP for all sets of units).

To make the sheet easier Data can be entered on the API Sheet in any of the areas marked light
to read, you can use the
functions in the View
blue (this is the default colour—if you have changed your Windows
menu to zoom in or set to colour scheme it may be different). The data in this sheet are linked to
page width. the standard input views so either method of input can be used at any
time (the next example illustrates the use of the standard input views).
As you move the cursor around the sheet, you will find drop-down lists
become available (in some cases). You can check cells using your arrow
keys to ensure data is entered correctly. You can also enter data in the
grey fields but these data are not necessary for a run of UniSim® CFE—
they are treated simply as comments.

You now need to enter the data for this case from the tables of
geometric and process data given in the tables at the beginning of the
example. All other information can be left at their default settings.

To document the run:

3. Enter Item No. as EX1 and Service of Unit as Water Cooler.

7-7
7-8 Example 1: Water Cooler

4. In this example, there are 162 tubes and 4 rows. As the number of
tubes is not exactly divisible by the number of rows, there will be
one extra tube in alternate rows and so you need to select 4 for the
UniSim® CFE Bundle Type (i.e., Staggered with an extra tube in
even rows).
5. Once you have entered the data, you need to specify the tube and
pass layout for the bundle. You can do this by clicking on the control
button called Specify Bundle. This will display the Bundle Setup
tab of the Bundle Geometry input view as shown.

Figure 7.2

6. Click on the Pass Layout view below (or behind) the Bundle
Setup view. This will let you set up a non-symmetrical bundle.

The view shows the tubes in the bundle. (If data is incomplete then the
view will be blank). Initially, all tubes are coloured red to indicate tubes
are allocated to Pass 1.
7. Select Pass 2 c.
8. Using the right mouse button, click the first tube in the second row
from the bottom. It will now turn yellow to indicate that it is
allocated to Pass 2.
9. This should be done for each tube in the row. To make the process
quicker it is possible to specify a line of tubes. Using the right mouse
button, click the first tube in the second row from the bottom and
with the button held down move to the last tube in the row. Now
when the mouse button is released the whole row should be
allocated to Pass 2.
10. Using the same procedure allocate the bottom row (Row 1) to Pass
3.
11. When you are satisfied with the bundle arrangement (as shown in
Figure 7.3), click OK.

7-8
 Examples 7-9

12. Click OK on the Bundle Geometry input view.

Figure 7.3

On each input view, input data is accepted by doing any of

these:
• moving to another tab or
• closing the view.
If you click Cancel, it will lose any newly entered data on the
currently visible tab, and close that view.

You must now specify the physical properties of the fluids.

13. Select Physical Properties from the Input menu. You will see a
view with one tab for the Tubeside Stream (Stream1).
14. Select Water as the Stream Data Source.
15. Close the view.

Physical properties can also be entered via the Physical

Properties (Old Style) input views.

You have now entered all the data and should save this in case you
want to use it again in the future.
16. From the main menu, select File and then Save (or Save As).
17. Navigate to the location you want to save your file in, and then
change the default name to EX1.CFEI.
18. Click Save.

7-9
7-10 Example 1: Water Cooler

7.2.4 Running the UniSim® CFE

Calculations
Open the Run menu and select Calculate All. UniSim® CFE will check
the data supplied for consistency, correct any minor errors where
possible and start the Simulation calculation. It will show where it has
reached at any time within the run status window that is shown.

On completion, ‘UniSim® CFE Successfully Completed’ will appear and

the Summary view will automatically open. If there have been any
problems, an Error Log will also appear. If there is a fatal error, you may
need to change an input value and re-run the UniSim® CFE
calculations.

7.2.5 Examining the Results

Output from the program can be obtained from the Output menu or
from the interactive API Sheet.
1. Select API Spec Sheet from the Output menu.

Figure 7.4 shows the API The sheet will now show input data and results. Figure 7.4 shows the
Input Sheet, the output top half of the sheet.
sheet is similar but is not
editable.

7-10
 Examples 7-11

Figure 7.4

The units used can be changed by

selecting the required units from the
The sheet can also be printed Units menu.
via the File menu.

The scroll bars can be used to

move down the sheet.

Items marked Input/Calc. show the result of a particular Simulation

mode with the input and the calculated values shown side by side.

The main Output menu offers a range of options:

Output Menu
Description
Options
Results Gives geometric and process information for the run. In
Summary addition, gives performance results (e.g., heat transfer
coefficients, pressure drops, and duty ratio. The duty ratio is the
calculated duty divided by the input duty.)
Full Results Enables you to access various parts of the results directly using
the Internet Explorer, or your equivalent HTML viewer. The
information shown is that in the Lineprinter output file, the most
comprehensive output.

7-11
7-12 Example 1: Water Cooler

Output Menu
Description
Options
Graphical Pressure Drops
Results • Provides details of the tubeside nozzles.
• Displays tables and bar charts of the total pressure drop
for the tubeside and X-side together with details of the
component pressure drops that make up the total.
Detailed Results
• This option is disabled by default. To enable, select Yes for
Detailed Tables output on Main Output Options tab on
Options view.
• Displays graphs of various parameters calculated by
UniSim® CFE (such as temperature, pressure and heat
transfer coefficients on a pass or row basis).
Word Spec Sheet • Automatically starts Microsoft Word for Windows, with a
document based on a template of an API Specification
Sheet.
• Automatically loads the data (input and results) from the
current run of UniSim® CFE.
• The advantage that this has over the interactive API Sheet
is that this sheet, or its template, can be customised to
your own preferences. (If you customise the template of
the sheet to add extra pages, logos, etc., then you should
save it under a new name in the same directory as
UniSim® CFE. You can then select to use this new
customised template via File-Preferences from the main
menu.)
API Spec Sheet Views the interactive API Sheet. This is the sheet used
previously to provide some of the input data, but it now has all
the calculated results filled in.
Setting Plan Provides a scale drawing of the exchanger giving an indication
of the position of nozzles and supports (see Figure 7.5).
UniSim® CFE does not produce any mechanical design
calculations.
Brief Output Single page summary file of all the main results.
Budget Cost Provides ACHE Budget Cost calculation as described in Section
6.3 - Budget Cost.
Stream You can view tabulated information on the physical properties
Properties and the temperature-enthalpy-quality data for each stream and
T-H-X plot these as a function of temperature.

Lineprinter Contains all the input, output of results and messages from the
program.
Physical A detailed output of the physical properties used within the
Property program. If required, you can specify in the Main Output
Options tab of the Options input view that you want this to be
incorporated into the main Lineprinter output rather than
produced as a separate file.
Error/Message Lists warnings and fatal errors found by the program. This
Log information can also be found in the Lineprinter output.

If you open the Error/Message Log, you will see some warning
messages. These inform you that UniSim® CFE has set suitable

7-12
 Examples 7-13

defaults for some items of input, which have not been entered.

Figure 7.5

7.2.6 X-side Distribution Data

As an extension to this example, we want to see what effect there is on
the performance of the unit if one of the fans is not operating for some
reason (e.g., fan failure). To do this, we need to use the X-side
Distribution Data input:
1. Switch off Basic Mode on the Start up view.
2. Click OK.
3. Open the Input menu.
4. Click on Distribution Data. The Distribution Data view appears.
You must specify how many elements along the bundle and how
many across the bundle you require to specify your distribution

7-13
7-14 Example 1: Water Cooler

data. The maximum array size is 12 by 6 but in this case—as you

have two fans and one of them is not operating—all you need to
specify is an array size of 2 by 1 as shown

Figure 7.6

In addition to a mass flow 5. Click OK and you will see the view for entering the Distribution
distribution, you can also Details (see Figure 7.7).
input an X-side inlet
temperature distribution.
The values to be entered in the mass flow distribution grid are either
the flow through each element as a percentage of the highest element
flow or the flow through each element as a percentage of the total flow
through the bundle.

For example, in this case the mass flow through each element can be
specified as either:

Case 1 Mass flow distribution Case 2 Mass flow distribution

(%) (%)
1 1
2 10 2 9.09
1 100 1 90.91

In the second case, the flow for the normally operating fan equals to
100/110 and flow through the non-operating fan equal to 10/110.
These correspond to mass flowrates of 88750 kg/hr and 8875 kg/hr
respectively. Therefore, the total flow through the unit is 97625 kg/hr.

7-14
 Examples 7-15

The mass flow distribution values entered in the first format

(case 1) and Saved in an input data file will always appear in
the second format (case 2) when the data file is
subsequently loaded into UniSim® CFE. This is done to make
sure that the sum of the elements adds up to 100% of total
flow through the exchanger. Figure 7.7 shows the input for
the second case.

Figure 7.7

6. Click on OK when you have entered the data.

7. Input the new total X-side mass flowrate of 97625 kg/hr on the
Process Stream tab of the Process Data view.
8. In the Options data, select Yes for Detailed Tables Output on the
Main Output Options tab.
9. Re-run UniSim® CFE calculations.
10. From the Output menu, select Graphical Results.
11. Click on the Detailed Results tab.

7-15
7-16 Example 2: Debutanizer Overhead

12. Select Heat Transferred and you will see that there is a large step
change in this parameter mid-way along the tube showing the effect
of the reduced X-side flowrate due to only one fan being in
operation, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 7.8

7.3 Example 2: Debutanizer

Overhead Condenser
7.3.1 Specification
This example will illustrate how to use the main input to simulate the
performance of a Debutanizer Overhead Condenser. This example has a
multicomponent stream of known composition in the tubes. The stream
properties are not known, so UniSim® CFE must evaluate them. The
input will be in British/US units. Details of the exchanger are given in
the following tables. The tube material is carbon steel and the fin

7-16
 Examples 7-17

material is aluminium.

Geometric Data Item Value

Nozzles and Number of inlet nozzles 2
Headers Number of outlet nozzles 2
Inside diameter of inlet nozzle [in] 4
Inside diameter of outlet nozzle 2
[in] Plug
Type of header 8
Depth of Inlet Header [in] 8
Depth of Other Header [in]
Bundle Number of passes 1
Specification Number of rows 4
Number of tubes 176
Rows per pass 4
Max. No. of Tubes per row per 44
pass
Tube Details Effective length [in] 354
Tube inside diameter [in] 0.78
Tube outside diameter [in] 1
Tube transverse pitch [in] 2.38
Layout angle [deg] 30
Common Fin root diameter [in] 1.05
Extended Surfaces First Fin type L-fin
1st Fin Details Frequency [/in] 11
Tip diameter or plate length [in] 2.25
Mean fin thickness [in] 0.011
ACHE Geometry Number of Bays per Unit 3
Unit Configuration Number of Bundles per Bay 2
Type of louvres Type-A
Steam coils Yes

Process Data Tubeside X-side

Total Mass Flow [lb./h] 92654 4630000
Inlet Temperature [F] 122 86
Outlet Temperature [F] 104
Inlet Pressure [psia] 71
Estimated Pressure Drop [psi] 2.6
Fouling Resistance [h ft2 F/ .0005
Btu]
Winter Des. Temp. for Fans 14
Only [F]
Fluid See below Dry Air

7-17
7-18 Example 2: Debutanizer Overhead

Mass
Component
Fraction
Butane 0.604
Buta-1, 3- 0.368
diene
Propene 0.022
Propane 0.006

7.3.2 Entering the Data

To start a new case:
1. Open the File menu and select New. The Start up view appears.
2. As in the first example, the first five items on this view are set and
do not need to be changed (i.e., Both, ACHE, Simulation, Standard
Simulation and Dry Air).
3. Switch on Basic Input Mode, as there are no special inputs in this
example.

You will now see the Nozzles and Headers tab of the Bundle Geometry
input view.
4. Look at the Units box in the bottom left corner of the view. If it does
not indicate British/US, click on it. A new view will appear.
You may have to change 5. Select British/US from the drop-down menu for all the input
the units of the stream blocks.
and components block
individually. 6. Answer Yes to the Units Conversion view for each change.
7. Enter the values in the appropriate fields on the Nozzles and
Headers tab from the table of geometric data for this case.
Fields not specified can be left at their default values. UniSim® CFE
allows a significant number of items to be specified but in some
cases, default values can be used, as you will see when going
through the geometric data entry. If you want to know what the
default for a particular item is, click on the item and press F1 for
Help, which will show a default value if relevant.
8. Click on the next tab (i.e., Bundle Setup or use the keyboard
shortcut ALT B).
9. Enter the appropriate values from the table.
10. You will see a diagram of the tube bundle on the Pass Layout view.
11. Enter the appropriate values in the Tube Details tab. You do not
need to use the Material Properties tab as we are using default
materials.
12. Enter the appropriate values in the Extended Surfaces and the ACHE
Geometry input views.
13. Click on Next.

7-18

The air inlet temperature
is called the Inlet Dry Bulb
Design Temperature.
Examples 7-19
14. Enter the Process data for the Tubeside and X-side streams. (You
have already specified the Units as British.)
15. On the Process Streams tab, enter the appropriate values for the
Tubeside stream from the table of process data for this case.
16. For the X-side stream, you can only enter the Total Mass Flow.
17. As this case uses dry air on the X-side, you must enter the inlet air
conditions on the Air Stream Conditions tab.
18. Enter the tubeside fouling resistance on the Tubeside Fouling tab.
19. Click on Next. The Options input view appears. This allows you to
enter comments and control the level of output from UniSim® CFE.
20. The first tab to be presented is for Run Documentation, which will
appear in the Lineprinter (132 column) output. Set the following:
Field Input
Run Number 2.1
Item Number EX2
Job Title Debutanizing Overhead
Condenser
Add your own comments if required.
21. Click on the Main Output Options tab.
• The first box allows you to change the units of output. By
default, this will be SI. For this case, you should select British/
US.
• In UniSim® CFE, you can use Units of Repeat Output to
produce the Final Output Page in another set of units.
22. Select Yes for Detailed Tables Output.
23. Click OK to close the Options view and accept the changes.
The final data input required is the Physical Properties. In this case the
UniSim® Thermo database in UniSim® CFE will be used to set up
properties. If you have access to specialist properties software, such as
that in a Process Simulator, it is preferable to use it to generate stream
properties. However, if you do not, you can use UniSim® CFE for this
task.
1. From the main menu select Input-Physical Property Data. The
first tab is for Stream 1 the Tubeside Stream.
2. Enter the name of the stream: Debutanizer O-heads.
3. Select Hydrocarbon for stream type.
It is now necessary to define a data source identifying the components
and properties methods.
1. Click on Add in the Stream Data Source group. You will see the data
source view with a list of components.
2. Select each of the four components required (see the table in step
#7) by using the Match facility.
7-19
7-20 Example 2: Debutanizer Overhead

3. Double-click on the component, or click on Add to transfer to the

stream component list.
4. You can optionally change the data source name (for example, to
C3-C4 mixture).
5. Click on the Property Package tab.
Peng Robinson is normally recommended for mixtures of
hydrocarbons. This should have been selected as a default when
you specified the stream type as hydrocarbons on the main
properties view. When you have selected the components and
methods for a data source, the box at the bottom right of the data
source view should be green and show Ready.
6. Close this view.
7. On the Stream 1 tab of the main Properties view, click on the data
source you have just set up to select it. You will see the four
components in the mixture identified with a default composition.
8. Set the drop-down list in the Stream Composition group to Mass
Fraction, then enter the four values in the table below.

Component Mass Fraction Component Mass Fraction

Note that the order of the
components shown on n-Butane 0.6076 Propene 0.0209
the view may differ from 1:3 Butadiene~ 0.366 Propane 0.0054
that in the table.
~ To find 1:3 Butadiene look for 1,3 Butadiene or *Buta. (* indicates an arbitrary sequence of characters,

and is useful in looking up a substance which could have several variants on its name).

By default data are set up 9. Click on the Get Properties button. You will first be allowed to use
at two pressure levels, the existing temperature range or define a range for the
and you are looking at spreadsheet, and then the table of properties will be filled. (If this is
data at the one selected.
Select the other pressure the first time you have tried to get properties, you will get a
level to view data at that message about missing data. This is because you must specify a
pressure. temperature range.)
10. Click Yes to show a view. (If temperatures were entered in process
data you will have default values shown. You can change these if
necessary.) We will accept the values shown and close the form.
11. Click Get Properties again.

7-20

Run icon
In the Detailed Results the
tubeside quality is
available for plotting as
this is a two-phase case.
Examples 7-21
The pressure levels and temperatures used are defaults
based on the Process input data already supplied. You can
change the pressure levels by editing the values shown. You
can change the temperatures used by using the Options
button. You can either specify a range of temperatures, and
leave the remainder to be set by default, or you can select
Define Temperatures on Spreadsheet. This will colour the
temperature line yellow, and let you edit any existing
temperatures, or add ones of your own. The order in which
you define them does not matter, as they are sorted
whenever new data are calculated. Dew and/or bubble
points are added if they are in or close to the selected
temperature range.
12. Close the Properties view.
This now completes the data input for this case and the data should be
saved.
1. From the main menu select File-Save As.
2. Enter EX2 and click Save to close the view.
You have now entered all the data that is required and can run the
UniSim® CFE calculations by clicking on the Run icon, or by selecting
Calculate All, under the Run menu.
7.3.3 Examining the Results
On completion of a run, UniSim® CFE will automatically display the
Summary view to provide an overview of the results. In this case,
UniSim® CFE calculates the tubeside outlet temperature as 108.2°F
compared to the value input, of 104°F. As this is the sub-cooled
temperature of the condensate, it does not significantly affect the heat
load and gives a duty ratio of 0.98, which indicates that the exchanger
is slightly undersized.
All of the other output options referred to in Section 7.2 - Example 1:
Water Cooler, can also be examined in the same way as before.
7.3.4 Tubeside Flow Distribution
UniSim® CFE normally assumes equal flowrates through every tube in
a pass. However, where different tubes within the pass experience
different temperatures, as in this case, then the Tubeside Process
Distribution option causes the flowrate to be adjusted to ensure that
the pressure drop over every tube in the pass is the same. In order to
7-21
7-22 Example 3: Oil Cooler

try this out do the following:

1. Close down all input views by selecting Close All from the
Windows menu.
2. On the Start up input view, uncheck Basic Mode.
3. On the Program Control tab of the Options input view, select
Activated for Tubeside Flow Distribution.
4. Save the data file as EX2A.
5. Run the UniSim® CFE calculations.
6. Click on the Output menu and click on Results Summary. You will
see that there is a slight difference in the results as the tubeside
outlet temperature calculated by UniSim® CFE is now 105.2°F and
the duty ratio is 1.00.

7.3.5 Natural Convection Mode

To run this case in Natural Convection mode you need to:
1. Select Natural Convection Mode from the Simulation Option list
in the Start up view and click OK.
2. Before you re-run UniSim® CFE calculations, you should save the
data as EX2B.

The natural convection mode is used if all the fans are switched off for
some reason (e.g., for routine maintenance or due to fan failure). The
results show that it is possible to cool the tubeside stream down to
114.3°F by using the buoyancy forces of the air alone.

7.4 Example 3: Oil Cooler

7.4.1 Specification
This example illustrates the use of UniSim® CFE in Simulation mode to
model an oil cooler (i.e., with a highly viscous fluid on the tubeside). In
Simulation mode, you should know the geometry of the exchanger and
you usually know the inlet conditions. However, in this case the outlet
conditions are known and you want to determine the tubeside inlet
temperature. Therefore, you need to use the Tubeside Inlet
Temperature Simulation Option. Simulation mode is useful when
upgrading an existing process and you need to know what the existing
exchanger can be expected to achieve. The geometric data is in SI
units, but the process and property data are in British/US units. The

7-22
 Examples 7-23

details of the exchanger are given in the following tables.

Geometric Data Item Value

Nozzles and Number of inlet nozzles 1
Headers Number of outlet nozzles 1
Inside diameter of inlet nozzle 150
[mm] 150
Inside diameter of outlet nozzle Plug
[mm]
100
Type of header
100
Depth of Inlet Header [mm]
Depth of Other Header [mm]
Bundle Setup Number of passes 6
Number of rows 5
Number of tubes 210
Type of Bundle Staggered - even rows
to right
Rows per pass 5
Max no. of tubes per row per 7
pass
Tube Details Effective length [mm] 7315
Total length [mm] 7500
Tube inside diameter [mm] 22.3
Tube outside diameter [mm] 25.4
Tube transverse pitch [mm] 57.2
Longitudinal tube pitch [mm] 49.5
Extended First Fin type L-fin
Surfaces Fin frequency [/m] 394
Fin Details Tip diameter or Plate length 56.0
[mm] 0.41
Mean fin thickness [mm]

Process Data Tubeside X-side

Total Mass Flow [lb./h] 165000 222819
Estimated Inlet 178 110
Temperature [F]
Outlet Temperature [F] 150
Inlet Pressure [psia] 50
Estimated Pressure Drop 10
[psi]
Winter Design Temperature 32
[F]
Fluid Viscous Oil Dry Air

Oil Properties T1 = 100 F T2 = 200 F

3] 53.4 51.2
Liquid Density [lb./ft
Liquid Specific Heat [Btu/lb.F] 0.5 0.5

7-23
7-24 Example 3: Oil Cooler

Oil Properties T1 = 100 F T2 = 200 F

Liquid Viscosity [cP] 27.5 6.1
Liquid Thermal Conductivity [Btu/ 0.071 0.071
h ft F]

When using Simulation mode, it is important to ensure that your

estimate of the unknown condition corresponds to a heat load greater
than you expect. This means that you should select your property
reference temperature range to include any temperature calculated by
UniSim® CFE. When UniSim® CFE improves on your estimated value, it
will be interpolating data tables, which it has initially set up, rather than
extrapolating them. This method is likely to be more accurate.

7.4.2 Entering the Data

You are using all defaults
for the ACHE Geometry
input.
1. Start a New case and you will see the Start up view. This will clear
any existing data and set up defaults, initially indicating a
Simulation run.
2. Select Tubeside Inlet Temperature as the Simulation Option.
3. Enter the values in the appropriate fields of the Bundle Geometry
input from the table of Geometric Data for the case. This is a
symmetrical bundle, therefore, in the Bundle Specification data you
will need to enter values for Rows per Pass and Max. No. of Tubes
per Row per Pass. As the passes are set side-to-side then one pass
will occupy one sixth of each row. Enter 5 for Rows per Pass and 7
for Max. No. of Tubes per Row per Pass as there are 42 tubes across
the width of the bundle.
4. Enter the values in the appropriate fields of the Extended Surfaces
from the above table.
5. Before you enter the Process Data you must change the unit system
to British/US.

In the Units tab on the Preferences view, which you can

access from the File menu, there is a check-box, which is
used to change all input units together. In the case, as you
are using mixed units, ensure that this box is not checked.

For this case you will need to set the Process and the Stream Input
blocks to British/US.
6. Enter the values in the appropriate fields of the Process Input Data
from the table of Process Data for this case.

7-24
 Examples 7-25

7. In the Options Data, for the Run Documentation set the

following:

Field Input
Run Number 1
Item Number EX3
Job Title Oil Cooler

Enter your own comments as required.

8. On the Main Output Options tab select British/US for Units of
Output.
9. Select Yes for Detailed Tables Output as we want to study the
detailed results in the same units as the process data.
10. Select Physical Properties from the Input menu.
11. The view you will see is for the Stream 1, which is the tubeside
stream in UniSim® CFE. This case uses oil on the tubeside, so type
in Oil for the Stream Name. Select Direct Input for the Stream
Data Source.
12. Enter the reference temperature and property values for Points 1
and 2 from the tables of Oil Properties given above.

You may need to delete the second pressure level as

properties are given at only one pressure.

13. Close the view and save the data.

14. Select Save As from the File menu and save as EX3.CFEI.
15. You have now entered all the data that is required and can run the
UniSim® CFE calculations by clicking on the Run icon, or by
selecting Calculate All from the Run menu.
Run icon

7.4.3 Examining the Results

This is a Simulation case so UniSim® CFE may take a few seconds to
run depending on the type of computer you have. UniSim® CFE will use
the outlet conditions you have supplied as its starting point and will
iterate on the inlet temperatures until the area required to achieve the
specified duty is equal to the area available.

In this case, UniSim® CFE calculates a tubeside inlet temperature of

166.4°F compared to an input value of 178°F which means that the
unit will only achieve about 59% of the required duty.

The output from UniSim® CFE provides detailed information on the

7-25
7-26 Example 3: Oil Cooler

tubeside and X-side conditions along the exchanger. This can be viewed
from the normal Lineprinter output or graphically via the Detailed
Results tab from the Graphical Results menu item on the main Output
menu.

If you select Heat Transferred you will see the effect of the viscous oil
on the heat load (as shown in Figure 7.9). If you want to improve the
performance of this unit, you may want to retro-fit tube enhancement.
To do this you will specify a heat transfer factor of 2 which means you
want to double the heat transfer coefficient calculated by UniSim® CFE.
In reality, this increase in heat transfer coefficient will have a
corresponding increase in pressure drop (but this effect will not be
studied here).

Figure 7.9

7.4.4 Tubeside Enhancement

1. Select Tubeside Options from the Input menu and click on the
Enhancement tab.
2. From the Enhancement Specification dropdown list, select
Enhancement factors. You will see that some of the fields are now
enabled (i.e., able to accept data).
Note that you can specify 3. Enter 2 in Heat Transfer Coefficient Factor. This will cause UniSim®
tubeside enhancement CFE to scale the calculated value of the tubeside heat transfer
over part of the exchanger coefficient by a factor of 2 throughout the exchanger.
by using the fields Pass
Number Enhancement
Starts and Pass Number
Enhancement Stops.

7-26
 Examples 7-27

4. Re-run UniSim® CFE. This time you will see that the tubeside inlet
temperature is calculated to be 173.8°F and the unit will achieve
85% of the specified duty. You can compare the plot of heat
transferred with the last run (see Figure 7.10).

Figure 7.10

You may want to experiment with other the types of enhancement

specification, viz. heat transfer and friction factor (j and f) input and
twisted tapes.

7.5 Example 4: Air

Conditioning Coil
7.5.1 Specification
This example will be used to illustrate the use of UniSim® CFE to
simulate an air-conditioning coil. The coil has Refrigerant 22
evaporating on the tubeside with humid air cooling on the X-side. The
data have been provided in SI units. Details of the exchanger are given

7-27
7-28 Example 4: Air Conditioning Coil

below.

Geometric Data Item Value

Nozzles and Number of inlet nozzles 1
Headers Number of outlet nozzles 1
Inside diameter of inlet nozzle 15
[mm] 15
Inside diameter of outlet nozzle Manifold
[mm]
U-bends in
Type of header every pass
U-bend exchangers
Bundle Setup Number of passes 16
Number of rows 4
Number of tubes 32
Number of curcuits 2
Rows per pass 1
Max. no. of tubes per row per pass 1
Tube Details Effective length [mm] 610
Tube inside diameter [mm] 9.6
Tube outside diameter [mm] 10
Tube transverse pitch [mm] 25
Layout angle [deg] 30
Fin Details First Fin type Tube-in-plate
Fin frequency [/m] 472.4
Tip Diameter or Plate Length [mm] 108.2
Mean fin thickness [mm] 0.18

Process Data Tubeside X-side

Total Mass Flow [kg/h] 46 650
Inlet Mass Quality 0.1
Inlet Temperature [C] 5.25 25
Estimated Outlet Temperature 7.0
[C]
Inlet Pressure [bar (abs)] 5.88
Estimated Pressure Drop [bar] .2
Inlet Humidity Value [kgH20/ 0.015
kgdry air]
Fluid Refrigerant Humid Air
22

7.5.2 Entering the data

1. Start a new case by doing one of the following:
• Open the File menu and select New, or
• Click on the New icon on the toolbar.
2. On the Start up view, select Other Crossflow Types for the
New icon Application, as this is not an air-cooled heat exchanger. This will
eliminate unnecessary input.

7-28
 Examples 7-29

3. For X-side Option select Humid Air.

4. Select Basic Mode.
5. The Bundle Geometry input view appears. Enter the values in the
appropriate fields on the Nozzle and Headers tab and then click
on the Bundle Specification tab.
6. Enter the Number of Passes, Number of Rows, Number of
Tubes and the Number of Repeats. In air-conditioning coils, it is
common for a basic pattern to be repeated a number of times. In
this case the basic pattern is 16 passes on four rows with 4 tubes
per row (i.e., each tube is a separate pass) and this pattern has 2
repeats (i.e., the basic pattern plus one). The total number of tubes
in the bundle is, therefore, 32.
7. Enter 1 for Rows per Pass and Max. No. of Tubes per Row per Pass.
You will see a diagram of the bundle as shown in the following
figure.

Figure 7.11

8. Click on OK on the Pass Layout view and the Bundle Geometry

Input view will remain open.
9. Click on the Tube Details tab and enter the appropriate data.
10. Click on the Materials tab and select Copper for the Tube Material.
Leave the Fin Material as Aluminium 3303, which is the default.
11. Click on Extended Surfaces from the Input menu and enter the
fin details from the table above.
12. Select Process Data from the Input menu. Enter the Total Mass
For this case, you need to
specify the inlet quality of Flow for the tubeside and X-side streams and the conditions of the
the refrigerant. tubeside stream.
13. There is no tubeside fouling in this example. Click on the Air
Stream Conditions tab and enter the Inlet Dry Bulb Design
Temperature of the air.

7-29
7-30 Example 5: Heat Recovery Unit

You can enter the humidity

14. For Inlet Humidity Parameter select Humidity Ratio and enter the
value as Relative humidity humidity ratio in the Inlet Humidity Value field.
instead of Humidity Ratio.
15. In the Options Data, for the Run Documentation set the following:

Field Input
Run Number 1
Item Number EX4
Job Title Air-conditioning Coil

16. Enter your own comments as required.

17. Select Physical Property Data (Old Style) from the Input menu.
For Stream 1 select Single Component as the Data Source, Two
Phase and Refrigerant 22 from the databank.
18. Save the file as EX4.CFEI.
19. You have now entered all the data that are required and can run
UniSim® CFE calculations by clicking the Run icon.
Run icon

7.5.3 Examining the Results

In the Lineprinter output in the section on Heat Loads you can see that
condensation of water vapour from the air stream contributes to a
significant percentage of the total heat load.

In the Error/Message Log you will see a warning about X-side

correlations. This informs you that the HTFS High Fin correlation, which
is the default selection, does not apply to tube-in-plate fins and the PFR
correlation has been used instead.

You may also see a warning that the critical heat flux has been
exceeded in some tubes. If there are a significant number of
occurrences of this message then you may have to reconsider the
exchanger design. If in doubt, please contact Honeywell.

7.6 Example 5: Heat

Recovery Unit
7.6.1 Specification
This example shows how UniSim® CFE can be used to model a heat
recovery unit with a gas on the X-side instead of air. The exchanger,
which is an 8 pass economiser, has carbon steel tubes with carbon steel

7-30
 Examples 7-31

G-fins.

Geometric Data Item Value

Bundle Number of passes 8
Specification Number of rows 4
Number of tubes 80
Rows per pass 2
Max. no. of tubes per row per 5
pass
Bundle See below
Arrangement
Tube Details Effective length [mm] 6000
Total length [mm] 6200
Tube inside diameter [mm] 25.6
Tube outside diameter [mm] 31.7
Tube transverse pitch [mm] 124.4
Longitudinal tube pitch [mm] 89
Extended Surfaces Fin type G-fin
Fin Details Fin frequency [/m] 250
Tip diameter or plate length [mm] 70
Mean fin thickness [mm] 1.3

Bundle Arrangement
Row 4 Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 4
Row 3
Row 2 Pass 8 Pass 7 Pass 6 Pass 5
Row 1

Process Data Tubeside X-side

Total Mass Flow [kg/h] 16000 155000
Inlet Temperature [C] 120 220
Outlet Temperature [C] 190
Although this stream
contains water vapour it is Inlet Pressure [bar (abs)] 56 1
assumed to be always in Estimated Pressure Drop 1
the gas phase as UniSim® [bar]
CFE cannot handle Fouling Resistance 0.0001
condensation of water
vapour from a gas stream Fluid Water Exhaust
other than air. Gas

Gas Composition Mass Fraction

Nitrogen 0.7253
Carbon Dioxide 0.0475
Oxygen 0.1571
Water Vapour* 0.0578
Argon 0.0123

7-31
7-32 Example 5: Heat Recovery Unit
Remember to select
Carbon Steel for the Fin
Material, as the default is
Aluminium.
7.6.2 Entering the Data
1. Start a new case. On the Start up view, select Other Crossflow
Types for the Application. For X-side Option select Dry Gas. You
will not use Basic Mode in this example, as we want to access some
advanced options later.
2. On the Bundle Geometry view click on the Bundle Setup tab and
enter the appropriate data from the table above. As this is a
symmetrical bundle, you need to enter 2 for Rows per Pass and 5
for Max. No. of Tubes per Row per Pass. You will see a diagram of
the bundle.
3. Enter the rest of the Bundle Geometry input data.
4. Enter the Extended Surfaces data.
5. Select Process Data from the Input menu. You will see that you
now have access to all of the spreadsheet input on the Process
Streams tab and the Air Stream Conditions tab is no longer
available. Enter the appropriate value for both streams.
6. Select Physical Properties from the Input menu.
7. For Stream 1, set the following:
Field Input
Name HP Water
Data Source <Water>
For Stream 2, follow the next steps:
8. Set the stream name to Gas, and the Stream Type to Air/Other
Gas.
9. Click on Add to set a new data source and you will be taken to the
Data Source screen.
10. You will see a list of components. Begin typing Nitrogen in the
Match box and you will see the list of components reduce. When
Nitrogen is visible, click on it then click Add, to move to the list of
components on the right hand side of the screen. Repeat for the
other components.
11. You should see the box at the lower right of the window turn green
and display Ready. If you click on the Property Package tab, you
will see that a default has been set appropriate to the stream type
you entered. Close the Data Source screen.
12. On the main Properties screen, click on the data source Gas that
you have just set.
13. Now enter the mass fractions given in the table for the components
making up the Gas Stream.
14. Click on Get Properties. Pressure Level and Temperature
Range information is required before properties can be calculated.
These should have been set by default. You could set/revise them if
7-32
 Examples 7-33

required. They should cover the range relevant to the stream, but
need not match inlet or outlet conditions exactly. You should see the
Properties Table filled with data for stream 2. You should see that
two pressure levels have been set up by default. Clicking on either
one shows the data at that level.
15. In the Options Data, for the Run Documentation set the following:

Field Input
Run Number 1
Item Number EX5
Job Title Heat Recovery Unit

16. Enter your own comments as required.

17. Save the file as EX5.CFEI.
18. You have now entered all the data that are required and can run
UniSim® CFE calculations by pressing the Run button.
Run icon

7.6.3 Examining the Results

When UniSim® CFE has completed its calculations a Summary of the
results appears automatically. You will notice that the case runs without
any warnings or errors, see the Error/Message Log file in the Output
menu. As this is a heat recovery exchanger with no fans it is worth
indicating that the total X-side pressure drop in this example is
calculated through the bundle only. If you examine the last page of
Lineprinter Output under the section labelled **X-SIDE AND FAN
DETAILS PLUS ACCESSORIES** you will see that all other pressure
drop elements are set to zero.

7.6.4 X-side Performance

Total number of errors and
warnings are given at the
Databank
foot of the Summary
output view.
UniSim® CFE allows input of up to four tube types. In this example,
you are using one tube type with G-fins. The list of extended surface
types, which can be handled by UniSim® CFE, is shown under First Fin
Type of the Extended Surfaces view. It is possible to input the
performance of other X-side extended surface types using the X-side
Options input view. An example of how to do this is as follows:
1. Using EX5, select X-side Options from the Input menu and click
on the 1st Fin Perf. Data tab.
2. From Format of Input Data select j and f v. Re(do) Points.

7-33
7-34 Example 5: Heat Recovery Unit

3. You will see that some input fields are now available. In these, we
will enter the performance data for a particular extended surface.
Enter the following:

Field
Flow Parameter 1&2
Heat Transfer Parameters 1&2
Pressure Drop Parameters
1&2
Input
3000 & 7000 (Reynolds No.)
0.224 & 0.161 (heat transfer j
factor)
0.0057 & 0.0043 (friction
factor)

4. Save the data as EX5A.CFEI and re-run the program.

5. The X-side coefficient = 850 W/m2K and bundle pressure drop = 33
Pa given in the UniSim® CFE output are now calculated from the
input X-side performance data and not the UniSim® CFE
correlations.

In the header of the final page of the Lineprinter output, you

will see the following message:
X-SIDE OPTIONS USED: HTFS3 METHOD, USER INPUT DATA.
This indicates that the HTFS method has been selected (or
defaulted) but the user performance characteristics have
been used in the calculations. This page also shows the
default fin selection (G-fins) which may not be relevant to
the user defined type.

You will now run UniSim® CFE calculations with a different Format of
Input data and this time save the data to the X-side Performance
Databank.
1. Using EX5, select X-side Options from the Input menu and click
on the 1st Fin Performance Data tab.
2. From Format of Input Data select Nu and Eu v. Re(do) Curves.
3. You will see that some other input fields are now available. In these,
we will enter performance data for the extended surface in a
different format and as curves instead of points. The equations for
the data are as follows: Nu = 1.46 Re0.693 and Eu = 5.0 Re-0.33.
Enter 1.46 for Coefficient in Heat Transfer Curve, 5.0 for Coefficient
in Pressure Drop Curve, 0.693 for Exponent in Heat Transfer Curve
and –0.33 for Exponent in Pressure Drop Curve.
4. For Data Identity, enter Surf1. This causes the data to be stored in
the X-side Performance Databank. This is a file called
DXUSER.DAT, which will automatically be opened in the UniSim®
CFE for Windows program directory.
5. Save the data as EX5B.CFEI and re-run the program. This time the
results are X-side coefficient = 623.8 W/m2K and bundle pressure
drop = 32.8 Pa.

To check that the X-side Performance Databank is operating correctly

7-34
 Examples 7-35

do the following:
1. Using EX5, select X-side Options from the Input menu and click
on the 1st Fin Perf. Data tab.
2. From Format of Input Data select Read from databank.
3. In the X-side Performance Databank view select the data identity
from the drop down list, viz. SURF1 and you will see the data
stored in the databank for that surface. Then click OK.
4. The string SURF1 should now appear in the Data Identity input
field. Click OK.
5. Run UniSim® CFE. The results are X-side coefficient = 623.8 W/
m2K and bundle pressure drop = 32.8 Pa, same as the last run.

7.7 Example 6: Intercooler

7.7.1 Specification
UniSim® CFE can be used to model intercoolers (e.g., for large marine
diesel engines at moderate pressure or pneumatic pressure tools at
high pressure). In this example, you want to simulate the performance
of a diesel engine intercooler. Air at 138oC is to be cooled below 65oC
with an X-side pressure drop not exceeding 440 Pa. The details of the
exchanger are given in the following tables.

Geometric Data Item Value

Bundle Specification Number of passes 2
Number of rows 16
Number of tubes 448
Rows per pass 8
Max. no. of tubes per row per 28
pass
Tube Details Effective length [mm] 2500
Tube inside diameter [mm] 13.8
Tube outside diameter [mm] 15.9
Tube transverse pitch [mm] 38.1
Longitudinal tube pitch [mm] 25.4
Fin Details Fin type Tube-in-plate
Fin frequency [/m] 512
Plate length [mm] 460
Mean fin thickness [mm] 0.17
Materials Tube material Admiralty
Fin material Brass
Copper

7-35
7-36 Example 6: Intercooler

Process Data Tubeside X-side

Total Mass Flow [kg/h] 200000 100000
Inlet Temperature [C] 34 138
Estimated Outlet Temperature 53
[C]
Inlet Pressure [bar] 5 3.5
Estimated Pressure Drop [Pa] 0.3
Fouling Resistance [m2 K/W] 0.00003
Fluid Sea Water Dry Air

7.7.2 Entering the Data

After starting up UniSim® CFE and creating a new case, the first input
view you will see is the Start up input view.
1. Select Other Crossflow Types for the Application. Select Basic
Mode.
2. Enter the values in the appropriate fields of the input sections,
Bundle Geometry and Extended Surfaces, from the table of
Geometric Data for the case. This is a symmetrical bundle with 16
rows, 2 passes and 28 tubes per row. Therefore, in the Bundle
Setup data, set Rows per Pass to 8 and Max. No. of Tubes per Row
per Pass to 28. You also need to specify the tube and fin materials.
3. Click on Next and enter the Process Data for the Tubeside and X-
side streams. Enter the tubeside fouling resistance on the Tubeside
Fouling tab.
4. On the Air Stream Conditions tab you will need to specify the
Inlet Gauge Pressure as 248700 Pa to get an inlet pressure of 3.5
bar (atmospheric air pressure is taken as 1013 mbar).
5. In the Options Data, for the Run Documentation set the following:

Field Input
Run Number 1
Item Number EX6
Job Title Diesel Engine
Intercooler

6. Enter your own comments as required.

7. Select Physical Properties from the Input menu. You will now
proceed to enter property information for water on the Tubeside as
described previously (Section 7.2 - Example 1: Water Cooler).
8. You should now save the file and name it EX6.CFEI (select File
from the main UniSim® CFE menu bar, and select Save As).
9. Run UniSim® CFE calculations by clicking on the Run icon, or
Run icon selecting Run from the main UniSim® CFE menu bar.

7-36
 Examples 7-37

7.7.3 Examining the Results

On the Results Summary view you will see that the outlet air
temperature is about 43oC which is less than the specified outlet
temperature but the X-side pressure drop is about 624 Pa which is
greater than the specified value. You will need to re-run UniSim® CFE
calculations with a lower X-side flowrate to achieve the specified
pressure drop of 440Pa. If you enter 80000 kg/hr for the X-pressure
Drop you will get a pressure drop of about 422 Pa. In cases like this you
may need to keep changing input values and re-running UniSim® CFE
until you achieve the output parameters you require.

7.8 Example 7: Design of a

Steam Condenser
7.8.1 Specification
This example illustrates the UniSim® CFE design option for air-cooled
heat exchangers. The task is to produce a design of a forced draught
steam condenser with 4 tube rows which will have an X-side pressure
drop of 120 Pa (~ 0.5 in H2O). The tube and fin details follow.

The total tubeside flowrate is 30000 kg/hr and the inlet pressure and
temperature are 1.0 bar and 120oC respectively. The steam will have
5% by mass of air present and the X-side inlet temperature is 20oC.

Select a design with a maximum tube length of 20 metres and a

maximum of 4 passes. The maximum allowable pressure drop through
the tubes (excluding nozzles) is 0.1 bar and the inlet velocity will be
between 50 and 100 m/s.

Geometric Data Item Value

Bundle Specification Number of rows 4
Number of passes 1
Tube Details Tube inside diameter [mm] 19.9
Tube outside diameter [mm] 25.4
Tube transverse pitch [mm] 60.3
Layout angle [deg] 30

7-37
7-38 Example 7: Design of a Steam

Geometric Data Item Value

Extended Surfaces Fin root diameter [mm] 26.7
Fin Details Fin type Extruded
Fin frequency [/m] 440
Tip diameter [mm] 57.2
Mean fin thickness [mm] .28
Materials Tube material Carbon Steel
Fin material Aluminium

Process Data Tubeside X-side

Total Mass Flow [kg/h] 30000
Inlet Temperature [C] 120 20
Outlet Temperature [C] 40
Inlet Pressure [bar] 1
Estimated Pressure Drop [bar] 0.2
Fluid Steam + Air Dry Air

7.8.2 Entering the data

1. Start a new case. On the Start up view, select ACHE (i.e., Air-cooled
Heat Exchanger) for the Application. For Calculation mode select
Design (Simulation Option has no effect when in Design mode).
You do not have to specify Basic Mode as the input for Design is
restricted anyway.

You may notice that the Nozzles and Headers tab does not appear on
the Bundle Geometry input view. This is because they are not required
in Design mode.
2. Enter 1 for the Number of Passes. This is the value that UniSim®
CFE will use as a starting point for the design calculations, it must
not be greater than the Maximum Number of Passes nor less then
the Minimum Number of Passes which are described later. Enter 4
for the Number of Rows.

For more than one pass, you will normally want to design an exchanger
in which the Tubeside Flow Orientation is Counter-Current to the X-side
flow. The X-side Stream Mass Flow Direction and the Bundle Relative
Direction are used when the air flow is not perpendicular upwards and
the tubes have a significant slope (e.g. in an A frame exchanger).
3. Enter the Tube Details from the table of Geometric Data for this
case. The tube and fin materials are the default selections.
4. Enter the Fin Details on the Extended Surfaces input view from the
table of Geometric Data for this case. Select Bimetallic or
Extruded Fin for the Fin Type.

7-38
 Examples 7-39

5. On the ACHE Geometry input view, select Forced Draught for Fan
Configuration and click on the Design Parameters tab. Enter
20000 for the Maximum Tube Length and 4 for the Maximum
Number of Passes.
6. On the Process Streams tab of the Process Data input view, you
will see that you can only enter data for the tubeside. This is
because in Design mode, UniSim® CFE will calculate an X-side
mass flowrate consistent with the specified bundle pressure drop.
Enter the tubeside process stream data from the previous table.
The steam enters the exchanger slightly superheated, therefore the
Inlet Mass Quality is not required. Enter 0.2 for the Estimated
Pressure Drop. This is used to calculate a mean system pressure for
physical property calculations only.
7. Click on the Air Stream Conditions tab and enter 20 for the Inlet
Dry Bulb Design Temperature. Click on Next.
8. On the Design Parameters tab set the following:

Field Input
X-side Bundle Pressure Drop 120
Maximum Tubeside Pressure 0.2
Drop
Note that you can enter Maximum Tubeside Velocity 100
values of V2 as an Minimum Tubeside Velocity 50
alternative to velocity.

9. In the Options Data, for the Run Documentation set the following:

Field Input
Run Number 1
Item Number EX7
Job Title Steam Condenser
Design

10. Enter your own comments as required.

11. Select Physical Properties (Old Style) from the Input menu.
Enter Steam + Air for the Name of the stream. Select
Components for the Data Source and click on Specify Mixture
and select Define Components.
12. For component CompA select Water for Code.
13. Add another component. Select Single Phase Vapour Only for
Phase and select Air for Code. Click on Specify Composition.
14. Enter 0.95 for the Mass Fraction of Water and 0.05 for Air.
15. Click on OK to return to the Components view.
16. Click on OK twice to return to the Properties view/
17. You should now save the file and name it EX7.CFEI (select File
from the main UniSim® CFE menu bar, and select Save As).

7-39
7-40 Example 7: Design of a Steam

18. Run UniSim® CFE calculations by clicking on the Run icon, or

selecting Run from the main UniSim® CFE menu bar.

Run icon 7.8.3 Selecting a Design

If the UniSim® CFE calculation run is not successful, you will see the
Error Log, which tells you what the error is and what you should do to
correct it.

If the calculation run is successful, you will see the UniSim® CFE
Design Envelope on the Design output view (see Figure 7.12), also
available from the Output menu by selecting Graphical Results. As
you track the mouse around the Design Envelope the message in the
status line below the graph will show one of the following:
• Feasible Design Area;
• Non-feasible Design Area, or
• Outside Design Envelope.

Figure 7.12

When the message reads Feasible Design Area, as shown in Figure

7.12, this means that the cursor is in a position on the graph where an
exchanger of that overall width and tube length will:
• satisfy the specified duty requirement;
• give a tubeside pressure drop less than or equal to the
maximum specified value and
• give a inlet tubeside velocity within the specified limits.

You need to specify further information to calculate how many Fans/

Bay, Bundles/Bay and Bays/Unit you will need to design a practical air-
cooled heat exchanger. This information is entered on the Design Data

7-40
 Examples 7-41

tab. If you click on this tab, you can enter the data required or accept
the default values. Please use Help for detailed information on the
items.

Return to the Design Envelope by clicking the tab. You can select a
design by clicking on the graph in the Feasible Design Area. This takes
you to the Selected Design tab automatically where the results for the
selected design are displayed, see Figure 7.13.

Figure 7.13

At the point selected on the Design Envelope there are a number of

possible designs. Each one has a different configuration (i.e., different
number of Fans/Bay and Bundles/Bay). The selected design is the one,
which has the smallest number of fans plus bundles and as such is
adjudged the most economical. This may not be the case however in a
more rigorous cost analysis which is outside the scope of the current
design calculations.

To view the list of possible designs, click on the Possible Designs tab.

7.8.4 Simulating a Design

When you select a design from the Design Envelope, the closer you
are to the duty line the more accurate your design will be. An UniSim®
CFE standard simulation will be performed on the Selected Design if
you click on Simulate.

When you carry out a simulation from a design you must

save using a different file name otherwise you will lose your
design data.

7-41
7-42 Example 7: Design of a Steam

In this case, you will save the simulation file as EX7s.CFEI. Figure
7.14 shows the summary output for this design. The important value to
note is the duty ratio of 0.99.

Figure 7.14

The Design option will give you an approximate design for the
exchanger and this can be refined using the Simulation options.

You can carry out a simulation run for any design on the list of Possible
As before, you must save Designs by clicking on the Design Number and then clicking
the data using a different Simulate.
file name.

7-42
 Index
A I
API Input 3-10 Icons 2-7
API Specification Sheet 4-8 Importing from a Properties Package 5-17
Application 2-5 Importing from UniSim Design 5-16
Importing Properties and Process Data 5-14
B
Importing PSF Files 5-14
Basic Input Mode 2-6 Input Directly 5-9
Bubble Point Temperature 3-8 Input Errors and Warnings 3-15
Budget Cost 4-8 Input File 3-13
Bundle Geometry 3-5 Input Units 3-11
Bundle Specification 3-5 Input Views 3-3
ACHE Geometry 3-4
C Bundle Geometry 3-4
Calculation Mode 2-5 Distribution Data 3-4
Checking 1-3 Extended Surface 3-4
Components Options 3-4
Calculation of the Properties of a Mixture Physical Property Data 3-4
5-10 Process Data 3-4
Tubeside Options 3-4
D X-side Options 3-4
Data Input 3-1 M
Databank 5-10
Default Input Data File 3-14 Mixture Calculations 5-11
Design Mode 1-3 Mixture Calculations (Old Style) 5-11
Distribution Data Input 3-9 N
E Nozzles and Headers 3-5
Error / Warning Message Log 4-7 O
Examples 7-1
Exchanger Geometries 1-4 Options Data Input 3-9
Bundles 1-4 Other Facilities 6-1
Fan Configuration 1-4 Other Output 4-8
Headers 1-4 Outlet Temperature 3-8
Tubes 1-4 Output 4-1
Unit Configuration 1-4 Output Files 4-5
Extended Surfaces 3-6 80-column Output 4-6
Brief Output 4-5
F Lineprinter Output 4-5
Find Item 3-13 Physical Properties Output 4-6
Finding Input Items 3-12 Output Options 1-6
Fluid Processes 1-5 Output Screens 4-3

G P

Geometry Data Input 3-5 Physical Properties 5-1, 5-3

Get Properties 5-6 Physical Properties (Old Style) 5-4
Physical Property Data Input 3-10
H Pressure Dependence 5-19
HTC Input 3-8 Process Data 3-7

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Process Data Input

Bubble Point Temperature 3-8
Outlet Temperature 3-8
T-h-x (Temperature-enthalpy-quality)
Properties Data 3-8
Process Streams 3-7
Project File Structure 6-7
Properties Data 3-8
Properties Data Input 5-3, 5-8
Properties Data Input (Old Style) 5-8
Properties Input 5-5
Properties Output 5-18
Properties Package - Importing 5-17
Properties Used 5-4
Property Data
Liquid 5-4
T-h-x Data 5-4
Vapour 5-4
Property Data Sources 1-5
Property Databanks 5-13
PSF Files 5-14
R
Results Summary 4-3
Rules for Direct Property Input 5-7
Running UniSim CFE Calculations 2-7
S
Setting a Data Source 5-5
Setting Plan 4-8, 6-3
Simulation Mode 1-3
Single Component Stream 5-10
Start up View 2-5
Starting UniSim CFE 2-3
T
Tube Details 3-5
U
UniSim CFE Icons 2-7
UniSim Design 5-16
User Databank 5-10
Using UniSim CFE 2-1
W
Warning Messages 3-15
Welcome Screen 2-4
Word Specification Sheet 4-8, 6-6

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