Boiling Design on Aspen Plus

(Heat-Exchanger design with a phase change) Author: Jim Lang (SDSM&T, 2000) This portion continues with the design of heat exchangers on Aspen. We will take a more in-depth look at two important processes in Chemical Engineering: boiling and condensation. The latter will be covered later. The following example will aide in teaching boiling concepts in Aspen. Problem Statement: The Freon-12 stream used in the previous example is now flowing at 90 kmol/hr with a temperature of 270 K and a pressure of 3 atm. The plant manager wants to vaporize this stream for a unit operation later in the plant. Ethylene glycol is now available at 340 K and 2 atm. The plant manager recommends using 80 BWG tubing for this operation, and the pressure drop should be minimized as much as possible. Schematic

Freon 12 90 kmol/hr Ti = 270 K Pi = 3 atm

Ethylene Glycol Ti = 340 k Pi = 2 atm Freon-12 To = Tsat Vapor fraction = 1.0

Ethylene Glycol To = 300 K

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In this situation, there is a phase change in the Freon stream. Our purpose is to design a heat exchanger that will provide enough energy for the Freon to boil. Boiling is a special form of heat transfer and needs special considerations. Therefore, before starting calculations on Aspen, become familiar with the mechanisms of boiling by reading the following. Recommended readings: Perrys 7th editionpgs. 5-22 through 5-23 Incropera and DeWittpgs. 538-546. Coulson and Richardson670-671 and example 12.10. Geankoplispg. 259 through 262 General design considerations Most of the time kettle-type reboilers are used in boiling processes for heat exchanger design. Examples of reboilers can be seen on pg. 11-34 and 11-37 in reference five. Kettle-type reboilers are setup in which the cold process stream enters near the bottom and makes contact with the tube bundle which houses the hot stream. The cold liquid forms a pool around the tube bundle in which the heat transfer takes place and the liquid is boiled off. Reboilers have a huge shell area or vapor space in order to accommodate for the huge change in volume going from a liquid to a gas. The layout design is much the same for a normal shell-and-tube heat exchanger; the amount of required area is found first, then the tube bundle is designed, and finally the shell and vapor space are calculated. The shell diameter is related to the diameter of the tube bundle and the flow rate of the vapor. Boiling Curve For every liquid there exists a temperature at which there is enough energy to start vaporization. Boiling is just this process at a solid-liquid interface. The temperature of the solid (or surface) is above the saturation temperature of the liquid and this temperature difference creates the heat transfer. This temperature difference, TS - TSAT , also determines the boiling mechanism. Four boiling regimes exist: free convection boiling, nucleate boiling, transition boiling, and film boiling; each one having its own characteristics. (See recommended readings) We will focus on the nucleate boiling region because this is where most boiling processes take place. Furthermore, this regime is the recommended zone for efficient boiling. Nucleate boiling occurs when TS TSAT is between 5 and 30 C. At this point, the liquid appears much like a boiling pot of water on the stove. This is also the region where the maximum heat flux can be attained. Since there exists a phase change in the process, there exist special correlations for finding the heat transfer coefficients for the boiling process. These correlations are much different from convective heat transfer equations. Aspen, for some reason or another, has difficulty estimating heat transfer coefficients for vaporization. In fact, they are unreliable. Since Aspen cannot calculate the heat transfer coefficients accurately, results from hand calculations will have to be used. (Remember in the last example, hand calculations were only needed for initial estimates) For the design, we will need four calculations: the maximum heat flux, an estimate of the boiling heat transfer coefficient (hi ), an estimate of the convection heat transfer coefficient for the Ethylene glycol stream

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(ho ), and the actual heat flux. Several correlations exist for the first three variables in the recommended readings, and the actual heat flux is found by dividing the heat duty by the area of the heat exchanger. We would like the actual flux to be close to the maximum heat flux, but not to exceed it. All four variables are dependent upon the geometry of the heat exchanger so iterations will be in order. Once good estimates are found, the amount of area can be calculated and design on Aspen can begin.

Start on Aspen by setting up a flowsheet using the Heater block as shown below. (Refer to Aspen Plus Setup for a Flow Simulation if you need help) Once the flowsheet is complete, click Next. Aspen will then take you through the title screen, as well as the components screen and the property methods screen. Give the simulation a title and enter in the components used in the example. (Freon-12 is CCl2 F2 and Ethylene Glycol is C2 H6O2 ) The property method used in this example is entered as NRTL-RK. Proceed until the input sheet for the Freon stream appears.

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Shown below is the input screen for the Freon stream. Enter in the data given in the problem statement. Once that is done, click Next.

Now the input screen for the Heater block will appear next. (shown below) The block needs two of three specifications for the simulation (shown in oval). Since our objective in the example is to vaporize the Freon stream, we need to specify the outlet vapor fraction for the cold stream. Choose the Vapor fraction specification and enter in 1.0. The Freon stream will now leave the Heater block as a saturated vapor. (Refer to reference one for help) In addition, specify the amount of pressure dropan initial estimate is fine. Click Next.

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Now run the simulation. Check the results, especially the outlet vapor fractions. (shown below) As you can see, Aspen has calculated a heat duty (471500 W) and found the saturation temperature of the Freon stream (272.2 K).

Return to the flowsheet and replace the Heater block with a HeatX block as shown above. The glycol stream will need to be added. The input page for the glycol stream is shown on the next page. Once again, everything is given in the problem statement except the flow rate. This can be easily found using the heat duty and the heat capacity of the Ethylene Glycol. (A design-spec can also be used)

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Click Next and the input pages for the heat exchanger will appear. (shown below) This is the Specifications sheet for the heat exchanger and is explained in reference one. Start by running the Shortcut calculation method. Also specify the flow direction of the exchangerthis example will be using countercurrent flow. Finally, choose the appropriate Exchanger Specification; in this case, Cold stream outlet vapor fraction will be used. Click Next and run the simulation.

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The results are shown below. The Freon stream completely vaporized and the Ethylene Glycol stream left the exchanger at a temperature of 300 K, which is what the design called for. Once again, the heat duty is shown here. (Note*, adjust the flow rate of the glycol stream so that the outlet temperature is as designed; also, a pressure drop was not specified and therefore the inlet and outlet pressures are the same)

Now return to the Specifications input page and change the calculations to Detailed. Remember to put the hot glycol stream in the tubes and the cold Freon stream in the shell. Then click on the Pressure drop tab and the sheet shown at left will appear. Make sure the pressure drop calculations are based on the geometry. (Note*: both the hot and cold side need to be specified.)

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Now click on the U-methods tab at the top of the screen.

At the U-methods page, choose the calculations based on Film coefficients. (See reference one for an explanation of this input page)

Now click on the Film Coefficients tab.

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On the Film Coefficients page, (shown above) we need to set the heat transfer coefficients. As said before, Aspen has difficulty calculating heat transfer coefficients based on boiling processes. For any phase change calculations, the heat transfer coefficients will have to be entered manually. First, make sure the cold stream is specified. As always, there are different calculation options for the film coefficients. Two options can be used for the user-entered values. (See reference one) This example will use the Phase specific values option. Click on that option and a sub-page will appear. (shown in the oval) Here you can enter in the heat transfer coefficients that correspond to the different phases in the heat exchanger: liquid, vapor, boiling, or condensing. The cold Freon stream will have two phases, the liquid phase and the boiling phase. Use the results from the hand calculations and enter the values here. Make sure the units are correct or the calculations will be erroneous. Now specify the hot side of the heat exchanger. Again, enter in a value found from hand calculations. (Note*: for the glycol stream, the calculations can be based on the geometry since there is only one phase; however, the best recommendation is to use results from hand calculations for any phase change process, even for the service fluid. Note*: the Freon stream really has all three phases in the heat exchanger, however, we are assuming that the vapor phase is not involved in any heat transfer so therefore does not need to be specified.) Another option for calculations is to use a FORTRAN subroutine. Instead of choosing Film coefficients on the U-methods, choose the User subroutine option. (See reference one) Of course, the subroutine will have to be written, but the calculations would be more accurate.

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Now setup the geometry of the heat exchanger. Shown at left is the tube-input page. With the results from the hand calculations, you should have a good estimate of the area needed. Once again, set the length and the size of the tubes and calculate the required number of tubes. Enter in the information here. (See reference one for help)

For the shell, choose the shell type and number of tube passes. (Aspen does not have a reboiler shell type) Also specify the shell diameter and clearance. Refer to the recommended readings for appropriate values.

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Generally, baffles are not used in kettle-type reboilers since the shell fluid does not actually flow across the tube bundle. However, Aspen does not know that and baffles have to be specified. Enter in the number of baffles and the baffle spacing. Either value is arbitrary but make sure the baffle spacing is greater than the distance between the tubesheet and the first baffle. A spacing of one meter is a good estimate.

The nozzle diameters are found as in the previous example. (Refer to reference one or Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers) However, since there is a phase change in this process, the shell outlet nozzle diameter must be bigger than the inlet. A good estimate is twice the inlet diameter. The tube nozzle diameters will be the same since there is not any phase change.

After all the information is entered, Click Next and run the simulation.

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Shown at left is the Summary page from the results. Always check this page after each simulation. The Freon stream has vaporized and the Glycol stream leaves the exchanger at a temperature of 300 K. The design parameters for each stream have been met.

Now check the Exchanger Details page. (shown at left) This page shows the required and actual area as well as the calculated overall heat transfer coefficient. As you can see, the actual area is larger than the required area, but that is fine. (Remember you should over-design 10-20% on Aspen) Notice also that the overall heat transfer coefficient was calculated. Actually, Aspen just calculated an average coefficient from the values that you entered. You should also check the Pressure drop results page as well. After checking the results, it is a good idea to rerun the simulation with the exchanger specification based on the geometry. Again, this will check your design with previous results. Once the design is completed, print out the input pages as well as the results of the simulation.

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Closing comments With reboiler design on Aspen, it becomes inherently clear that, although Aspen is great software, it still only gives estimates for design. You always need to be careful with results from Aspenalways be a cynic, question everything! This design process also shows that Aspen will not be able to calculate everything for you. Hand calculations will always be needed. The next section will deal on the subject of condensation, just the opposite of vaporization. We will deal with condensation in a similar manner we did with boiling since, once again, Aspen has trouble estimating the heat transfer coefficients.

References
1. Lang, Jim. Design Procedure for Heat Exchangers on AspenPlus Software Design Manual. 1999. 2. Aspen Plus Simulator 10.0-1. User Interface (1998). 3. Coulson and Richardson. Chemical Engineering Fluid Flow, Heat Transfer and Mass Transfer. Volume 1, 5th ed., Butterworth and Heinemann, 1996. 4. Geankoplis, Christie J. Transport Processes and Unit Operations, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall, 1993. 5. Incropera and DeWitt. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 4th ed., John Wiley and Sons, 1996. 6. Perry, P.H. and Green, D. Perrys Chemical Engineering Handbook, 7th ed., McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1997. 7. Reid, Prausnitz, and Poling. The Properties of Gases and Liquids. 4th ed., McGrawHill Book Co., 1987.