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[cmnet123]

I m currently doing my final year design and I'm having a Gasket plate heat exchanger to design. Can any one enlighten me with the procedure. I just did a design with a 1-1 pass exchanger but when i do it in the HTFS in Aspen it gives a 3-3 pass exchanger. I feel the aspen htfs approach is more accurate. But don't have any idea how they have come up with the answer. Please Help?

[ankur2061]

cmnet123,

While advanced simulation and equipment design software have their advantages in providing quick results and "optimized" designs they definitely have one big disadavantage. It is difficult to analyze the back-end calculations that the software is doing since these back-end calculations and the calculation steps are not visible when running the simulator or design software.

The over-dependence on simulation software during their student career by chemcial engineering students is also a cause of concern since most students will try to run a simulation mechanically without understanding the fundamentals of the unit operation or the phenomena. This is reflected in many of the young chemical engineering graduates failing to take up the challenges while taking up a job assignment.

I would strongly recommend that as a student doing your design assignment it is better that you do your own calculations using standard textbooks and literature related to heat transfer in general and plate heat exchangers in particular rather then going by the results of a HTFS simulation run.

Advanced simulation software such as HTFS do a lot of optimization not only in terms of heat transfer but also in terms of mechanical strength and integrity of the exchanger. As a chemical engineering student you should be concentrating on producing a workable design from the view point of the basic fundamentals of heat transfer and plate heat exchanger design.

Regards,
Ankur.