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

Ethylene Glycol
Ti = 340 k
Freon –12 Pi = 2 atm
90 kmol/hr
Ti = 270 K Freon-12
Pi = 3 atm To = Tsat
Vapor fraction = 1.0

Ethylene Glycol
To = 300 K
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 2/13

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:
Perry’s 7th edition—pgs. 5-22 through 5-23
Incropera and DeWitt—pgs. 538-546.
Coulson and Richardson—670-671 and example 12.10.
Geankoplis—pg. 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
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 3/13

(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.
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 4/13

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 drop—an initial
estimate is fine. Click Next.
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 5/13

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)
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 6/13

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
exchanger—this 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.
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 7/13

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.)
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 8/13

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.

Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 9/13

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.
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 10/13

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.
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 11/13

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.
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 12/13

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.
Vaporizer Design Procedure © SDSM&T 13/13

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 Aspen—always 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. Perry’s Chemical Engineering Handbook, 7th ed.,
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1997.

7. Reid, Prausnitz, and Poling. The Properties of Gases and Liquids. 4th ed., McGraw-
Hill Book Co., 1987.