SHELL Guide Official

Software di calcolo e di selezione
nel settore dello scambio termico
UNILAB SHELL
User Manual
Doc. Version: A100

Updated: 24/01/2013
Aligned with sw. build: 120810
UNILAB SHELL – User Manual
UNILAB S.r.l. – Via N. Bixio 6 – 35131 – Padova (PD) – Italy – Tel.: 049 8763311 – Fax: 049 8750196 2
www.unilab.eu – info@unilab.eu
Index
User Manual ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Index ................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 10
System requirements.................................................................................................................................................. 11
Running UNILAB SHELL for the first time and quick overview ................................................................................... 12
Software activation ................................................................................................................................................. 12
Starting the program .............................................................................................................................................. 12
The welcome window ............................................................................................................................................. 13
The menus and the tool bar ................................................................................................................................... 14
2.Calculation of a Fluid Fluid Project .............................................................................................................................. 16
Creating a new “Free calculation” project.................................................................................................................. 16
Description of the Thermodynamical Input Fields ................................................................................................. 18
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields .......................................................................................................... 24
Calculation in Verify modality ................................................................................................................................. 33
Calculation in Design modality ............................................................................................................................... 37
Desing a Heat Exchanger from Scratch ................................................................................................................... 41
Saving the designed exchangers in the archive ...................................................................................................... 48
Creating a new “Calculation with plate from archive” project................................................................................... 54
Calculation in Verify modality ................................................................................................................................. 69
Calculation in Design modality ............................................................................................................................... 73
Desing a Heat Exchanger from Scratch ................................................................................................................... 77
Saving the designed exchangers in the archive ...................................................................................................... 82
Creating a new “Verify heat exchanger” project ........................................................................................................ 87
Calculation .............................................................................................................................................................. 96
Creating a new “Selection with plate from archive” project ...................................................................................... 99
Description of the Thermodynamical Input Fields ............................................................................................... 101
Description of the Selection Input fields .............................................................................................................. 107
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 109
Creating a new “Heat exchangers selection” project ............................................................................................... 118
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 127
Saving a project to file .............................................................................................................................................. 134
Printing and exporting the results pages to PDF, Word, Excel ................................................................................. 137
Switch between calculation modalities .................................................................................................................... 148
Plate drawing ............................................................................................................................................................ 154
Refining the design of a plate in the archive ........................................................................................................ 161
3.Calculation of an Evaporating Inside Tubes Project .................................................................................................. 165

Creating a new “Free calculation” project................................................................................................................ 165
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields ........................................................................................................ 173
Calculation in Verify modality ............................................................................................................................... 182
Calculation in Design modality ............................................................................................................................. 186
Desing a Heat Exchanger from Scratch ................................................................................................................. 190
Saving the designed exchangers in the archive .................................................................................................... 197
Creating a new “Calculation with plate from archive” project................................................................................. 203
Desing a Heat Exchanger from Scratch................................................................................................................. 226
Creating a new “Verify heat exchanger” project ...................................................................................................... 236
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 244
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 258
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 274
Plate drawing ............................................................................................................................................................ 297
4.Calculation of a Condensing Inside Tubes Project ..................................................................................................... 308

Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 387
Creating a new “Selection with plate from archive” project .................................................................................... 390
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 400
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 414
Plate drawing ............................................................................................................................................................ 438
5.Calculation of a Condensing Outside Tubes Project .................................................................................................. 450
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 520
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 534

Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 548
Plate drawing ............................................................................................................................................................ 570
6.Calculation of a Flooded Evaporator Project ............................................................................................................. 583
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 655
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 670
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 684
Plate drawing ............................................................................................................................................................ 707
7.Calculation of a Steam Inside Tubes Project ............................................................................................................. 719

Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 797
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 809
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 821
Plate drawing ............................................................................................................................................................ 845
8.Calculation of a Steam Outside Tubes Project .......................................................................................................... 856
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields cont.d – Gravity Effect ................................................................... 864
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields cont.d – Speed Effect ..................................................................... 871
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields cont.d – Gravity Effect ................................................................... 906
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields cont.d – Speed Effect ..................................................................... 911

Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 945
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 957
Calculation ............................................................................................................................................................ 972
Plate drawing ............................................................................................................................................................ 994
Refining the design of a plate in the archive ......................................................................................................1003
9.TEMADesignation ....................................................................................................................................................1007
Layout Description ..................................................................................................................................................1008
Variations ................................................................................................................................................................1024
Shell Types ..........................................................................................................................................................1025
Rear End Types ...................................................................................................................................................1027
10.Archives management ...........................................................................................................................................1031
Logo customization and printout settings ..............................................................................................................1031
Selection and Units of Measurement Customization .............................................................................................1035
Creation of a new Unit of Measurement and usage ..........................................................................................1037
Customer archive management .............................................................................................................................1041
Fluid Archive Mangement ......................................................................................................................................1046
Materials Archive Management .............................................................................................................................1057
Connections Archive Management ........................................................................................................................1063
Plates Archive Management ...................................................................................................................................1068
Heat Exchangers Management...............................................................................................................................1074
Drawing Management ............................................................................................................................................1083
DISCLAIMER
The images of the procedures specified in the manual are for
explanation purposes only.For this reason the calculation results may
not match those currently displayed by the program. Also the forms
may now show some small differences in graphics.
1.Introduction
UNILAB SHELL allows you to design, rate and select your exchanger with the benefit of 5 different calculation
modalities: fluid-fluid, evaporation inside tubes, condensation inside/outside tubes, flooded evaporators, steam
inside/outside tubes.
At the current time, UNILAB SHELL is the only software that allows the complete design of a brand new exchanger
from scracth. In case you need to design a special exchanger and you lack the time to use a complex software, and
set all the parameters, with our software you just have to select the fluids, set the working conditions and the
required power, click on the “Automatic” calculation box and you are done. The new exchanger will adhere perfectly
to the TEMA Standard 9th Edition normative in all its requirements. Furthermore, if the required power does not
match, the software will calculate the number of TEMA exchangers required.
UNILAB SHELL allows you to analyse applications in which the fluids inherent to the heat exchanger undergo a
change of phase. Currently UNILAB SHELL, like all Unilab Software, uses the Refprop ver. 8 of the NIST (National
Institute of Standards and Technology) which contains a wide variety of fluids used in the air conditioning and
refrigeration industries. This library contains both thermodynamics and thermophysical properties with 12 liquid
mixtures and a list of more than 300 liquids and gases.
UNILAB SHELL is a key component of the UNILAB UNISUITE product family that comprises the broadest range of heat
exchanger design software in the world and utilizes proprietary methods backed up by more than 28 years of
practical in-house research. Our aim is to enhance the value of heat transfer solutions by providing the most
integrated product offering.
UNILAB S.r.l. – Via N. Bixio 6 – 35131 – Padova (PD) – Italy – Tel.: 049 8763311 – Fax: 049 8750196 Section 1
www.unilab.eu – info@unilab.eu Page 10
System requirements
For the correct usage of UNILAB SHELL, you need:
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional or newer Operative System
Intel® Pentium® 800 MHz or IBM® compatibile Processor
256 Mbyte of RAM
1 Gbyte of free space in the main hard drive
1024 per 768 Screen Resolution
SUGGESTED SYSTEM
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Operative System
Intel® Pentium® 1000 MHz Processor
512 Mbyte of RAM
2 Gbyte of free space in the main hard drive
1024 per 768 Screen Resolution
Running UNILAB SHELL for the first time and quick overview
Software activation
To activate your software’s license, you have to plug in your hardware activation key supplied with the installation
CD of the UNILAB software in a free USB port:
Once plugged the activation key in, just start the program.
Starting the program

To start UNILAB SHELL, double click on the link you can find on your computer’s desktop:
When done, the following loading screen will appear:
Once the software is loaded, it will show the welcome window. Let’s see this form in detail.
The welcome window

When UNILAB SHELL starts, it shows the following form, called the “Welcome window”:
This form is divided into 2 main parts. The one on the left shows a list of recently used projects:
Instead the right part of the form shows a quick access menu and options to manage the list on the left:
Create a new project in Fluid – Fluid modality

Create a new project in Evaporation Inside Tubes modality
Create a new project in Condensing Inside Tubes modality
Create a new project in Condensing Outside Tubes modality
Create a new Flooded Evaporator project
Create a new project in Steam Inside Tubes modality
Create a new project in Steam Outside Tubes modality
Open the project selected in the list on the left

Remove the project selected in the same list
Open another project saved elsewhere
Open the website of UNILAB SRL

Book a remote connection for support or demo
Start the program that allow the remote connection
The menus and the tool bar

Let’s see the program’s menus and their functionalities:
The File menu contains the following options:
To create a new project

It opens an existing project
Closes the current project
Saves the current project
Saves the current project with a different name
Saves all the projects
Shows the print preview
Closes the program
The Offer menu contains the following options:
Creates a new offer where you can attach the current exchanger
Modifies the current offer
Load an existing offer
Saves the current offer
Add the current project to the offer
Removes the current project from the offer
The Archive Management menu contains the following options:
Customers management
Fluids management
Materials management
Tubes management
Connections management
Management of the series, plates, and exchangers in the archive
The View menu contains the following options:
Shows or hide the status bar (on the bottom of the program)
Shows or hide the tool bar
The Tools menu contains the following options:
Unit measure systems management

Logo and printout header management
To select the software translation
Licenses management
Download of updates
The Help menu (?) contains the following option, that shows more details about the software:
Regarding the Toolbar, it show the following options:
Creates a new project

Open an existing project
Saves the current project
Shows the print preview
2.Calculation of a Fluid Fluid Project

To improve the usability of the software, UNILAB SHELL is able to adapt to the type of project you want to calculate.
For example, if you have a vast series of exchangers, you can use the Selection tool to find the best exchanger
suitable with the requirements of the customer in a few clicks, allowing you to close a project and send it to the
production department (or eventually to the wherehouse) and satisfy the customer in the shortest time. Or, if you
have to design a special exchanger but you want to use one of the plates you already have designed, you can use
with both the Selection from Plate in the archive or the Calculate with plate from the archive tools. These options
are listed below:
 Free calculation: you have to specify all the exchangers dimensional parameters from scratch.
 Calculation with plate from archive: you have to specify only the shell parameters. The plate will be taken
from the archive.
 Verify exchanger: you just verify an exchanger from the archive.
 Selection with plate from archive: it uses the plates from the archive to perform a selection, designing a
new exchanger each time, suitable with the customer requirements.
 Exchangers selection: it selects an exchanger suitable with the customer requirements.
In this section we will cover all of the above modalities.
Creating a new “Free calculation” project

To create a new project in this modality, you just have to click on the “New project” button, the first in the toolbar:
The following form will appear:
We have to select the the Fluid Fluid modality by clicking on the first item on the list. The following form will appear:
Since we want to do a Free Calculation project, we select the first item on the list and click on the Ok button:
After that, the TEMA Designation form will appear:
In this form we set the TEMA designation of the form by clicking on the pictures and selecting the correct mark from
the list. This form will be covered deeply in the related chapter of this manual. For now, we select the default
options. When done, let’s click on the OK button. The main calculation window will appear:
Description of the Thermodynamical Input Fields

As we can see, this form is divided into 4 areas. Let’s see in detail each one of them. The first one is placed on the
top, and it shows the global calculation parameters:
On the left we can see the Exchanged Capacity and the Global Heat Transfer Coefficient:
As you can see, the Exchanged Capacity is divided into INPUT and OUTPUT. It means you can actually set a required
capacity on the Input field, and the software will show the real exchanged capacity on the Output field. On the right
column it will show the overdimensioning factor.
Even if the unit measures are a property of the Unit Measure System you have selected (see Appendix about this
topic), you can actually customize each field, by clicking on the unit measure’s dropdown list next to the value:
Regarding the right column, we can find the following fields:
The first is the ration between the required capacity and the exchanged capacity of the project. The second
represent the exchanging surface of the heat exchanger, the DTML shows the Average Logaritmic DeltaT of the
calculation.
Below these fields, we find the Shell Side fluid properties fields:
The first line lets you select the fluid shell side:
You can select from a vast library of fluids. The first dropdown list lets you select the library from the following
items:
Once selected the library, you can select the fluid from the list:
Dependingly from the type of fluid, you have to specify the fluid pressure:
Or eventually the Mix Percentage (like for example for Glycols):
Let’s see the other fields:
With the above fields, we can se the fluid temperature and the fluid flow. As you can see, this part is divided into
Input and Output too. This is very useful because we can set the values required by the customer and then see
whether if the real exchanger is giving the right performances or not. Inlet and outlet temperatures, along with the
fluid flow and required capacity can be set alternated, like the following profiles:
 Required capacity, Inlet Temperature and Outlet Temperature. The program will calculate the fluid flow
and it will be written in the corresponding Output green field.
 Required capacity, Fluid Flow and Inlet Temperature. The program will calculate the Outlet Temperature
 Required capacity, Fluid Flow and Outlet Temperature. The program will calculate the Inlet Temperature
 Fluid flow, Inlet Temperature and Outlet Temperature. The program will calculate the Required Capacity
Below these fields, we can set the Fouling Factor Shell Side:
We can also set the Total Pressure Drops that will be used in the design and select calculations. This value will be the
maximum applicable:
After the calculation, the corresponding green field will be filled in with the calculated value. Alternatively you can
decide not to show the total pressure drops, but eventually the exchangers pressure drops or the nozzles pressure
drops:
Finally we can see the Fluid Velocity field, that will be written by the program with the corresponding output value:
Let’s see now the Tubes Side fields:
The first line lets you select the fluid tubes side:
items:
Below these fields, we can set the Fouling Factor Tubes Side:
maximum applicable:
drops:
Let’s see now the dimensional parameters of the heat exchangers.
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields

The dimensional parameters of the heat exchangers are all grouped into the bottom part of the form:
The first field show the number of passages shell side, and on the same line, the number of parallel exchangers
(geometrically equivalents) in the project
The next field lets you specify the plate configuration:
With one tube passage, the only option is Quadrant Horizontal. Instead with 2 passages, we can select:
With 4 passages we can select:
With more than 4 passages we can select:
Some examples of the plate configurations (shell internal diameter: 927 mm, 6 passages) are shown below:
Mixed horizontal Quadrant horizontal Ribbon horizontal
Mixed vertical Quadrant vertical Ribbon vertical (4 passages)
The next field is the manifold position:
This can be selected from the list:
Then there’s a field to specify the shell internal diameter:
The value can be set by the user or selected from the following quick find list. These values are taken from the TEMA
specifications:
Below the shell internal diameter field, we find the Baffles Diameter and the Outermost Diameter:
These three values are related to each other, since the baffles diameter have to be lower than the internal diameter,
and the outer most diameter have to be lower than the baffles diameter. This particular value represent the
diameter of the hypothetical circumference that lean to the most far tube from the plate center.
Below these three values there is the tubes length, the rounding and the maximum length:
The length can be selected from the following quick access list, or typed by the user. Please notice that the values
are taken from the TEMA specifications:
The rounding field and the maximum length are used in the Design modality. When you design an exchanger in this
modality you may want the program to figure out the best length of the exchanger. In this case the program may
calculate a unpractical value like 4002 mm. This fields instruct the program to round the calculated tubes length, like
for example 4002 mm will be rounded to 4000 mm, and 4023 will be rounded to 4025 if the rounding value is 25.
The maximum length instruct the program that we don’t want tubes longer than this value.
Below we find the Baffles Number:
And the first baffle distance:
Pay attention to set a first baffle distance higher then the inlet nozzle shell side, so that the fluid can flow into the
exchanger without creating vibrations.
Below this line we find the Shell Inlet and Outlet nozzles.
If we leave this field on Automatic, we instruct the program to select automatically a nozzle even if we are not doing
a Design calculation. Alternatively we can select it from the list. At first we have to select the maximum pressure
applicable on the nozzle:
Once selected, the program will load the list of nozzles compatibles with that pressure:
Let’s move on the right side. The first field is the Nr of Tubes Passages:
After that we can select the Tubes disposition:
The supported tubes disposition are:
Triangular Square Rotated square Rotated triangular

Below we specify the tubes that will be used:
To select the tube model, click on the Selection button:
In this form we can select the tube from the very detailed archive. As you can see, on the left you actually select the
library:
The first field let’s you select whether you are looking for a general tube or a special tube:
After selecting the library, you can select from the generic list of Smooth tubes, from the Wieland production line, or
from the Wolverine production line:
After selecting the builder, you can select the thickness from the BWG, AWG or SWG guide lines. MM and Custom
are used to store custom thickness values:
Once selected the thickness guideline, you can select the actual thickness from the list:
After selecting, the value will be shown below:
On the right panel you can select the model of the tube from the list:
After selecting the tube, you can see its parameters, like diameter, default material and maximum hole in the baffle,
from the table next to the tubes list:
Below you can see which materials are compatible with the tube selected:
Once selected the tube, click on the Exit button:
After selecting the tube, the next field lets you select the material:
The material can be selected from the list below. The list can be customized in the archive management:
The next line lets you set the number of tubes in the plate:
It is very important to specify whether the program should calculate the baffle’s window layout automatically or not.
You can do this by clicking on the Window button:
That will show the following frame:
You can specify the number of tubes in the window, and the number of rows. Alternatively you can let the program
calculate these values automatically.
The next line sets the Tubes Step / External Diameter ratio:
Next, we can set the diameter of the Hole in the Baffle:
This value must be higher than the tubes external diameter, and should be considered carefully because it may
reduce the exchanger’s performances drastically.
After this we find the number of Sealing Strip:
Finally, some more parameters about the baffles. There’s the distance between each baffle:
The baffle cut (expressed in %):
And finally the last baffle distance:
Below this line, and aligned with the Shell nozzles line, there’s the Tubes inlet outlet nozzles selection:
Like the corresponding fields on the left, if we leave these field on Automatic, we instruct the program to select
automatically a nozzle from the list. Alternatively we can select it by setting the maximum pressure applicable first:
And then picking one item from the list:
Calculation in Verify modality

Let’s now perform a calculation of an exchanger in verify mode. This means that we have to fill in all the details of
exchangers. Let’s start from the top lines of the form, by specifying a required capacity of 500 kW and leaving all the
other fields blank:
Also the fields on the right should be left blank:
Now let’s select the fluid WATER and set a Inlet Temperature of 80 °C, with an Outlet Temperature of 75 °C, so the
program will calculate the fluid flow:
Let’s do the same on the Tubes Side. The Inlet Temperature will be 70 °C, with the Outlet Temperature 75 °C:
Now let’s fill in the parameters of the heat exchangers. Let’s start by leaving 1 both on the nr of shell passages and
the number of parallel exchangers:
Now let’s set the plate configuration and the manifolds position like below:
Now we select an internal diameter of the shell from the list – value is 483 mm – and we set the baffles diameter
and the outermost diameter as follows:
Let’s specify the tubes length as follows, leaving unchanged the tubes rounding and the maxium length:
Next we set the number of baffles and the first baffle distance:
We leave unchanged the inlet an outlet nozzles tubes side, so that the program will select one automatically:
On the right side, we set a number of passages of the tubes to 4, and we select to place the tubes on the tubesheet
in a triangular disposition:
We select the tube model, like shown in the previous chapter, as following, and we set its material to Copper:
Next we set the total number of tubes on the tubesheet and the ratio between the tube step and the external
diameter as follows:
We specify now the diameter of the hole in the baffle and no sealing strips:
We finally set all the remaining parameters of the baffles, like the distance between each of them, the baffle cut and
the last baffle distance:
About the nozzles shell side, we leave them to Automatic too, so that the program can select them for us:
After setting all the parameter of the calculation we have to click on the Verify button. It is on the top tool bar:
And specifically at the beginning of it:
After pressing that button, all the fields will be filled with the output values:
Also the fields on the right have been filled in with the output values:
As we can see the exchanger is a little overdimensioned, in fact it gives 525 kW instead of 500 kW, and the ratio is
shown in the Overdimensioning Factor field. It turned green because it’s a positive difference.
Let’s see also the Shell Side parameters: the resulting fluid flow and that real outlet temperature have been shown
by the program, and this value in particular is a little lower, because of the difference between the required and the
obtained capacity:
On the Tubes Side parameters panel, we can see the same differences:
Finally, at the bottom of the form, we can see that the program has calculated the dimensions of the manifolds too:
Calculation in Design modality

In Design modality you can start from a few dimensional parameters to build the best exchanger for the required
capacity. So the first thing to do, is to set the required capacity like below:
The Global Heat Transfer Coefficient and the other fields on the right should be left blank:
About the tubes length, let’s leave it blank. Instead it’s important to set the tubes rounding, and the maximum
length, so that the program won’t let the tubes to be longer than this value, keeping the length a multiply of 25:
We leave the number of baffles and the first baffle distance blank:
Next we set the total number of tubes on the tubesheet to 0, and the ratio between the tube step and the external
We specify now the diameter of the hole in the baffle and the sealing strips to 0:
Next we leave all the parameters of the baffles to zero:
Now that we set all the parameters, we click on the Design button to start the calculation. It is on the top tool bar:
Specifically here:
As we can see the program has calculated all the thermotecnical parameters:
The resulting capacity is close to the required capacity, but still higher of 2 kW:
The program has calculated the resulting fluid flow and all the remaining parameters both Shell Side:
And tubes side:
The program has also designed the exchanger, filling the dimensional parameters that we left blank on purpose, like
the tubes length:
The baffles number and the first baffle distance:
The number of tubes:
All the remaining parameters of the baffles:
And of course the nozzles, both Shell and Tubes sides:
Desing a Heat Exchanger from Scratch

This is actually a revolutionary feature of SHELL. With this new feature you can just type the required capacity and
click a button, and then the software will design a brand new exchanger without any dimensional parameter set in.
This lets you design a special exchanger, that perfectly matches the requirements of the customer, in just no time.
Let’s see how it works.
First of all we have to set the thermodynamical parameters, like the required capacity:
Now we power on the Automatic button:
=>
And we leave everything blank, both Shell side:
And Tubes side:
The only few things we have to set is the tube model:
The ratio between the Tubes Step and the External Diameter, and the hole in the baffle:
Last thing is the rounding of the tubes and the maximum length:
Finally we click on the Design button to start the calculation. It is on the top tool bar:
Specifically here:
The program designs a list of exchangers compatible with the required capacity. The first is loaded immediately, and
the others are accessible from the Go Back and Go Forward buttons next to the Design button:
These are the dimensional parameters of the first exchanger:
On the other side we can see the rest of the parameters:
Finally, let’s take a look at the obtained capacity:
As we can see it’s very close to the required capacity, and the overdimensioning factor is almost 1:
These are the thermodynamical parameters Shell Side:
And Tubes Side:
Let’s click on the “Go Forward” to take a look to the next exchanger:
The parameters of the next exchanger will be loaded:
And these are the dimensional parameters on the other side:
As we can notice, the program increased the shell internal diameter and lower the length of the tubes. This is very
helpful to find out the best solution suitable both with the requirements of the customer and the availability of the
wherehouse. All the exchangers will be totally TEMA compatible, bringing the most ease of building and
performances.
Saving the designed exchangers in the archive

It might be helpful to populate an exchangers archive, adding the designed exchanger to the archive.
Let’s start from the calculation, made with the design from scratch utility in the chapter before:
Let’s click on the Add To Database button, in the top tool bar:
The following form will appear. It lets you either select an existing serie, where to add the new exchanger, or create
a new series:
Let’s create a new series by clicking on the Add Series button:
The following input form will appear. It is asking for the name of the series:
Let’s write an example name, like below, and click Ok:
Now the series will be added to the list. Select it by clicking on it:
Now we click on the Save button to continue the procedure:
We need to fill in a plate description:
Let’s write an example name, like the following:
After clicking on the Ok button, the following form will appear:
It is the management of the plates. You can see the new plate listed on the left, and all of its parameters, taken from
the desing we did before, shown on the right. This lets you revise the parameters if there’s something you want to
change. Once done it, click on the Save button to continue the procedure:
The following form will appear, to specify the name of the new exchanger that will be added to the archive:
Let’s write an example name, like the following, made by the internal diameter of the shell, the tubes length and
number of passages:
After clicking Ok, the following form will appear:
It is the management of the exchangers. You can see the new exchanger listed on the left, and all of its parameters,
taken from the desing we did before, shown on the right:
This lets you revise the parameters if there’s something you want to change. Once done it, click on the Save button:
And the procedure is completed. You can close the form and continue using UNILAB SHELL.
Creating a new “Calculation with plate from archive” project

Since we want to do a Calculation With Plate From Archive project, we select the second item on the list and click on
the Ok button:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

The first field shows the number of parallel exchangers (geometrically equivalents) in the project:
Next is the Automatic Design from Scratch button:
This will be covered later in the same chapter.
Below this button there’s the tubes length, the rounding and the maximum length:
Let’s move on the right side.
The first two fields lets you choose the plate model from the Archive:
The first line is aimed to select the typology of the plate you want to use, and the number of tubes side passages like
a filter:
It can be selected from the list that depends on the availability of the archive:
The second line is designed to select the plate model from the filtered list:
Here’s an example list of plate models:
As you can see, there’s also a line called “Automatic”, this instructs the program to perform a design and choose the
best plate suitable for the required power.
library:

other fields blank:
Now let’s fill in the parameters of the heat exchangers. Let’s start by leaving 1 in the nr of parallel exchangers:
Now let’s set the manifolds position like below:
On the right side, we select the following plate from the library:
We specify now the diameter of the hole in the baffle:
After that, let’s leave a number of sealing strip equals to 0:
obtained capacity:

Now let’s fill in the parameters of the heat exchangers we know. Let’s start by leaving 1 both on the nr of parallel
exchangers (geometrically equivalents) in the project:
Then let’s select the Opposite Sides manifold position:
Let’s leave empty the tubes length field. Instead the tubes rounding and the maximum length shoud be like that:
The Baffles Number let’s leave it empty, so that the program will calculate it:
And the first baffle distance too:
Let’s leave the Shell Inlet and Outlet nozzles to Automatic:
On the right side, let’s leave the plate model to Automatic, so that the program will find the best from the archive:
We finally set all the remaining parameters of the baffles to 0:
After setting all the parameter of the calculation we have to click on the Design button. It is on the top tool bar:
Specifically here:
The resulting capacity is higher of the requested one, but it’s very close to this one. The overdimensioning factor is
almost 1:
On the Shell Side, the program has filled in all the parameters calculated too, including the pressure drops:
The same about the Tubes Side:
Now let’s check the parameters of the exchanger we have designed. The software has calculated its length like
below:
It has also selected to put 8 baffles, and filled the first baffle distance like below:
It has also selected a 5” nozzle both for the inlet and outlet fluid side:
On the other side we can see that the program has selected a 457 mm plate:
And finally we can see the rest of the resulting baffles’ parameters:
Last line in this frame, the tubes nozzles:

=>
And Tubes side:
The only few things we have to set is the hole in the baffle:
Specifically here:
And Tubes Side:

a new series:
number of passages:
Creating a new “Verify heat exchanger” project

Since we want to do a Verify project, we select the third item on the list and click on the Ok button:
After that, the main calculation window will appear:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
With the above fields, we can see the fluid temperature and the fluid flow. As you can see, this part is divided into
maximum applicable:
drops:

The first fields allows to choose the series and the model of the exchanger you want to verify:
The next part of this section groups the main information about the exchanger model selected before and it isn’t
editable
The fields of this part are:
The Shell internal diameter which represents the internal diameter of the shell of the excahnger
The Tubes Length which represents the length of the tubes in the exchanger
The Baffles Number which represents the number of the baffles of the exchanger
The Tube Passage which represents the number of passages of the tubes in the exchanger
The Tubes number which represents the number of tubes in the exchanger
The Tube disposition which represents the disposition type of the tubes in the exchanger
The Manifolds position which represents the position of the manifolds respect to the exchanger
The Shell inlet/outlet nozzle which represent the type of nozzle used in the inlet and in the outlet manifolds of the
shell side of the exchanger
The Tubes inlet/outlet nozzle which represent the type of nozzle used in the inlet and in the outlet manifolds of the
tubes side of the exchanger
As you can see all the nozzles has been set to automatic. This means that in the database we have saved the
exchanger without nozzles, so that when you calculate the program will select the best nozzles for the requested
power.
Calculation
other fields blank:
Now let’s select the heat exchanger to verify. Let’s choose the series:
And the model:
The section below will be compile in this way:
obtained capacity:
In addition the program has also selected the following nozzles for the requested performance:
Creating a new “Selection with plate from archive” project

Since we want to do a Selection project, we select the fourth item on the list and click on the Ok button:
options. When done, let’s click on the OK button. The main calculation form will appear:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
Description of the Selection Input fields

On the left side of the bottom section of the form we can select the model of the plates to use to do the selection.
The other side of this section allows to specify the limits of the selection.
The Capacity Tolerance allows to filter by the capacity the exchangers in the selection.
If the Capacity Tolerance is checked the program will put in the results of the selection the exchangers with the
capacity included in the tolerance interval around the Capacity value required.
If the Capacity Tolerance is not checked the program will put in the results of the selection all the exchangers.
You can specify a positive tolerance and the software will show you exchangers whose have an higher capacity than
the requested or a negative tolerance, in this case the program will show exchangers with an lower capacity than
the requested.
The Pressure drop tolerance allows to filter by the pressure drops of each side (shell and tube) the exchangers in the
selection.
If the Pressure drops tolerance is checked the program will put in the results of the selection the exchangers with
the pressure drops included in the tolerance interval around the Total pressure drops requested.
If the Pressure drops tolerance is not checked the program will put in the results of the selection all the exchangers.
You can specify a shell side tolerance and a tube side tolerance.
The others selection options are:
If it’s checked the Rounding tubes length the software will round the length of the tubes to the closest possible
value.
The Max tubes length represents the maximum value of length that the exchanger can have. All the exchangers
longer than this value will be discarded.
The others values allows to manage the materials and the type of the tubes
The last fields represents the position of the manifolds
Calculation
Let’s now perform a selection. Let’s start from the top lines of the form, by specifying a required capacity of 500 kW
and leaving all the other fields blank:
Now let’s select the heat exchanger models to consider in the selection. Let’s choose the series:
Let’s set the tolerances of the selection:
And the other options
After setting all the parameter of the calculation we have to click on the Start button. It is on the top tool bar:
After pressing that button, will appear a progress bar on the bottom of the form
When the progress bar will disappear the software will show you the results of the selection on the bottom of the
mask
The results grid contains the data of all the exchangers that satisfy the options of the selection. If you move on the
icon in the last column of the grid will appear the information about the manifolds of the exchanger of that row.
To verify a specific exchanger from the results of the selection you have to double-click on the corresponding row in
the grid. The form will be set on the “Calculation with plate from archive” form and compile with the data calculated
in the selection:
To verify the exchanger you have to simply click on the Verify button on the top tool bar
The results will be the following:
All the fields will be filled with the output values:
As we can see the exchanger is a little subdimensioned, in fact it gives 499.7 kW instead of 500 kW, and the ratio is
shown in the Overdimensioning Factor field. It turned red because it’s a negative difference.
obtained capacity:
Creating a new “Heat exchangers selection” project

Since we want to do a Selection project, we select the fifth item on the list and click on the Ok button:
After that, the main calculation form will appear:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

On the left side of the bottom section of the form we can select the series of the plates to use to do the selection.
the requested.
selection.
Calculation
Now let’s select the heat exchanger series to consider in the selection. Let’s choose the series:
mask
The results grid contains the data of all the exchangers that satisfy the options of the selection.
The yellow rows are exchangers that may have not the highest performances.
the grid. The form will be set on the “Free calculation” form and compile with the data of the exchanger calculated
in the selection:
shown in the Overdimensioning Factor field. It turned green because it’s a negative difference.
obtained capacity:
Saving a project to file

UNILAB SHELL lets you save your calculation projects into files for the easiest handling. This procedure is available in
all the calculation modalities except from the Exchanger Selection and the Selection with Plate from Archive. Let’s
see how it works. Let’s start from a Free Calculation form:
Click on the File menu, then on the Save button:
In this form we can choose the path were we want to save the project file. After that, we have to fill in the File Name
field:
And then click on the Save button:
The project will be saved, and it will be shown in the recent projects list in the Welcome Window:
Printing and exporting the results pages to PDF, Word, Excel

After calculating a project, it is possible to print the result printout sheet and save it to PDF, along with other very
interesting pages we would want to save.
This is not possible in the two Selection modalities, since there are many exchangers selected, and you print the
details of one of them at a time. To see how print the details of a selected exchanger, please refer to the next
chapter, that will cover this topic.
Let’s start from a calculated project:
After perform the calculation of the project, we are able to print the results. Just click on the Print button on the top
tool bar:
Here it is the button, in the middle of the bar:
This form lets you specify a description of the project, the design pressure and tempeture both sides, and the risk
category.
This form lets you also add the exchanger to the current offer, by clicking on this button:
The whole offer management part of the program will be covered in a specific chapter.
Once fulfilled everything, we click on the Ok button:
And the print preview form will appear:
As you can see, there are some buttons on the left panel and other on the bottom panel. Let’s take a look at the left
panel. The first button is the following:
If we click on it, the Customer Selection form will appear:
This form lets you both select a customer and show its information on the printout sheets, and manage the
customers list, so that you can add a new customer on the fly. The complete Management of the Customers will be
covered in the related part of the manual.
Let’s click Ok and go back to the left panel on the Printout Preview form. From the second button on, each button
access a different page that can be printed or exported. The first page is:
This shows the Technical Data printout sheet, which is the same shown at the beginning.
Below this we find:
This shows the technical report page, which is a detailed explaination on how the calculation of the exchanger have
been done:
After that we find:
This is used to print the drawing page. When we click on it, the following form will appear:
If you want to insert the quotes, you click on :
You write the name of quote ( “a” in this case):
You write the value of the quote ( “100” in this case):
In the same way for other quotes and values:
Now, you click on bottom:
Then, you click on bottom:
and you have the exchanger model.
Another interesting page is the one called TEMA, accessible from the button:
This page is designed accordingly to the TEMA example you can find in the specifications table, it shows all the
parameters of the exchanger:
Each page can be exported to a PDF, Word or Excel document. Let’s export the current page to PDF. To do so, you
just have to click on the corresponding button:
It will show the following form:
We have to fill in the file name:
And then click Save:
So that the page is exported to PDF. To save it as a Word document, the procedure is the same, but we have to click
on the button:
To save the page as an Excel document, the procedure is the same, but we have to click on the button:
Switch between calculation modalities

We have seen that in SHELL are available 5 calculation modalities:
 Free Calculation
 Calculation with Plate from Archive
 Verify Exchanger
 Selection with Plate from Archive
 Exchanger Selection
All of these modalities have the same fluids in common, so it would be nice to switch from one modality to another
without loosing the parameters set. UNILAB SHELL gives this possibility, with the Go To functionality. Since the
possible combinations are a lot, let’s see a few examples of use.
Suppose we have calculated an exchanger in the Verify Exchanger modality:
But we realize we are not satisfied with the exchanger’s construction:
So we want to refine our calculation changing some parameters. Let’s click on the Go To button on the top tool bar:
We select free calculation from the appearing list:
After a few seconds, the form changes to the Free Calculation modality, showing all the parameters of the
exchanger:
So that now we can refine our calculation, since we have all the parameter editable:
If we click on Previous mode, from the Go To menu:
We undo the operation, and we find ourself in the Verify Exchanger modality again:
The same procedure can be applied to switch from the Calculation with Plate in Archive to the Free Calculation, so
that we explode all the information of the plate and eventually create a new one. What should be told is that
sometimes there might be a loss of information. For example, we are in a Verify Exchanger modality because we
have rated a specific exchanger, but we want to open up our view by selecting other exchangers:
And please notice, we have customized the temperatures Tubes Side like below:
So now we switch to the Exchanger Selection modality:
What about our exchanger? It will be discarded, because in this modality we don’t have only one exchanger, but
more:
The only parameters the program was able to bring, are the ones we changed in the Tubes Side:
Plate drawing
This feature lets you design the plate drawing in a complete CAD environment. Let’s see how it works. First of all you
have to be in one of the first 3 modalities:
Let’s see an example with the first modality, Free Calculation:
To start the drawing of the plate, you have to click on the corresponding button on the top tool bar:
As you can see, the form is divided into many areas. In the center part, in the gray area the program will show the
drawing of the plate. On the top, we find a toolbar with many options:
These buttons activate the following features:

 Exit: closes the drawing of the plate form
 Plate drawing: perform the drawing of the plate
 Print: print the drawing of the plate
 Export: exports the drawing in a CAD format like DWG or DXF
 Delete tubes: lets you remove unwanted holes from the plate
 Clear selection: reset the holes layout to the original shape
 Zoom in: perform the zoom in of the main drawing
 Zoom fit: reset the view of the main drawing
 Pan: perform the pan (move) of the drawing
On the left side of the form, there are two grids. The first shows the input parameter of the drawing, like the tubes
diameter, the shell internal diameter, etx. These parameters will be taken as an input to generate automatically the
drawing of the plate:
Below this part, we find the output number of total tubes, and the partial number of tubes for each quadrant:
Now let’s draw the plate. To do so, click on the Plate Drawing button:
The program will calculate the best distribution of the tubes and will show the result:
As you can see, in the center the program shows the detailed drawing of the plate:
As you can see it also shows the shell internal value and the outermost external circumference of the tubes. The
drawing is also complete with quotes, automatically calculated. In addition it shows the imaginary divisions of the
plate as red lines.
The program has also filled in the tubes disposition grid:
At the right of the center drawing, we find other two drawings. The first shows the tubes disposition:
And the second the number of tubes for each quadrant:
For each drawing the following quick tool bar is available:
The options available are:

 Zoom area
 Zoom tool activation
 Pan
 Rotate
 Zoom fit
Let’s now click on the Print button:
The following print preview will appear:
This very useful page can be printed and used in the production department, or exported in one of the following
formats:
PDF:
Word:
Excel:
If we go back and click on the Export button:
We can export the drawing of the plate into an Autocad compatible file. The following form will appear:
Here we can specify the path and the file name of the exported drawing. Finally we click on Save:
To save the exported drawing.
Let’s now take a look at the Delete Tubes function. This lets you remove unwanted holes from the plate. The first
thing to do is to select the unwanted holes, by clicking on the border of them:
Once selected all the unwanted holes, we click on the Delete Tubes button:
And the unwanted tubes will be deleted:
Refining the design of a plate in the archive

With the plate drawing feature, you can actually refine the design of an existing plate in the archive. To do it, we
have to create a new project in the Calculate with Plate from Archive modality:
As usual, we have to select the TEMA type. We can skip this part click on the Cancel button:
Now the main calculation window will appear. We have to select the plate model from the list:
Now we have to click on the Plate Drawing button:
As we can see, the parameters of the plate have been loaded from the archive:
Also we can see two new buttons on the top tool bar:
The first saves the tubes layout in the archive, the second restore the saved parameters from the archive. Let’s draw
the plate, by clicking on the Plate Drawing button:
After the plate has been drawn, we select some unwanted tubes to be deleted:
And we click on the Delete Tubes button, like before:
At this point we want to save the modification in the archive, to the plate we have selected. To do so, we click on
the Save as Default button:
If the next time we want to restore the situation, after clicking on the Plate Drawing button, we have to click on the
Open Default button:
3.Calculation of an Evaporating Inside Tubes Project

both the Selection from Plate in the archive or the Calculate with plate from the archive tools. All of these options
are listed below:
from the archive.

We have to select the the Evaporating Inside Tubes modality by clicking on the second item on the list. The following
form will appear:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
You can select from a vast library of fluids:
We now find three important fields:
The refrigerant flow can be set set as input. Both the Evaporating Temperature and the Condensing Temperature
are mandatory; if the refrigerant presents some glide, it is possible to set the Evaporating Temperature in Dew
Point, Middle Point and Bubble Point:
Alternatively to the Evaporating Temperature, it is possible to set the Absolute Pressure, by clicking on the field:
In this input configuration, it is possible to set the Overheating and the Subcooling temperatures:
However, it is possible to use other input configurations, and they are available by clicking on the Condensing
Temperature field. Let’s take a look:
If we select the Temperature Before Valve item, we are able to set:
Instead if we select the refrigerant quality:
Dependingly to the configuration of the input parameters you have, the program will always calculate the correct
Evaporating and Condensing temperatures, along with the Overheating and Subcooling fields.
maximum applicable:
drops:

specifications:

library:

other fields blank:
Let’s do the same on the Tubes Side. The fluid parameters will be like below:
As we can see the exchanger is very understimated, in fact it gives 317 kW instead of 500 kW, and the ratio is shown
in the Overdimensioning Factor field. It turned red because it’s a negative difference. In this case it would be better
to change the dimensional parameters of the exchanger so that it may perform a better heat transfer, or use the
Design modality to let the program design it for us. This modality will be covered in detail in the next chapter.
obtained capacity:

Let’s do the same on the Tubes Side. The parameters will be like below:
Specifically here:
The resulting capacity is close to the required capacity, but still higher of 2 kW:
And tubes side:
the tubes length:
One thing we can notice is that the software shows a very high tubes length, 12.5 m, that may not be convenient at
all. This probably because the plate diameter is too small for the requested capacity. In this case it would be better
to use the Design from Scratch feature to find out the best plate to keep the tubes length in an average range. This
new feature of SHELL will be covered in the next chapter.

=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:
And Tubes Side:
As we can notice, the program has increased the shell internal diameter and lowered the length of the tubes. This is
very helpful to find out the best solution suitable both with the requirements of the customer and the availability of
the wherehouse. All the exchangers will be totally TEMA compatible, bringing the most ease of building exchanger
and best performances.

a new series:
number of passages:

form will appear:
the Ok button:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
maximum applicable:
drops:

The first line is aimed to select the typology of the plate you want to use, like a filter:

library:

other fields blank:
Let’s do the same on the Tubes Side. The parameters will be the following:
On the right side, we select the following plate from the Fixed Head library:
obtained capacity:

Specifically here:
almost 1:
below:
It has also selected to put a precise number of baffles, and filled the first baffle distance like below:
It has also selected the following nozzles both for the inlet and outlet fluid side:
On the other side we can see that the program has selected the following plate:

=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:
These are the dimensional parameters of the designed exchanger:
And Tubes Side:

a new series:
number of passages:

We have to select the the Evaporating Inside Tubes modality by clicking on the first item on the list. The following
form will appear:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
maximum applicable:
drops:

editable
Calculation
calculation and then select an exchanger. Let’s start from the top lines of the form, by specifying a required capacity
of 500 kW and leaving all the other fields blank:
And the model:
obtained capacity:
The program has also selected the best manifolds for the requested power we specified:

form will appear:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
value.
Calculation
mask:
in the selection:
As we can see the exchanger gives exactly the requested power of 500 kW, and a ratio equals to 1 is shown in the
Overdimensioning Factor field. It turned green because it’s a positive difference.
obtained capacity:

form will appear:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
maximum applicable:
drops:
Let’s see now the selection parameters of the heat exchangers.

the requested.
selection.
Calculation
mask
in the selection:
obtained capacity:

field:

tool bar:
category.
Below this we find:
been done:
After that we find:
This form lets you select the drawing from the archive, specify each quote’s value and eventually add and save a
new drawing. The drawing management will be covered in the related chapter, for the moment, we click on the
Print button and we get the result:
This page is designed accordingly to the TEMA example you can find in the specifications table, it and shows all the
on the button:

exchanger:
more:
Plate drawing

plate as red lines.

 Zoom area
 Pan
 Rotate
 Zoom fit
formats:
PDF:
Word:
Excel:

4.Calculation of a Condensing Inside Tubes Project

both the Selection from Plate in the archive or the Calculate with plate from the archive tools. All of these options
are listed below:
from the archive.

form will appear:

The first is the ratio between the required capacity and the exchanged capacity of the project. The second represent
the exchanging surface of the heat exchanger, the DTML shows the Average Logaritmic DeltaT of the calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
are mandatory.
Alternatively to the Condensing Temperature, it is possible to set the Absolute Pressure, by clicking on the field:
maximum applicable:
drops:

specifications:

library:

other fields blank:
The same on the Tubes Side. The Evaporating Temperature will be 2 °C, with the Condensing Temperature 45 °C:
On the right side, we set a number of passages of the tubes to 4, and we select to place the tubes on the tube sheet
obtained capacity:

Specifically here:
The resulting capacity is close to the required capacity, but lower of about 1 kW:
And tubes side:
the tubes length:

=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:
And Tubes Side:
performances.

a new series:
number of passages:

the Ok button:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
are mandatory.
maximum applicable:
drops:

The first line is aimed to select the typology of the plate you want to use, like a filter:
library:

other fields blank:
On the right side, we select the following plate from the Condensing Inside Tubes library:
As we can see the exchanger is a little overdimensioned, in fact it gives 499.7 kW instead of 500 kW, and the ratio is
obtained capacity:

About the nozzles tubes side, we leave them to Automatic too, so that the program can select them for us:
Specifically here:
almost 1:
below:
It has also selected to put 8 baffles, and filled the first baffle distance like below:
On the other side we can see that the program has selected a 457 mm plate:

=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:

And Tubes Side:

a new series:
number of passages:

We have to select the the Condensing Inside Tubes modality by clicking on the first item on the list. The following
form will appear:

items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
are mandatory.
maximum applicable:
drops:

editable:
The fields of this part are the following:
Calculation
other fields blank:
And the model:
obtained capacity:

We have to select the the Condensing Inside Tubes modality by clicking on the third item on the list. The following
form will appear:

items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
are mandatory.
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
value.
Calculation
And the other options:
mask:
in the selection:
obtained capacity:

We have to select the the Condensing Inside Tubes modality by clicking on the third item on the list. The following
form will appear:

items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
are mandatory.
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
Calculation
mask
in the selection:
As we can see the exchanger is a little overdimensioned, in fact it gives 500.4 kW instead of 500 kW, and the ratio is
obtained capacity:

field:

tool bar:
category.
Below this we find:
been done:
After that we find:
This page is designed accordingly to the TEMA example you can find in the specifications table, it shows all the
on the button:

exchanger:
more:
Plate drawing

plate as red lines.

 Zoom area
 Pan
 Rotate
 Zoom fit
formats:
PDF:
Word:
Excel:

5.Calculation of a Condensing Outside Tubes Project

are listed below:
from the archive.

We have to select the the Condensing Outside Tubes modality by clicking on the fourth item on the list. The
following form will appear:

calculation.
are mandatory; if the refrigerant presents some glide, it is possible to set the Evaporating and the Condensing
Temperatures in Dew Point, Middle Point and Bubble Point:
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

specifications:
Below this value there is the tubes length, the rounding and the maximum length:
library:

other fields blank:
Now let’s select the fluid R134a and set an Evaporating Temperature of 2 °C, and a Condensing Temperature of 45
°C, a 5K Subcooling and Overheating like below:
Now we select an internal diameter of the shell from the list as follows:
On the right side, we set a number of passages of the tubes to 2:
obtained capacity:

Specifically here:
The resulting capacity is close to the required capacity, but still higher:
And tubes side:
the tubes length:

=>
And Tubes side:
The ratio between the Tubes Step and the External Diameter:
Specifically here:

And tubes side:
To see the results of the next heat exchanger you just have to click on the “Go Forward” button:

a new series:
number of passages:

the Ok button:

calculation.
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

The first field show the number of parallel exchangers (geometrically equivalents) in the project
There’s also a check box that lets you activate the Design From Scratch modality, which will be covered deeply in the
next chapter:
Below this option there is the tubes length, the rounding and the maximum length:
Let’s move on the right side. Here we can select the plate type and the tube side passages, that will be used as a
filter:
Next we can see the Hole in the Baffle field, that it is not used by the calculation. It is used only to help you select
the right tube for the selected plate:
library:

other fields blank:
Now we leave unchecked the Automatic button:
On the right side, we set a number of passages of the tubes to 2, so that the plates list will be filtered:
Now let’s select the plate as follows, from the filtered list:
obtained capacity:

Let’s leave empty the tubes length, and set the tubes rounding and the maxium length as follows:
Specifically here:
almost 1:
below:
It has also selected a 4” nozzle for the inlet side, and a 0,5” nozzle for the outlet side:

=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:
These are the dimensional parameters of the resulting exchanger:
almost 1:

a new series:
number of passages:


calculation.
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

editable:
power.
Calculation
other fields blank:
And the model:
almost 1:


calculation.
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
value.
Calculation
mask
in the selection:
obtained capacity:


calculation.
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
Calculation
mask
in the selection:
obtained capacity:

field:

tool bar:
category.
panel.
The first button is the following:
Below this we find:
on the button:

exchanger:
And please notice, we have customized the temperatures like below:
more:
Plate drawing

plate as red lines.
The plate drawing, by itself, doesn’t take in consideration the fact that some tubes on the top should be removed to
place the distributor. To consider this, you have to set a valid value into the Active Length field:
So that the input parameters table should look like this:
Regenerating the plate drawing, the following will appear:

 Zoom area
 Pan
 Rotate
 Zoom fit
formats:
PDF:
Word:
Excel:

6.Calculation of a Flooded Evaporator Project

are listed below:
from the archive.

We have to select the the Flooded Evaporator modality by clicking on the fifth item on the list. The following form
will appear:

calculation.
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

specifications:
library:

other fields blank:
obtained capacity:

Now we select an internal diameter of the shell from the list and we set the baffles diameter and the outermost
Specifically here:
The resulting capacity is close to the required capacity, but still lower:
And tubes side:
the tubes length:

=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:
The resulting capacity is close to the required capacity, but still lower a little bit:
And tubes side:

a new series:
number of passages:

will appear:
the Ok button:

calculation.
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

next chapter:
filter:
library:

other fields blank:
Now let’s fill in the parameters of the heat exchangers. Let’s start by leaving 1 both on the nr of parallel exchangers:
As we can see the exchanger is a little underdimensioned, in fact it gives 173 kW instead of 200 kW, and the ratio is
shown in the Overdimensioning Factor field. It turned red because it’s a negative difference:
obtained capacity:

Let’s leave empty the tubes length, and set the tubes rounding and the maxium length as follows:
Specifically here:
almost 1:
below:
It has also selected a 0.5” nozzle for the inlet side, and a 4” nozzle for the outlet side:

=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:
almost 1:

a new series:
number of passages:

will appear:

calculation.
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

editable:
power.
Calculation
other fields blank:
And the model:
almost 1:

will appear:

calculation.
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
value.
Calculation
mask
in the selection:
obtained capacity:

will appear:

calculation.

maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
Calculation
mask
in the selection:
obtained capacity:

field:

tool bar:
category.
panel.
Below this we find:
on the button:

exchanger:
more:
Plate drawing

plate as red lines.

 Zoom area
 Pan
 Rotate
 Zoom fit
formats:
PDF:
Word:
Excel:

7.Calculation of a Steam Inside Tubes Project

are listed below:
from the archive.

We have to select the the Steam Inside Tubes modality by clicking on the sixth item on the list. The following form
will appear:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
The first line lets you specify the Steam Flow:
The next line below is the Steam Pressure. Changing this filed will tell the program to update the Saturation
Temperature:
Below this we can find Overheated Gas Temperature, the Saturation Temperature, and the Subcooled Liquid
Temperature:
The first line can be selected from the following options:
With the first option selected, you have to specify the absolute Overheated Gas Temperature, instead with the
second option you just have to set the temperature difference, called Overheating temperature.
Regarding the Subcooled Liquid Temperature, the options are similar:
With the first option selected, you have to specify the absolute Subcooled Liquid Temperature, instead with the
second option you just have to set the temperature difference, called Subcooling temperature.
maximum applicable:
drops:

specifications:

library:

other fields blank:
Now let’s select the fluid WATER and set a Inlet Temperature of 80 °C, with an Outlet Temperature of 75 °C:
Let’s do the same on the Tubes Side. We set a Steam Pressure of 3 bar A, an Overheated Gas Temperature of 150 °C
and a Subcooled Liquid Temperature of 110 °C:
obtained capacity:

Specifically here:
The resulting capacity is close to the required capacity, but lower:
As we can see, the Overdimensioning factor is red because of this. We will have to trim the calculation later.
And tubes side:
the tubes length:

=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:
And Tubes Side:
performances.

a new series:
number of passages:

We have to select the the Steam Inside Tubes modality by clicking on the first item on the list. The following form
will appear:
the Ok button:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
Temperature:
Temperature:
maximum applicable:
drops:

a filter:
library:

other fields blank:
On the right side, we select the following plate from the library:
obtained capacity:

Specifically here:
almost 1:
below:
It has also selected to put the following number of baffles, and filled the first baffle distance like below:
On the other side we can see that the program has selected the plate:

=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:
These are the dimensional parameters of the new exchanger:
And Tubes Side:

a new series:
number of passages:

will appear:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
Temperature:
Temperature:
maximum applicable:
drops:

editable:
power.
Calculation
other fields blank:
And the model:
obtained capacity:


calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
Temperature:
Temperature:
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
value.
Calculation
Now let’s select the plate models to consider in the selection. Let’s choose some like below:
mask:
in the selection:
obtained capacity:

will appear:

calculation.
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:
Temperature:
Temperature:
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
Calculation
mask:
in the selection:
To verify the exchanger you have to simply click on the Verify button on the top tool bar:
obtained capacity:

field:

tool bar:
category.
Below this we find:
been done:
After that we find:
on the button:

exchanger:
more:
Plate drawing

plate as red lines.

 Zoom area
 Pan
 Rotate
 Zoom fit
formats:
PDF:
Word:
Excel:

8.Calculation of a Steam Outside Tubes Project

are listed below:
from the archive.

We have to select the the Steam Outside Tubes modality by clicking on the last item on the list. The following form
will appear:

calculation.
Temperature:
Temperature:
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

The performances of this particular type of exchanger changes dependingly on the disposition of the exchanger and
the type of the effect we want to apply to the inlet fluid flow. The following field let you specify these options:
We have to select the one of the following items from the list:
Dependingly on the selection we do, and specifically if we select Gravity Effect or Speed Effect, the dimensional
parameters of the exchangers will change, in fact exchangers with speed effect requires baffles.
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields cont.d – Gravity Effect

specifications:
library:
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields cont.d – Speed Effect

specifications:

library:

exchangers. Let’s start from the top lines of the form, by specifying a required capacity of 1400 kW and leaving all
the other fields blank:
Now let’s set a Saturation Pressure of 3 bar, 150 °C of Overheated Gas Temperature, and 110 °C of Subcooled Liquid
Temperature:
Now let’s fill in the parameters of the heat exchangers.
First of all we select the exchanger to be Horizontal with Gravity Effect:
Then let’s leave 1 both on the nr of shell passages and the number of parallel exchangers:
obtained capacity:

Temperature:
Now let’s fill in the parameters of the heat exchangers.
First of all we select the exchanger to be Horizontal with Gravity Effect:
Then let’s leave 1 both on the nr of shell passages and the number of parallel exchangers:
Now we select an internal diameter of the shell from the list and we set the baffles diameter and the outermost
Specifically here:
And tubes side:
the tubes length:

Temperature:
=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:
And tubes side:

a new series:
number of passages:

will appear:
the Ok button:

calculation.
Temperature:
Temperature:
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

The performances of this particular type of exchanger changes dependingly on the disposition of the exchanger and
the type of the effect we want to apply to the inlet fluid flow. The following field let you specify these options:
We have to select the one of the following items from the list:
Dependingly on the selection we do, and specifically if we select Gravity Effect or Speed Effect, the dimensional
parameters of the exchangers will change, in fact exchangers with speed effect requires baffles.
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields cont.d – Gravity Effect

next chapter:
filter:
library:
Description of the Dimensional Input Fields cont.d – Speed Effect

a filter:
library:

Temperature:
Now let’s fill in the parameters of the heat exchangers. First of all we select the exchanger to be Horizontal with
Gravity Effect:
Let’s leave 1 both on the nr of shell passages and the number of parallel exchangers:
obtained capacity:

Temperature:
Gravity Effect:
Let’s leave 1 on the nr of parallel exchangers:
Let’s leave empty the tubes length, and leave unchanged the tubes rounding and the maxium length:
Specifically here:
almost 1:
below:
Last line in this frame, the shell and tubes nozzles:

Temperature:
Gravity Effect:
=>
And Tubes side:
Specifically here:
almost 1:

a new series:
number of passages:

will appear:

calculation.
Temperature:
Temperature:
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

editable:
power.
Calculation
Now let’s set a Saturation Pressure of 3 bar, 150 °C of Overh. Gas Temp., and 110 °C of Subc. Liquid Temperature:
And the model:
almost 1:

will appear:

calculation.
Temperature:
Temperature:
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
value.
Calculation
mask
in the selection:
obtained capacity:


calculation.
Temperature:
Temperature:
maximum applicable:
drops:
items:
maximum applicable:
drops:

the requested.
selection.
Calculation
mask
in the selection:
obtained capacity:

field:

tool bar:
category.
panel.
Below this we find:
on the button:

exchanger:
We undo the operation, and we find ourself in the Verify Exchanger modality again.
more:
Plate drawing

plate as red lines.

 Zoom area
 Pan
 Rotate
 Zoom fit
formats:
PDF:
Word:
Excel:

9.TEMADesignation
This form allows us to decide the physical composition of the heat exchanger and set the values of some parameters
that will be bring in the calculation form. This form appears when we create a new project of the following
calculation modes of all the typologies of heat exchangers (Fluid-Fluid, Evaporating Inside Tubes, Condensing Inside
Tubes, Condensing Outside Tubes, Flooded evaporator, Steam Inside Tubes, Steam Outside Tubes): Free calculation,
Calculation with plate from archive, Selection with plate from archive.
Or when, in the form of calculation of all the modes, clicking on the Tema Type button of the Toolbar on the top of
the form
The TEMA Type button is at the right end of the toolbar
Layout Description
The form appear as followings:
In the top left part we can see that the heat exchanger has been divided in three different parts:
the Front End:
the Shell:
the Rear End:
We can choose to compose our heat exchanger like we want, accordingly with the TEMA Standards.
For each of the three parts we can decide the collectors position.
The first part (the Front End) is the following:
The options are:
Up/Down
Which corresponds to the configuration that have the two Tubes side collectors in the Front End part of the heat
exchanger, one at the top on the latter at the bottom:
Up
Which corresponds to the configuration that have one Tubes side collector in the Front End part of the heat
exchanger, at the top:
Down
Which corresponds to the configuration that have one Tubes side collector in the Front End part of the heat
exchanger, at the bottom:
The options Up and Down are selectable only if the Rear End typology choose can host the collectors.
The second part (the Shell) is the following:
The options are:
Which corresponds to the configuration with the first Shell side collector near the Front End part of the heat
exchanger at the top and the other collector near the Rear End part at the bottom:
Which corresponds to the configuration with the first Shell side collector near the Front End part of the heat
exchanger at the bottom and the other collector near the Rear End part at the top:
Which corresponds to the configuration with both the Shell side collectors at the top of the exchanger:
Which corresponds to the configuration with both the Shell side collectors at the bottom of the exchanger:
When the heat exchanger Shell part is a 2 passages
the Collector position options are:
In this case the collectors are both on opposite sides (one at the top and one at the bottom) and vertically aligned
but in the 1 case they are near the Front End part:
Instead for the case 2 they are near the Rear End part:
The third part (the Rear End) is the following:
This part is available
only when the type of the Rear End part choose can host the collectors and if the Front End part is not set to
Up/Down
The options are:
Not Available
Which is automatically sets if the collectors position of the Front End part is Up/Down . If this option is
available the Up and the Down options are unavailable.
Up
Which corresponds to the configuration that have one of the Tubes side collector at the top of the Rear End part of
the heat exchanger:
Down
Which corresponds to the configuration that have one of the Tubes side collector at the bottom of the Rear End part
of the heat exchanger:
The top right of the form
shows the composition of the heat exchanger by the settings choose in the top left part:
The bottom left part of the form contains a grid with some information about the heat exchanger:
The fields of the grid are:
Designation
Which is the combination done in the previous part. The result name is the TEMA Standards’ name for
the combination selected.
Baffles
Which is the number of baffles of the exchanger
First Baffle Distance (FBD)
Which is the distance between the begin of the Shell part of the heat exchanger and the first baffle.
Last Baffle Distance (LBD)
Which is the distance between the last baffle and the end of the Shell part of the heat exchanger.
Baffles Distance (BD)
Which is the distance between one baffle and the next. It is automatically calculated when you insert the Fist Baffle
Distance , the Last Baffles Distance and the Tubes Length values.
The Tubes Length (TL)
Which is the length of each tube of the heat exchanger.
Inlet Connection Pressure
Which is the pressure of the inlet connection of the Shell side of the exchanger. The possible values are:
Shell Inlet Nozzle
Which is the model of nozzle used in the inlet connection of the Shell side of the exchanger. The values are the
model of nozzle loaded in the archive:
Outlet Connection Pressure
Which is the pressure of the outlet connection of the Shell side of the exchanger. The possible values are:
Shell Outlet Nozzle
Which is the model of nozzle used in the outlet connection of the Shell side of the exchanger. The values are the
model of nozzle loaded in the archive:
Plate Thickness (PT)
Which is the thickness of the plates of the heat exchanger.
Delta Last Baffle (DLB)
Which is the distance between the last baffle and the outlet Shell side connection of the heat exchanger.
The bottom right part of the form contains the descriptions of the codes of the previous grid values and the general
rules of calculation of some parameters:
The Ok button allows to confirm the settings and close the form
The Cancel button allows to discard the settings and close the form
If we have made a calculation of an heat exchanger and open the form with the TEMA Type button of the top
Toolbar
It will appear a new button (3D ) near the Cancel button .
This button allows to open the drawing form:
Now, if you click on button:
you have the 3D drawing:
It is possible to export the drawing, clicking on button:
Then, you can save the file.
To insert the quotes on drawing, you have to save in “.dwg file” and to open it in a “CAD” or “AUTOCAD” software.
Variations
For every tipology of heat exchanger we can have different selectable parts.
The Front End part is the only that have the same available types for all the heat exchanger tipologies.
The possible values are:
Shell Types
The Shell type options can be different depending from the heat exchanger tipology selected.
For the Fluid-Fluid, the Evaporator Inside Tubes, the Condensing Inside Tubes and the Steam Inside Tubes tipologies
we have the following available options:
For the Condensing Outside Tubes and the Steam Outside Tubes tipologies we have the following available options:
For the Flooded Evaporator tipology we have the following available options:
Rear End Types
The Rear End type options can be different depending from the heat exchanger tipology selected.
For the Fluid-Fluid, the Evaporator Inside Tubes, the Condensing Inside Tubes and the Steam Inside Tubes tipologies
we have the following available options:
For the Condensing Outside Tubes and the Steam Outside Tubes tipologies we have the following available options:
For the Flooded Evaporator tipology we have the following available options:
10.Archives management
Logo customization and printout settings
On the printout page there is a place reserved to your company logo and your company data. To set such data, click
on “Tools” and on User Management:
The following window will appear:
We will then customize the company information like:

 Company description, therefore the name
 The company complete address
 Phone and Fax, email and internet site
Let us insert the following data:
To change the company logo, we click on:
The following will appear:
We select the logo file that will be inserted on the printout pages, and we click on:
Once the logo has been loaded, it will appear in the lower end of the window:
Once the logo has been set the logo and the company information, it will not be possible to modify them!
Then click on the “ok” to confirm the modifications, or on the cancel button to cancel.
Selection and Units of Measurement Customization

UNILAB Shell gives to the user a very powerful a very advanced system to manage units of measurement. As we
have seen in the previous chapters, it is possible to customize the units of measurement of each data in the
calculation window. However it is possible to create and set units of measurements: it is a set that gathers all the
standard units of measurement for each possible value used by the software. To start the management clicks on
Units of measurement:
Therefore we open the management of the units of measurement, as you can see in the next window:
On the top area we can find the tools bar that allows to:
 Add a new system of measurement

 Delete the system of measure selected
 Modify the selected unit of measurement
 Undo the last modifications (active only during the modification phase)
 Save the last modifications (active only during modification phase)
 Set the chosen unit of measurement as default
 Exit
Below, on the left side, we find the list of units of measurement saved in the software:
As you can see the international, the international system and the imperial one are already available under the
category Standard Systems. It is not possible to modify them.
Below we can find the Custom Systems that is those systems that the user can customize. The Custom System is the
one set as default.
Let’s suppose that we want to modify it. We need to click twice on Modify:
After we click on Modify, the units of measurement can be modified:
At this point it is possible to modify each voice according to the needs, and then we click on the Save to save the
changes:
Creation of a new Unit of Measurement and usage

It is possible to create a new personal system of measurement. To do so, we click on the Add button on the tool bar:
A new system of measurement will be created. The first thing to do is to customize the name, as per the following:
Once customized the new system, specify the units that need to be associated with it:
Eventually we click on Save to save the modifications:
The new system is added to the list custom system, but it is not set as default. Reason it appears in green:
To set the new unit of measurement system so that it can be used in the new projects, clicks on setting button:
At his point it will be highlighted in green:
If you want to remove this new system of measurement, click on “Remove” in the tool bar:
At this point the new system can be removed from the archive:
Customer archive management

Let’s see now how to manage the archive management. We click on Archive Management and then on customers:
The following window will open, where we have on the left side the customers list while on the right we find the
complete record data:
Let’s suppose we want to add a new customer. To do so it is enough to insert his data, and overwrite the sample
ones:
Once we have done so, we click on the Add button o insert a new customer in the archive:
As results we can see that in list on the left we can see the newly inserted customer:
If we would like to remove a customer, first we need to select him:
Then we click on Clear:
And we can see that the selected customer has been deleted from the list:
Besides if we wanted to modify one of the field previously saved, we just have to choose the customer that we want
to modify and change the wrong value, such as the email field in the next example:
We substitute with the correct on:
We click on the save button:
Thus, the new value is saved in the archive.
To close the archive management we click on the “Ok” button
Fluid Archive Mangement

Unilab Fluid Management is an application that allows to handle the fluids archive of each Unilab Programs
Application.
Insert a new fluid:
To insert or edit a fluid, click on the item Fluid management of the menu Archive management on the top
of the main form.
Then will appears the following start form:
Now you have to click on “Fluid management” button
It will appear the following form
Here you can see 3 general fluid typologies:

Liquid
Gas
Freons
Liquid and Gas have 2 subtypes: Pure and Mixture

To insert a new fluid, click on the New button
And insert the fluid name into the related field:
The form will be sets in the following way
Now we have to fill the following fields: Min temp, Max temp and the Freezing point
In this example we put -20, 100 and -20.
It’s necessary specify the type of Data type
that will use to insert the thermophisical properties:
Points (table points by temperature)
Coeffs (5 coefficients for the 4 polynomial equations related to density, thermal cond.,)
Derived from REF (when the fluid is based on REFPROP8 fluids list inside Unilab Programs)
In this example will use “Points”
Let’s click on the Thermophisical properties button to insert the point
The form will be sets as following:
Now we have to specify how many points we will insert (min 2 ÷ max 13). This value has to be put into the
field Nr. of points
and then click on the near button
Then we have to fill the table with the thermophysical properties.

N.B.: The temperatures has to be descent!
To finish we have to click on Save button
If this button is not clicked, the fluid will not be saved into the fluids archives.
After click on Save button, the software will return to start window.
We can use the Find button to search a fluid or the last inserted.
When we click on it, we have to specify the fluid or a part of the fluid name:
If the fluid is found, it will be selected into the combo box fluid list.
We can use the Open button to see or edit the selected fluid:
It will appear the following:
Test a fluid:
To test a fluid click on the Test a fluid
Of the first form of the fluid management
It will appear the following window
Now we have to select the Fluid type
and the desired fluid
Now we can calculate the thermophysical properties of a specific temperature point:
Or calculate a table between the minimum and maximum temperature of the selected fluid:
If we calculate the table, we can see the 4 graphic of density, thermal cond., specific heat and viscosity
clicking on the Graphs tab
The form will be like the following:
Materials Archive Management

The material archive is divided in two archives, “Customer ” e “Standard”. The first one has the materials inserted by
the user, while the second one holds the data inserted by Unilab, and the second database is not editable by the
user. Both can be accessed from Archive Management:
Let us see how the archive is structured, by clicking Standard:
Thus the management window will appear, with all the example materials inserted by Unilab:
If we wanted to add a new material, we need to go back to customer archive, by clicking on “Back”:
We choose Customer:
The following archive will appear, like:
To add a new fluid, we click on the empty row and we double click on the description:
At this point we can insert the material data
At the end we click on , Save:
As we can see, the material is already added to the archive material:
If we wanted to remove an already used material, we click on delete:
This way the elelement is removed from the archive :
Connections Archive Management
To open the Connections Archive management you have to click on the Archive management item of the top menu
Choose Connections item
And choose between two subitems, “Customer” and “Standard”
The first can contain the connections inserted by the user, while the latter contains the connections inserted by
Unilab SRL, and can’t be modified.
If you click on the Customer subItem
It will be open the following form
Here you can manage the data of the connections.
In this case we don’t have any connection so let’s add a new one, clicking on the New button on the bottom of the
form
Where we have to insert the name of the connection we want to add. Let’s insert a name
And click on the Ok button
A new row with the name of the connection just created will be added in the grid of the form
Insert the data of the dimension of the internal and external diameter of the connection, the tipology of pressure
And if the connection is of the Shell check the last column
Once set all the requested data click on the Save button to confirm the settings
To delete a connection we have to select the corresponding row and click on the Delete button on the bottom of the
form
The Up and the Down bottom on the left bottom corner of the form
Allows to move up or down the row of the connection selected in the grid.
To open the Standard archive of the connections we have to choose the Standard subitem of the Connections item
of the menu on the top of the main form
It will be open the following form, which is the same form of the Custom archive
The data in this form can’t be modified.

Plates Archive Management
To open the Plates Archive Management we have to select the Archive management item on the top menu of the
main form
Choose the Shell and Tube item
And the Plates subitem
And choose between two subitems, “Customer” and “Standard”
The first can contain the plates inserted by the user, while the latter contains the plates inserted by Unilab SRL, and
can’t be modified.
If you click on the Customer subItem
It will be open the following form
On the top section of the form we have a combo with the typologies of calculation of the program (Fluid-Fluid,
Evaporating inside Tubes, Condensing inside Tubes, etc.)
When you choose one item from the combo, in the grid below, will be loaded the list of the plates associated with
the calculation typology chosen.
In the grid on the left side of the form are loaded the data of the selected plate.
In the grid above we can modify the data of the selected plate and then click on the Save button on the bottom of
the form to confirm the settings.
If you want to add a plate you have to click on the New button on the bottom of the form
Let’s insert the name of the plate
And click Ok to confirm the add.
Set the data for the new plate in the left grid and then confirm the settings with the Save button.
To delete a plate click on the corresponding row
And click on the Delete button on the bottom of the form
The Up and Down buttons allows you to move the row selected respectively up and down in the right grid of the
form.
To close the form click on the Exit button
To open the Standard archive of the plates we have to choose the Standard voice of the Plates subitem of the Shell
and Tube item of the menu on the top of the main form
It will be open the following form, which is the same form of the Custom archive
The data in this form can’t be modified.
Heat Exchangers Management

The database of the exchanger is divided into two different archives, the “Customer” and the “Standard”. The first
can store the exchangers saved by the user, instead the second stores a number of sample exchangers provided by
UNILAB, and it is not editable. Both can be accessed from the Archive Management menu:
Let’s see how we can add an exchanger to the archive. Click on the Customer archive, and the following form will
appear:
The first line lets you select the modality in which the exchangers are stored:
Right below this line, we find the series available for the selected modality:
On the right of the series panel, there are some button that access many different functionalities. For example the
buttons:
and
Let’s you reorder the list of series, so that you can put your most used series on the top to improve the usage of the
software.
The next buttons performs the following:
Delete the selected series.
Add a new series of exchangers.
Shows the exchangers in the selected series, so that we can manage them. If you click on this button, you can also
add new exchangers to an existing series.
Suppose instead that we want to add a new series. We have to click on the Add Series button:
Once done, the following form will appear:
We have to specify the name of this new series. Let’s use an example name:
Once written the series name, we click Ok
So now the new series has been added to the archive:
Before adding the new exchanger we have to select the new series:
And then click on the View Series button:
The exchangers management form will appear:
As we can see, this form is divided into 3 areas. The first area on the left shows the list (now empty) of saved
exchangers:
The right frame shows all the parameters of the exchangers that we have to fulfill:
Below those two frames, there are some buttons that perform the following functionalities:
and
Lets us reorder the list of exchanger.
Lets us delete an unwanted exchanger from the archive.
To add a new exchanger.
To save the current exchangers with the modifications done.
To add an exchanger, we have to specify all the information about it like below:
Once completed all the parameters, just click on the add button:
And the new exchanger will be added to the archive:
The procedure to add an exchanger is completed.
Updating the parameters’ value it’s just a matter of setting the new value, like for example:
And click on the Save button:
Suppose now that we want to delete an exchanger. In this case we have to ensure the exchanger is selected:
And then click on the Delete button:
Warning: no confirmation will be prompted!
Drawing Management
To open the management of the drawings of the heat exchangers we have to select the subitem Drawings of the
item Shell and Tubes of the Archive Management menu at the top of the main form
It will appear the following form:
By the first combo we can choose the tipology of heat exchangers to see the loaded drawings.
The second combo allows to choose the drawing to see the details among the ones associated with the tipology of
heat exchanger selected in the first combo
The grid below show the information about the quote of the drawing selected
In the right part of the form we see the preview of the drawing
To manage the drawing we can use the top bar where we have the main operations (loading, saving, and deleting of
a drawing).
The Load new drawing button allows to add a new drawing to the archive. Let’s click on it.
It will appear the following form:
We have to choose the directory and the file to load. (The file have to be EMF Files (*.emf))
Let’s click on Open to load the drawing
The program will ask us the name of the drawing. Let’s insert the one we want and click on the OK button to confirm
The management form will load automatically the new drawing
The drawing has been added in the tipology of heat exchangers selected in the first combo (in this case Fluid-Fluid)
Let’s insert the data for the drawing in the grid
Once that we have inserted all the data let’s click on the Save button on the top bar to save the settings
If we want to delete a specify drawing we have to select it from the two combo
And the click on the Clear button of the top bar
The software will ask you the confirmation to delete the drawing
Let’s click on Yes to confirm the removal
This form is used in the print form after the calculation of an heat exchanger
Let’s click on the Drawing button to show the form
It will be open the form:
As you can see there is a new button (Print) in the top bar
Let’s click on it
The form disappear and in the print form will appear the drawing printout page with the drawing selected
UNILAB S.r.l.
Via N. Bixio 6
35131, Padova (PD)
Italy
Tel.: 049 8763311

Fax: 049 8750196
www.unilab.eu
info@unilab.eu

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Software di calcolo e di selezione

nel settore dello scambio termico

Doc. Version: A100

3.Calculation of an Evaporating Inside Tubes Project .................................................................................................. 165

Desing a Heat Exchanger from Scratch................................................................................................................. 368

Description of the Selection Input fields .............................................................................................................. 546

Calculation in Design modality ............................................................................................................................. 740

Desing a Heat Exchanger from Scratch................................................................................................................. 927

Starting the program

When done, the following loading screen will appear:

The welcome window

Create a new project in Fluid – Fluid modality

Open the project selected in the list on the left

Open the website of UNILAB SRL

The menus and the tool bar

The File menu contains the following options:

To create a new project

The Offer menu contains the following options:

The Archive Management menu contains the following options:

The View menu contains the following options:

The Tools menu contains the following options:

Unit measure systems management

Regarding the Toolbar, it show the following options:

Creates a new project

2.Calculation of a Fluid Fluid Project

In this section we will cover all of the above modalities.

Creating a new “Free calculation” project

The following form will appear:

After that, the TEMA Designation form will appear:

Description of the Thermodynamical Input Fields

Regarding the right column, we can find the following fields:

Or eventually the Mix Percentage (like for example for Glycols):

Let’s see the other fields:

Let’s see now the Tubes Side fields:

Or eventually the Mix Percentage (like for example for Glycols):

Let’s see the other fields:

Let’s see now the dimensional parameters of the heat exchangers.

Description of the Dimensional Input Fields

The next field lets you specify the plate configuration:

With 4 passages we can select:

With more than 4 passages we can select:

Mixed horizontal Quadrant horizontal Ribbon horizontal

Mixed vertical Quadrant vertical Ribbon vertical (4 passages)

The next field is the manifold position:

This can be selected from the list:

Then there’s a field to specify the shell internal diameter:

Below we find the Baffles Number:

And the first baffle distance:

After that we can select the Tubes disposition:

The supported tubes disposition are:

Triangular Square Rotated square Rotated triangular

Below we specify the tubes that will be used:

To select the tube model, click on the Selection button:

The following form will appear:

After selecting, the value will be shown below:

Once selected the tube, click on the Exit button:

That will show the following frame:

Next, we can set the diameter of the Hole in the Baffle:

After this we find the number of Sealing Strip:

The baffle cut (expressed in %):

And finally the last baffle distance:

And then picking one item from the list:

Calculation in Verify modality

Also the fields on the right should be left blank: