Jump Start: Rigorous Shell & Tube Exchanger Sizing in Aspen

Plus® V8
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
A Brief Tutorial (and sample case for interactive sizing in Aspen Plus V8.0)
Lauren Sittler, Product Management, Aspen Technology, Inc.
Tom Ralston, Director of Equipment Design and Rating, Aspen Technology, Inc.
 Jump Start: Rigorous Shell & Tube Exchanger Sizing in Aspen Plus V8.0
• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •

Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................2
Tutorial Overview ...............................................................................................................................2
Overview of the Example Case.............................................................................................................2
Interactive Sizing in Aspen Plus............................................................................................................3
Getting Started ...............................................................................................................................3
Using the EDR Sizing Console ...........................................................................................................4
Additional Resources ..........................................................................................................................8

1
 Jump Start: Rigorous Shell & Tube Exchanger Sizing in Aspen Plus V8.0
• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •

Introduction
Aspen Plus® V8 features a unique integrated workflow for transforming Shell and Tube Exchangers and
Air Cooled Exchangers from simple models to rigorous models in the simulation environment. This new
functionality utilizes the same rigorous Aspen Exchanger Design & Rating (EDR) methods as the stand-
alone product. This integration enables process engineers to create designs that are more energy
efficient prior to consulting Energy Optimization Experts and Costing departments and also serve as an
excellent basis for subsequent detailed thermal and mechanical designs. Process designs created using
rigorous heat exchanger designs are more precise and automatically adapt to changes in process design
or process operation changes.

This is not meant to be used as a stand-alone reference document. We recommend that a range of
other resources be called upon to give the new user a comprehensive view of how to use solids
modeling in Aspen Plus. These may include:

 AspenTech support website (support.aspentech.com)

 AspenTech courseware available in on-line and in-person versions
 AspenTech business consultants
 Additional Jump Start Guides

This Jump Start Guide is mainly focused on the preliminary design of heat exchangers where the
objective is to rapidly assess the size and cost of exchangers required for a given process duty, including
requirements for multiple shells in series and in parallel. It assumes that the user has Aspen Plus V8.0 or
higher installed on her or his computer and has a basic understanding of modeling in Aspen Plus.

Tutorial Overview
This Jump Start guide will provide step-by-step instructions for completing interactive sizing in Aspen
Plus using an example Aspen Plus case file to demonstrate the integrated workflow. The EDR Solution
Case for the final EDR design has also been included. All of these files can be accessed in the Aspen Shell
& Tube Knowledge Base on the Customer Support & Training website.

Overview of the Example Case

Open the case Shell&TubeforInteractiveSizing.bkp and Click on the Main Flowsheet tab. This case models
a petroleum separation process in which the feed is flashed, heated in the tube side of a shell and tube
exchanger, and sent to a distillation column. The lighter components are distilled off as gas and the
heavier components enter the shell side of the exchanger, providing the heat source for the cold oil. The
warm Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) stream is then cooled in an air cooler and pumped as the LNG product.
This tutorial will focus on sizing the SHELLTUB exchanger. Currently, this shell and tube exchanger is
specified using the shortcut method. The tutorial guides you through opening the EDR interactive sizing
console, using default parameters to generate a preliminary design, and then makes adjustments to the
design to make it better suited for the process application.

2
 Jump Start: Rigorous Shell & Tube Exchanger Sizing in Aspen Plus V8.0
• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •

Figure 1. Petroleum Separation Flowsheet

Interactive Sizing in Aspen Plus

Getting Started
1. Open the file Shell&TubeforInteractiveSizing.bkp. Run Aspen Plus from the Home Ribbon >
Run group or by pressing F5.
2. Run the simulation and ensure there aren’t errors by looking at the Control Panel. If a
simulation does contain any errors these must be fixed before EDR rigorous sizing can be
used.
3. Locate the SHELLTUB exchanger, immediately downstream of the first separator. Double-
click on the exchanger icon on the flowsheet to open the setup form. On the Specifications
tab of the set up form, you’ll see the Calculation box. Notice that the calculation mode is
currently set to Shortcut.

3
 Jump Start: Rigorous Shell & Tube Exchanger Sizing in Aspen Plus V8.0
• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •

Figure 2. Size Shell&Tube in Aspen Plus

4. Click on the Size Shell&Tube button to begin interactive sizing. The EDR Sizing Console will
open inside of Aspen Plus.

Using the EDR Sizing Console

5. On the EDR Sizing Console, you will see that the default parameters (which appear in red)
have already been set for the geometry. Click the Size Exchanger button to run the
optimization and find the first preliminary design. The run status tab will become active
while calculations are running.

4
 Jump Start: Rigorous Shell & Tube Exchanger Sizing in Aspen Plus V8.0
• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •

Figure 3. S iz e t he E xc hanger wit h Def ault P aramet ers

6. When the calculation is complete, the results will be displayed on the Geometry Tab shown
in Figure 3. Here, you will see the setting plan and stream temperature profiles, as well as
the exchanger dimensions and cost information. The first design is the default BEM TEMA
type with 1 shell, 110 tubes, 1 tube pass, and a 30-Triangular tube pitch. It has a total cost of
$19,397.
7. Next, changes will be made to the exchanger to make it better suited for our process. Since
we have petroleum oil entering the tube side, it is recommended that a removable cover
with a floating head and a 90 degree tube pattern be used to make defouling the exchanger
easy. For greater accuracy, a realistic fouling factor will be specified. Set the specifications as
shown in Figure 4.

Geometry Tab
TEMA Type AES
Tube Pattern 90-Square
Process Tab
Fouling Resistance (Hotside and Coldside) 0.001 hF/BTU

Figure 4. Geometry Tab Results

5
 Jump Start: Rigorous Shell & Tube Exchanger Sizing in Aspen Plus V8.0
• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •

8. Click the Size Exchanger button again to run the second design.
9. After the optimization is complete, we can compare the new design with our preliminary
sizing. In the middle columns show in Figure 5 you can see the new design side-by-side with
the previous run. In this case, adding a removable cover and a floating head has made our
design more expensive. Our shell diameter has increased, as well as the number of tubes
and tube passes. Compare your design with the EDR solution file provided, SHELLTUB
Solution.edr.

Figure 5. EDR Sizing Console Results

10. At this stage, you could continue redesigning the exchanger until it satisfies the desired cost
and performance, but for now we will keep this as the final design, save it, and update the
model in our simulation.
11. To save this rigorous exchanger design in the Aspen Plus flowsheet, click “Accept Design”
from the EDR Console, shown in Figure 6. The other options available on the console are to
cancel the design, open another EDR file or template (to start a new design), or save the

6
 Jump Start: Rigorous Shell & Tube Exchanger Sizing in Aspen Plus V8.0
• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •

current results as an EDR standalone file without exiting the interactive console in Aspen
Plus. See Figure 6 below for more information on the Sizing Console Controls.

Figure 6. EDR Sizing Console Options

12. Run the Aspen Plus case again to update the Shell&Tube results within simulation. When
calculations have completed, click on the EDR Shell&Tube Results formfrom the navigation
pane. This will provide a summary (shown in Figure 7) of overall design results, thermal
results, pressure drop, setting plan, tubesheet layout, and profile plots.

7
 Jump Start: Rigorous Shell & Tube Exchanger Sizing in Aspen Plus V8.0
• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •• • •

Figure 7. EDR Shell&Tube Results in Aspen Plus

Additional Resources
Check out other training materials specifically for this product:

Public Website
www.aspentech.com/products/aspen-edr.aspx

Online Training
www.aspentech.com/products/aspen-online-training

Video Tutorials
Autosizing Shell & Tube Exchangers in Aspen HYSYS V8.0
https://www.brainshark.com/aspentech1/autosize-shell-tube-HYSYS
New Interactive Sizing in Aspen Plus
https://www.brainshark.com/aspentech1/edr-integration-aspen-plus

Jump Start Tutorials Series

Getting Started in Aspen Shell&Tube Exchanger V7.0
http://www.aspentech.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=6442451730