Case Study: Pilot Chemical Company models heat exchanger shell and tube sides with Datacor AFT software

Pilot Chemical Company models both sides of a heat exchanger in one AFT model with Datacor

Pilot Chemical Company utilized Datacor's AFT Fathom software to address the challenge of accurately modeling both the shell side and tube side of a heat exchanger within a single system simulation. This required simulating the thermal interaction between two separate fluid circuits, a hot oil circulation loop and a cooling water loop, without the ability for phase change in either fluid.

The solution implemented by Datacor involved using the software's "Heat Transfer with Energy Balance (Multiple Fluids)" option and creating thermally linked heat exchanger junctions. This approach allowed the two sides of the physical heat exchanger to be modeled as separate junctions that were programmatically linked, ensuring their heat transfer rates were equal and opposite. As a result, Datacor's solution enabled Pilot Chemical Company to successfully simulate the complete heat exchanger and its associated flow loops in one model file, with the output confirming that the heat transferred from the hot oil shell side precisely matched the heat gained by the cold water tube side.

Pilot Chemical Company