Energy balance heat exchangers

The analysis of the heat exchanger network first identifies sources of heat (termed hot streams) and sinks (termed cold streams) from the material and energy balance. Consider first a very simple problem with just one hot stream (heat source) and one cold stream (heat sink). The initial temperature (termed supply temperature), final temperature (termed target temperature), and enthalpy change of both streams are given in Table 6.1. 

The energy cost of the process can be set without having to design the heat exchanger network and utility system. These energy targets cam be calculated directly from the material and energy balance. Thus... 

In addition to being able to predict the energy costs of the heat exchanger network and utilities directly from the material and energy balance, it would be useful to be able to calculate the capital cost, if this is possible. The principal components that contribute to the capital cost of the heat exchanger network are... 

Let us take each of these components in turn and explore whether they can be accounted for from the material and energy balance without having to perform heat exchanger network design. 

Having explored the major degrees of freedom, the material and energy balance is now fixed, and hence the hot and cold streams which contribute to the heat exchanger network are firmly defined. The remaining task is to complete the design of the heat exchanger network. 

Elistorically, an energy balance has been prepared for the components of a process primarily to ensure that heat exchangers and utihty supply are adequate... 

The concept of an optimum reboiler or condenser AT relates to the fact that the value of energy changes with temperature. As the gap between supply and rejection widens, the real work in a distillation increases. The optimum AT is found by balancing this work penalty against the capital cost of bigger heat exchangers. 

For many pieces of equipment, such as heat exchangers and distillation columns, stand-alone programs are available that calculate material and energy balances around that piece of equipment, size the equipment, and calculate or rate its performance. 

Heat Recovery, Energy Balances, and Heat-Exchange Networks. The goal of heat recovery is to be sure that energy does the... 

Another procedure, which is more accurate for the external-heat-exchanger cases, is to nse an equivalent value for MC (for a vessel being heated) derived from the following energy balance ... 

The room model consists of nodes, which are interconnected by heat exchange paths (Fig. 11.36). The nodes represent either surface temperatures of the individual walls or the zone air temperature. For each node, an energy balance is formulated. From the resulting set of equations, the temperatures and heat fluxes can be determined. 

The room models implemented in the codes can be distinguished further by how detailed the models of the energy exchange processes are. Simple models use a combined convective-radiative heat exchange. More complex models use separate paths for these effects. Mixed forms also exist. The different models can also be distinguished by how the problem is solved. The energy balance for the zone is calculated in each time step of the simulation. 

A heat exchange term is added to the energy balance. Equation (5.30), to give... 

With decreasing cell size, the temperature difference between the wall of the cell and the eatalyst partiele in the cell would decrease to zero. For sufficiently small cell dimensions, we may assume the two temperatures are the same. In this case, the heat conduction through the wall becomes dominant and affects the axial temperature profile. As the external heat exchange is absent and the outside of the reactor is normally insulated, the temperature profile is flat along the direction transverse to the reactant flow, and the conditions in all channels are identical to each other. The energy balance is... 

Accordingly, serious commercially oriented attempts are currently being made to develop special gas-phase micro and mini reactors for reformer technology [91, 247-259], This is a complex task since the reaction step itself, hydrogen formation, covers several individual processes. Additionally, heat exchangers are required to optimize the energy balance and the use of liquid reactants demands micro evaporators [254, 260, 261], Moreover, further systems are required to reduce the CO content to a level that is no longer poisonous for a fuel cell. Overall, three to six micro-reactor components are typically needed to construct a complete, ready-to-use micro-reformer system. 

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