Heat exchanger databases accelerate process design costing
Sebastian Hall, Scott Morgan · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · 1994
An important activity undertaken during a pinch study of a process is the evaluation of optimal performance targets for utilities consumption, heat exchange area and project economics. The data required to perform such an evaluation include heat-transfer coefficients of process streams and heat exchanger costs. The cost data are employed in cost equations--otherwise known as cost laws--to relate the heat-transfer area in a heat exchanger to its purchased cost. One way to determine such data is by working with heat exchanger designers and cost estimators. However, such interaction frequently takes place at a stage when a project's overall schedule requires the process configuration to be set as quickly as possible. A heat-exchanger database that speeds up heat integration studies using pinch technology has been developed by The M.W. Kellogg Co. (Houston, Tex.). The database and database program have already proven their viability on several recent projects.