Simulations
Heat Exchanger Simulations
The use of Simulations in the design of heat exchangers greatly reduces the need to build prototypes to test the performance of new heat exchanger designs. Tremendous advances have taken place in the simulation of heat exchangers. Institutions worth noting include Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the University of Maryland (UMD), the University of Padova, Shanghai Jia Tong University (SJTU). Additionally, proprietary simulations software has been developed by heat exchanger engineers working within OEM research laboratories, universities and research institutions globally.
The focus for SDCT is HXSim. which is a powerful software tool available FREE OF CHARGE, courtesy of the International Copper Association. HXSim is easy to download and easy to use. You can immediately begin designing heat exchangers with SDCT and simulating their performance.
Other heat exchanger simulation software packages are also available. These heat exchanger simulators are described within the “Other Packages” webpages below. The other packages allow for other tubes besides SDCT and offer other sophisticated features such as modelling of complete Vapor Compression Cycles (VCCs) including refrigerant flow through the complete systems including the compressor and condenser coil as well as the evaporator valve and evaporator coils, and back to the compressor.
Finally, the “Theory of Simulations” section reviews the development of heat exchanger simulation software as well as physical principles and design principles involved in optimizing heat exchanger designs.
HXSim is a powerful software tool was developed at SJTU under the auspices of the International Copper Association Asia and the leadership of the renowned Professor Guoliang Ding of the Institute of Refrigeration & Cryogenics in Department of Power & Energy Engineering at SJTU.
Numerous technical papers have been presented at international conferences describing the use of HXSim Software.
ICA offers the HXSim software package as a FREE DOWNLOAD. You can download your copy today here.
Several companies offer proprietary simulation software packages for heat exchanger design. Examples are Optimized Thermal Systems (Beltsville, Maryland) and Unilab (Padova, Italy).
Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) offers an online heat exchanger simulation tool as well.
Simulations can rapidly produce accurate results, saving hundreds of hours of design time and eliminating the need to build and test multiple prototypes. Learn about the differential equations relating to heat transfer and mass flow as well as tube circuitry and refrigerant properties, which are at the heart of modern heat exchanger design.