UniSim® Plate Heat Exchanger Modeler
The Challenge
Plate Heat Exchangers are commonly used for the needs of heat
transfer between medium and low pressure liquids where large
heat transfer area is in demand. To identify optimized design of
such heat exchanger and to know whether the existing plate heat
exchangers in a production facility will meet the ever-changing
manufacturing demand, are among the challenges heat
exchanger designers and operators often face.
The Solution: UniSim Plate Heat Exchanger Modeler
UniSim Plate Heat Exchanger Modeler a specialized tool to help
designers and operators overcome the challenges in dealing with
plate heat exchangers, involving either gasketed plate and frame
or welded or brazed plate. It helps users to determine the
optimum heat exchanger configurations and to troubleshoot
operating units with user-specified heat exchanger geometry.
Benefits
UniSim Plate Heat Exchanger Modeler can be used for designing
such equipment, evaluating their performance in an operation,
and investigating whether an existing unit will meet the
requirement of a specific production process. It helps users to
minimize the capital/operational cost, improve engineering
efficiency and therefore maximize their return on investment.
Features
UniSim Plate Heat Exchanger Modeler has four calculation
modes, providing specific capabilities based on the tasks being
performed:
Design – To produce a set of possible designs to meet given
heat load duty and pressure drop constraints and recommends
the best option. Design calculations select from a set of 120 plate
sizes, which are ‘typical’ of what is commercially available.
Checking / Rating – To determine whether a specified
exchanger has adequate surface area to meet a user-specified
thermal duty, and if specified stream pressure drops are
exceeded.
Simulation – To determine the heat load, pressure changes and
stream outlet conditions that will occur for a specific design with
given stream inlet conditions. Allowance for nonlinear
temperature profiles can be made as well as for variation in heat
transfer coefficients and pressure gradients. The effect of
maldistribution among the plates is also handled.
Extend (Design Specified Plate) – To determine the number of
plates of a given geometry required to meet a user-specified
duty, as well as pressure drop limits.
 UniSim Plate Heat Exchanger Modeler 2

Wide Range of Applications

The program supports most types of plate heater exchanger with

cross-corrugated plates and overall counter-flow between
steams, providing a variety of built-in selections, including: Graphic representations based on user-specified configurations
further enhance the modeling experience of UniSim Plate Heater
• Gasketed plate heat exchangers Modeler users.
• Frame plate heat exchangers
The comprehensive output highlights useful information, such as:
• Heat exchangers with welded pairs of plates

• Wall welded plate heat exchangers • Recommended design and listing of considered designs

• Brazed plate heat exchangers • Exchanger layout drawing

• Plates within a range of typical chevron angles from 30
to 65 degrees (to the horizontal)
• Plates with different corrugation angles in alternate
plates
• Summary of exchanger performance
• Details of pressure drops and hold-ups
• Stream conditions at inlet and outlet to each pass

• Plate exchangers with single pass or up to five passes • Stream conditions along the exchanger

Ratio to maximum value for given property

• A databank containing the geometry details for a range
of plates 1

•
0.9
Proper handling of
0.8
o Systems with single or two-phase streams,
involving sensible heating or cooling, boiling or 0.7

condensation, or any combination of these

0.6

o Pure component or multi-component mixture 0.5

systems
0.4

o Non-Newtonian fluids
0.3

o Process data imported from Process Simulator, 0.2

such as UniSim Design, in the form of PSF file,
generated by the simulator 20 40 60
Temperature (
80 100 120

Liquid Density Liquid Viscosity Liquid Surface Tension

User-Friendly Input and Output Functionalities Liquid Specific Heat Liquid Thermal Conductivity

Ratio of actual to required area

Users are guided through the data input process which is
displayed through a hierarchy tree and very easy to follow. • Summary of likely maldistribution effects

• Heat balance for exchanger

More Information
For more information on UniSim, visit
www.honeywell.com/ps/UniSimDesign or
UniSim® is a registered trademark of Honeywell International Inc.
contact your Honeywell account manager.

Automation & Control Solutions

Process Solutions
Honeywell
1860 W. Rose Garden Lane
Phoenix, AZ 85027
Tel: 800-822-7673 PN-10-12-ENG
July 2010
www.honeywell.com/ps © 2010 Honeywell International Inc.