Paramus — Heat Exchanger Sizing (First-Pass)

Overview

Compute duty, LMTD, and required area for a heat exchanger from stream conditions and properties. The value is the assembled sizing calculation with heat-transfer judgment, not a single property call.

Guidance vs execution: stream properties come from tested Paramus property tools. Do not invent property values; correlations are applied to tool-provided data.

When to Use

• First-pass area/duty estimate for a heat exchanger
• Comparing exchanger sizing across duty/approach scenarios Do not use for: detailed mechanical/TEMA design (hand off to specialized tools).

Workflow

Hot & cold streams (flows, in/out T, composition) + configuration
  ↓ 1. Resolve stream properties     → Cp, density, (viscosity/k for U estimate)
  ↓ 2. Energy balance → duty          → Q from flow × Cp × ΔT (check both sides)
  ↓ 3. LMTD (+ correction factor)     → for the chosen flow arrangement
  ↓ 4. Estimate overall U             → from correlations / typical ranges (state source)
  ↓ 5. Required area & report         → A = Q / (U · LMTD · F) + assumptions + provenance

Procedure

1. Discover property tools via search/get_schema ("heat capacity", "fluid properties").
2. Retrieve Cp and needed properties at mean stream temperatures.
3. Compute duty from each side and check they balance; report any mismatch.
4. Compute LMTD and apply the correction factor F for the arrangement.
5. Estimate U (correlation or typical range — state which); compute area; report with all assumptions.

Domain Judgment

• A first-pass U from typical ranges is an estimate, not a design — state the range and source.
• Check the two-side energy balance closes; a mismatch signals bad data.
• Report assumptions (clean surfaces, no fouling factor unless given) explicitly.

Fallbacks

• Property tool unavailable → require user-supplied properties; do not guess Cp/density.
• Endpoint unreachable → stop and report; no local property estimates.