Parameters Reference¶

Overview¶

This page provides a complete reference for all input and output parameters of the Plate Heat Exchanger unit operation. Each parameter is listed with its internal property name, data type, default value, units, and description. The final section shows how to access these parameters programmatically through the DWSIM property interface.

Input Parameters¶

Parameter	Property Name	Type	Default	Description
Number of Plates	`NumberOfPlates`	int	50	Total number of plates in the plate pack. Minimum value is 3.
Plate Width	`PlateWidth`	double	500 mm (0.5 m)	Width of a single plate, entered in mm in the editor. Stored internally in meters.
Plate Height	`PlateHeight`	double	1000 mm (1.0 m)	Height of a single plate (port-to-port), entered in mm. Stored internally in meters.
Plate Thickness	`PlateThickness`	double	0.6 mm (0.0006 m)	Thickness of the plate material, entered in mm. Stored internally in meters.
Plate Spacing	`PlateSpacing`	double	3.0 mm (0.003 m)	Gap between adjacent plates forming the flow channel, entered in mm. Stored internally in meters.
Chevron Angle	`ChevronAngle`	double	60°	Angle of the herringbone corrugation pattern in degrees.
Enlargement Factor	`EnlargementFactor`	double	1.17	Ratio of actual corrugated area to projected flat area. Dimensionless.
Plate Conductivity	`PlateConductivity`	double	16.3 W/(m K)	Thermal conductivity of the plate material.
Fouling (Hot Side)	`FoulingHot`	double	0.0001 m^2 K/W	Fouling resistance on the hot side.
Fouling (Cold Side)	`FoulingCold`	double	0.0001 m^2 K/W	Fouling resistance on the cold side.
Flow Direction	`FlowDirection`	int	1 (Counterflow)	Flow arrangement: `0` = Co-current, `1` = Counterflow.
Heat Leak	`HeatLeak`	double	0 kW	Thermal energy lost to surroundings. Split 50/50 between hot and cold sides.

Unit Convention

Geometric dimensions (width, height, thickness, spacing) are displayed in millimeters in the editor interface but stored internally in meters. When setting values programmatically, use the internal SI units (meters).

Output Parameters¶

Parameter	Property Name	Units	Description
Total Heat Transferred	`TotalHeatTransferred`	kW	Net heat duty exchanged between hot and cold streams
MITA Calculated	`MITACalculated`	°C	Minimum Internal Temperature Approach
UA Calculated	`UACalculated`	W/K	Product of overall heat transfer coefficient and total area
LMTD Effective	`LMTDEffective`	°C	Log-Mean Temperature Difference for the flow arrangement
Thermal Efficiency	`ThermalEfficiency`	— (fraction)	Ratio of actual to maximum possible heat transfer (0 to 1)
U Calculated	`UCalculated`	W/(m^2 K)	Overall heat transfer coefficient
Total Area	`TotalArea`	m^2	Total effective heat transfer area
Hot-Side HTC	`HotSideHTC`	W/(m^2 K)	Convective heat transfer coefficient on the hot side
Cold-Side HTC	`ColdSideHTC`	W/(m^2 K)	Convective heat transfer coefficient on the cold side
Reynolds (Hot)	`ReynoldsHot`	—	Reynolds number in hot-side channels
Reynolds (Cold)	`ReynoldsCold`	—	Reynolds number in cold-side channels
Pressure Drop (Hot)	`PressureDropHotCalc`	Pa	Frictional pressure drop on the hot side
Pressure Drop (Cold)	`PressureDropColdCalc`	Pa	Frictional pressure drop on the cold side

Property Interface¶

The PHE parameters can be accessed programmatically through the DWSIM property interface using GetPropertyValue, SetPropertyValue, and GetPropertyUnit methods. Below are examples for each operation.

Read PropertiesWrite PropertiesGet Units

Retrieve current values of input and output parameters:

# Get the PHE object
phe = sim.GetFlowsheetSimulationObject("PHE-1").GetAsObject()

# Read input parameters
n_plates = phe.GetPropertyValue("NumberOfPlates")
plate_width = phe.GetPropertyValue("PlateWidth")          # returns meters
chevron_angle = phe.GetPropertyValue("ChevronAngle")      # returns degrees
flow_dir = phe.GetPropertyValue("FlowDirection")           # 0 or 1

# Read output parameters (after calculation)
q_total = phe.GetPropertyValue("TotalHeatTransferred")     # kW
u_overall = phe.GetPropertyValue("UCalculated")            # W/(m^2 K)
mita = phe.GetPropertyValue("MITACalculated")              # °C
efficiency = phe.GetPropertyValue("ThermalEfficiency")     # fraction
dp_hot = phe.GetPropertyValue("PressureDropHotCalc")       # Pa
dp_cold = phe.GetPropertyValue("PressureDropColdCalc")     # Pa
re_hot = phe.GetPropertyValue("ReynoldsHot")
re_cold = phe.GetPropertyValue("ReynoldsCold")

Set input parameter values before running the calculation:

# Get the PHE object
phe = sim.GetFlowsheetSimulationObject("PHE-1").GetAsObject()

# Set geometry
phe.SetPropertyValue("NumberOfPlates", 80)
phe.SetPropertyValue("PlateWidth", 0.6)           # 600 mm, in meters
phe.SetPropertyValue("PlateHeight", 1.2)           # 1200 mm, in meters
phe.SetPropertyValue("PlateThickness", 0.0005)     # 0.5 mm, in meters
phe.SetPropertyValue("PlateSpacing", 0.0025)       # 2.5 mm, in meters
phe.SetPropertyValue("ChevronAngle", 45.0)         # degrees
phe.SetPropertyValue("EnlargementFactor", 1.2)

# Set thermal properties
phe.SetPropertyValue("PlateConductivity", 16.3)    # W/(m K)
phe.SetPropertyValue("FoulingHot", 0.0002)         # m^2 K/W
phe.SetPropertyValue("FoulingCold", 0.0001)        # m^2 K/W

# Set operating mode
phe.SetPropertyValue("FlowDirection", 1)            # Counterflow
phe.SetPropertyValue("HeatLeak", 0.0)               # kW

Query the engineering units for any property:

# Get the PHE object
phe = sim.GetFlowsheetSimulationObject("PHE-1").GetAsObject()

# Query units for various properties
width_unit = phe.GetPropertyUnit("PlateWidth")              # "m"
q_unit = phe.GetPropertyUnit("TotalHeatTransferred")        # "kW"
u_unit = phe.GetPropertyUnit("UCalculated")                 # "W/(m^2 K)"
dp_unit = phe.GetPropertyUnit("PressureDropHotCalc")        # "Pa"
fouling_unit = phe.GetPropertyUnit("FoulingHot")            # "m^2 K/W"

Automation

For complete scripting examples including parametric studies and sensitivity analysis, see the Automation API page.