2009-06 Various GEA Wiegand applications require condensers. In evaporation plants, these condensers are used to condense heating steam and in distillation columns there are head condensers. And the preheaters and forced-circulation evaporators are condensers, too. In vacuum plants, the condensers represent the most important cost factor.
When looking for new design and engineering programs, commercially available programs such as TASC and HTRI were taken into consideration. These programs are based on empiric equations for the design of heat exchangers. An examination, however, showed that these programs calculate in a too conservative way, above all in the sectors of interest for GEA Wiegand, moreover, the geometries are imaged only insufficiently. Moreover, operation in part is very complicated (HTRI) and requires experts for input. Before this background, we decided to develop a program of our own.
It was the objective to generally achieve a safer, reduced and better-priced design of condensers with this program, by means of adjustments to the operating conditions. Moreover, operation of the program was supposed to be easy so that an operator using the program in irregular intervals can dimension the apparatuses.
With the new calculation program NIXE we excellently succeeded in achieving these objectives. With the program, even condensers for completely new applications can be designed and in this way it is possible to open up new business segments.