Heater

Inputs

• Heat from Source: If selected, use heat supplied through the connected heat sink port
• Heat Duty: Positive heat duty when specifying energy input directly.
• Outlet Temperature: Alternative specification for target outlet temperature.
• Pressure Drop: Optional pressure drop across the heater (must be ≥ 0).

Use only one of Heat from Source, Heat Duty or Outlet Temperature, not several.

Outputs

• Heat duty or outlet temperature (depending on the active specification) together with the heated outlet stream.
• Amount of heat absorbed through the heat sink port

Details

This unit can connect to other units via a heat flow. This unit can also act as proxy for a more complicated heating process that either requires or can deliver work.

Heat integration

This unit can act as a heat sink for other units. This can be done in one of two ways:

• If either Heat Duty or Outlet Temperature specification is used, the amount of heat added in the Heater is fully specified.

  • A unit connected to the Heater via a heat flow can select the Heat to Sink option.
  • The heat sink capacity is then given by the Heater conditions, and the other unit will attempt to supply all heat required by the heater.
  • The heat source capacity will be capped by the computed outlet temperature of the other unit. The outlet temperature from the unit supplying heat can never be lower than the inlet temperature of the heater.

• If the Heat from Source option is selected on the Heater

  • A unit connected to the Heater via a heat flow can supply heat to the Heater.
  • The heater will attempt to consume heat the delivered from the other unit.
  • The heat sink capacity will then be capped by the computed outlet-temperature of the heater. The outlet temperature of the heater can never be higher than the temperature of the heat source.

Work calculation

This unit can act as a proxy for an arbitrarily complicated heating process, defined through a coefficient of performance (COP). The COP for the heating process is then defined as COP = $Q / W$, where $Q$ is the heating utility and $W$ is the work added in the process.

A hypothetical process that can be represented by the Heater is shown in the figure below. See also the Cooler docs for information on the options that can be selected for the hypothetical process.

The output computed for a Heater when a process is solved is

• Total heat added: The total heat added to the process stream.
• Heat from Source: The heat absorbed from another processing unit through a heat flow.
• Heating utility: The heat added to the processing stream that has been extracted from the surroundings.
  • This is the heating that must be "externally supplied", after all the "Heat from Source" has been consumed.
• Total work input: Work input to the hypothetical process extracting heat from the surroundings.
• Total heat input: Heat extracted from the surroundings through a hypothetical process specified through the Work Calculation option, as described in the Cooler docs.