Build a Propane Refrigeration Loop

Workshop
Files can be found in folder: 03_PropaneRefrigLoop

Objective
In this workshop, you will construct a propane refrigeration loop, and then convert the
completed simulation to a template; thereby making it available to connect and link with
other simulations.

This workshop includes the following tasks:

• Task 1 – Define the Properties Environment

• Task 2 – Add Material Streams and Unit Operations
• Task 3 – Customize the HYSYS Workbook
• Task 4 – Manipulate the Flowsheet
• Task 5 – Create and Save a Template

Task 1 – Define the Properties Environment

The first step in building any simulation is defining the Fluid Package. Apply the
knowledge acquired from the Getting Started workshop to build a Fluid Package for the
Propane Refrigeration Loop.

1. Create a New Case and add a component list using the HYSYS Databanks.

2. In the component list, add just one databank component: Propane.

3. Click on the Fluid Packages object and add a Property Package, again using the
HYSYS Databanks.

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 4. Select the Peng-Robinson property package.

5. The Properties Environment is now fully defined. Click the Simulation

Environment button to move on and begin building the flowsheet.

6. Save the case as 03-PropertiesEnvironment.hsc.

Task 2 – Add Material Streams and Unit Operations

As described in the Getting Started workshop, there are several methods available to add a
stream to a flowsheet. If you wish to use a method different from the approach mentioned
below, you may do so.

7. View the Object Palette and click the Material Stream icon and click again on
the flowsheet to add the stream. Enter the following specifications:

In this cell... Enter...

Name 1
Vapour Fraction 0.0
Temperature 50°C (122°F)
Composition Mole fraction = 1.0 for Propane

QUESTION: What is the calculated pressure of Stream 1? [Write your answer below]

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As with material streams, there are a variety of ways to add unit operations in Aspen
HYSYS:

To use Do this...
the...
Ribbon From the Flowsheet/Modify tab, select the Additional Flowsheet Commands
link and choose Add Operation.
The Model Palette appears.
Model View the Model Palette (press F4 or F12 to show if it’s unavailable). Double-
Palette click the icon of the unit operation you want to add or click and drag it onto the
flowsheet.

The propane refrigeration loop that is to be built consists of four unit operations; a valve, a
chiller, a compressor and a condenser. In this task, the operations will be added via the
Object Palette, but if you wish to experiment with the other approaches, you may do so.

8. To add the Valve, locate it in the All section of the Model Platte, select it, and
place it onto your flowsheet.

Tip: The Valve is also located in the Pressure Changer section in the Model Palette. You
can also use the F12 hot key or Add Operation ribbon button to display the Model Palette.
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 9. Double-click the block icon in the flowsheet and the Valve property view displays.

10. On the Design | Connections page supply a name and the inlet/outlet connections
as indicated below:

In this Enter...
cell...
Name J-T
Inlet 1
Outlet 2

Note: Drop-down lists, such as for the Inlet and Outlet streams, contain lists of available
streams that can be connected to the operation. By specifying a stream name that is not in
the drop-down list, you are creating a new stream to connect to the operation.

11. Return to the flowsheet and add a new Material Stream with the following
properties:

In this cell... Enter...

Name 3

Vapour Fraction 1.0

Temperature -20°C (-4°F)

The next block, the Chiller, will be modeled in Aspen HYSYS using a Heater operation,
since the heat lost by a theoretical process fluid would be recovered by the propane in the
refrigeration loop. The Heater operation allows us to represent this heat as energy flowing
into the propane loop.

12. Select the Heater icon in the Object Palette, and add it to the flowsheet.

13. Enter the information as shown in the table below:

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 In this cell... Enter...

Connections

Name Chiller

Inlet 2

Outlet 3

Energy Chill-Q

Parameters

Delta P 7 kPa (1 psi)

Duty 1.0 E+06 kJ/h (9.478 E+05 Btu/hr)

QUESTION: What is the calculated molar flow rate of propane in the flowsheet? How
is this flow rate being calculated? [Write your answer below]

In general, the Compressor operation is used to increase the pressure of a gas stream.

14. Add a Compressor to your flowsheet from the Object Palette. Then view the
Compressor property view (double-click to open if it is not shown).

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Tip: Hovering the mouse arrow over a button on the Object Palette will display its name.

15. Enter the compressor information as shown in the following table:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Name Compressor
Inlet 3
Outlet 4
Energy Comp-HP
Parameters
Adiabatic Efficiency 75% (Default)

A Condenser (modeled as a HYSYS Cooler operation) will serve to complete the propane
refrigeration loop. It is placed between the Compressor and the Valve.

16. Click the Cooler icon on the Object Palette.

17. Use the table shown below to define the following for the Condenser:

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 In this cell... Enter...

Connections

Name Condenser

Inlet 4

Outlet 1

Energy Cond-Q

Parameters

Delta P 35 kPa (5 psi)

Now that the loop is completed, we would like to check the power requirement on the
system.

QUESTION: What is the calculated Compressor Duty/Power in hp? [Write your answer
below]

Hint: If you are using SI units, hover your mouse over the Duty field on the Design |
Parameters page for the Compressor to see the conversion from kW to hp.

Your flowsheet should now look like the screenshot given below.

Hint: Select your equipment and streams one at a time, then click the Rotate button under
Flowsheet/Modify tab to accommodate the flowsheet as shown above.

18. Save the case as 03-PropaneRefrigLoop.hsc.

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Task 3 – Customize the HYSYS Workbook
Aspen HYSYS allows you to customize the Workbook view in several different ways. You
can add additional pages, change the variables that are displayed on the current pages or
change the format of the values.

In this task, a new Workbook tab containing the stream properties Molar Heat Capacity,
Mass Heat of Vaporization, and Mass Density will be added.

19. Open the Workbook for the main flowsheet by clicking the Workbook icon on the
Home tab of the ribbon.

20. After the Workbook opens, the ribbon will display a context-sensitive ribbon tab,
called the Workbook tab. Click the Setup button in the Workbook tab.

21. Under the Workbook Tabs group on the Setup view, click the Add button.

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Note: You should notice that in the background on the actual Workbook view, a new tab
has been added.

22. On the New Object Type window that appears in the foreground, click on Streams
at the top of the list, then click the OK button.

23. Back in the Workbook Setup window, ensure that this new ‘Streams’ object is
highlighted, then using the Name cell, change the name of the new tab to Other
Props.

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 24. After renaming the new tab, look a bit lower down in the Workbook Setup form.
You’ll notice the Variables group which lists the properties to be displayed on that
Workbook tab. Click the Delete button until all the default variables are removed.

Tip: You can also hold down the Ctrl key and click on each variable to select all. Similarly,
hold down the Shift key and click on the first and last variables to select the full list. Then
you can delete all variables at once!

25. In that same Variables group, click the Add button to add a new variable to the
tab.

26. From the Variable list, select Molar Heat Capacity, click the right arrow, and
then click Done.

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27. Repeat the above step to add Mass Heat of Vapourization and Mass Density as
shown in the figure below:

28. Close the Setup view by clicking the X in the top right when you are finished to
return to the Workbook.

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 29. The Workbook should now contain an Other Props tab which shows the values of
Molar Heat Capacity, Mass Heat of Vaporization, and Mass Density for all
streams in the simulation.

Note that no data is shown for the energy streams Chill-Q, Comp-HP, and Cond-Q. You
can remove these streams from your Other Props Workbook tab if desired. Follow the
steps below to do so.

30. Click the Order/Hide/Reveal button in the Workbook ribbon tab.

31. Select the three energy streams and click the Hide- button to hide them from
view in the Workbook tab.

32. Click OK when finished and return to the Workbook. Only data for the four
material streams should be displayed.

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 33. Save your case as 03-Workbook.hsc

Task 4 – Manipulate the Flowsheet

The HYSYS flowsheet window is designed to be manipulated with the mouse and/or
keyboard. In many instances, either the mouse or the keyboard can be used to perform the
same function. One very important flowsheet function for which the keyboard cannot be
used is object inspection.

You can perform many of the tasks and manipulations on the icons in the flowsheet by
using object inspection – right-clicking the icon you want to inspect. An appropriate menu
is produced depending upon the icon selected (Stream, Operation, Column, Text
Annotation, etc.).

A list of the objects that you can object inspect is shown in the following table with the
corresponding menus. Recall, these menus appear when you right-click on a specific
flowsheet object:

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Object... Object Inspection Menu...

Flowsheet Background

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Object... Object Inspection Menu...

Unit Operations

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Object... Object Inspection Menu...

Streams
(Depending where on the
stream you click, either of these
two menus will display. To see
the menu at right, right-click the
stream icon. To see the shorter
menu shown below, right-click
the stream-to-block connector
line.)

Connection Lines

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View the flowsheet window and select the Format ribbon tab.

34. Click the Insert button to add a Title to the flowsheet view. Provide the text
“Propane Refrigeration Loop” for your label.

Now, add a Workbook Table including all the material streams in the simulation.

35. Right-click in the background of the flowsheet window and select Add Workbook
Table. From the resulting window, select the Material Streams Workbook tab
and click Select.

36. Right-click on stream 3 and choose Show Table from the pop-up menu.

37. Right click on the Compressor operation and select the Show Table menu item.

38. After the tables have been added, move them to a desired location by clicking on
them and dragging with the mouse.

Note: By double-clicking on any stream or unit operation table, you can change the
displayed variables as well as the table’s overall appearance.

39. Save the case as 03-PropaneRefrigLoopTables.hsc.

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Task 5 – Create and Save a Template
A template is a complete flowsheet that has been stored to disk and contains additional
information pertaining to attaching the flowsheet as a sub-flowsheet operation. Typically,
a template is representative of a specific plant process or portion of a plant process. The
stored template can subsequently be read from disk and efficiently installed as a complete
sub-flowsheet operation into any number of different simulation models.

Templates provide a mechanism by which two or more cases can be linked together and
also provide a convenient method for breaking large simulations into smaller, more easily
managed portions. Before converting a case to a template, it is a good idea to make it
generic so it can be integrated seamlessly into other processes. In this case, the specified
Chiller heat duty defines the required flow rate of propane. This should therefore be
removed to make the template more generally applicable to cases where the Chiller heat
duty might be defined elsewhere.

Note: Although it is better practice to make the template as generic as possible prior to
saving, the current instance of a template can be altered after it has been read into another
simulation.

40. Double click the Chill-Q energy stream and delete the Heat Flow value.

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41. Select the Customize tab in the ribbon, and click the Convert to Template
button.

42. Answer Yes to the query, “Would you like to convert this simulation case to a
template case?”

43. Answer No to the question, “Do you want to save changes made to the simulation
case?” Note the question pertains to the .hsc simulation case, not the template case
which will have a unique file extension (.tpl).

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44. You can now save your template by going to File > Save As.

45. Save the template in a convenient location as 03-PropaneRefrigLoop.tpl.

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Challenge Exercises
1. Use the 03-PropaneRefrigLoopTables.hsc simulation saved at the end of Task 4
as the basis for these challenge exercises.

In the plant, you are unable to accurately measure or calculate the chiller duty. You do,
however, know that the compressor is rated for 250 hp and that it is running at 90% of
maximum power and 72% adiabatic efficiency.

QUESTION: What is the chiller duty? [Write your answer below]

2. A local propane dealer arrives at your plant selling a 95/5 (molar) propane/ethane
blend.

QUESTION: What effect, if any, does this new composition have on the refrigeration
loop? [Write your answer below]

Use 03-PropaneRefrigLoopTables.hsc saved after Task 4 as the basis for comparison:

Base Case: 100% C3 New Case: 5% C2, 95% C3

Flow Rate

Condenser Q

Compressor
Power

Recommended Reading
Knowledge Base Article 000028557
Is it possible to get a temperature increase across the valve?

Knowledge Base Solution 000028496

Why do some values in my datasheet/report have an asterisk next to them?

Knowledge Base Solution 000028637

How can I make the Report/Datasheet/Specsheet header show only the file name not the
full path?
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Notes:

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 Build a Propane Refrigeration Loop
Solutions
Files can be found in folder: 03_PropaneRefrigLoop/Solutions

Task 2
QUESTION: What is the calculated pressure of Stream 1?

1720 kPa (249.5 psia)

QUESTION: What is the calculated molar flow rate of propane in the flowsheet? How is
this flow rate being calculated?

107.9 kgmole/h (237.9 lbmole/hr)

It is calculated by the specified heat duty value in the Chiller (Heater operation). Sufficient
flow of propane is supplied to meet the desired heat load/demand in the Chiller.

QUESTION: What is the calculated Compressor Duty/Power in hp?

218.5 hp

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Challenge Problems
QUESTION: What is the chiller duty?

9.885E+05 kJ/h (9.369 E+05 BTU/hr)

QUESTION: What effect, if any, does this new composition have on the refrigeration
loop?

The mixture is a less efficient heat transfer medium, as you introduce Ethane, the
refrigerant flow will increase and both the condensing duty and compressor power
requirement will increase to maintain the same chiller duty which is maintained since the
flowsheet is a closed loop and there is no change to the energy/ power input at that location.

 SI Units

Base Case: 100% C3 New Case: 5% C2, 95% C3

Flow, kgmole/h 107.9 111

Condenser Q, kJ/hr 1.587 E+06 1.620 E+06

Compressor Power 163 KW 172.2 KW

 Field Units

Base Case: 100% C3 New Case: 5% C2, 95% C3

Flow, lbmole/hr 237.9 244.6

Condenser Q, Btu/hr 1.504 E+06 1.535 E+06

Compressor Power 218.5 hp 230.9 hp

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