Xchanger Suite 9.4 introduces a range of powerful updates and enhancements designed to improve accuracy, flexibility, and user experience. This article highlights key improvements, but for full details, visit the HTRI Software Documentation or refer to the About This Version section in the user documentation.
Significant enhancements
Tube coatings
Users can now define internal and external tube coatings in both Xist® and Xace®. Input fields for thickness and thermal conductivity are available in the Tube Coatings Panel, applicable to plain tubes only.
Figure 1. Screenshot of new Tube Coatings panel in Xist and Xace
Natural-draft air coolers with multiple services
Xchanger Suite 9.4 supports simulation of natural-draft units with multiple services. This allows for more realistic modeling of systems with varied bundle configurations and more than one service fluid.
Specialty fluid properties
The Property Generator now includes support for Dow heat transfer fluids. Navigate to the Fluid Properties Panel, select HTRI fluid properties, and choose Dow heat transfer fluids from the system model dropdown to generate property tables.
Electric heater enhancements
Modeling of electric heaters has been improved with
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variable heat flux distribution
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sheath metal temperature profiles via the new Sheath Temperature Monitor Report
- vibration support options on the Baffles Panel
Figure 2. Heat Flux Specification panel allows you to specify variable heat flux
Detailed piping configuration
A new Elevation Worksheet on the Piping Panel helps correlate elevation inputs with height changes for easier data entry.
Figure 3. Piping Elevation Worksheet streamlines entering height change data
Additionally, common piping can be better modeled using new flow split piping elements.
Temperature effectiveness
The Final Results Report now includes temperature effectiveness values for both hot and cold sides, useful for engineering checks and performance validation.
Entrainment in flooded evaporators
Users can now view entrainment results for flooded evaporators, improving design accuracy in these systems.
Launch and run enhancements
Users can now launch Xfh® Ultra directly from Xchanger Suite. There is also the ability to run selected cases individually, which is ideal for users managing large case sets.
Figure 4. Dialog for selecting which cases to run
Method improvements
Supercritical tubeside heat transfer
Version 9.4 adds support for calculating supercritical tubeside heat transfer for pure carbon dioxide and pure water. Xchanger Suite will automatically detect these compositions when possible. For manually entered fluid data (e.g., tables without composition info), users can enable supercritical methods via the Control Methods panel.
Figure 5. Supercritical methods may be enabled/disabled from the Methods panel
These methods are based on findings from HTRI Report S-ST-1-18, which introduces a correction to overestimation of heat transfer near the critical point.
Figure 6. Comparison of overestimated/corrected heat transfer for water near the critical point
Heat transfer and pressure drop in heat exchangers with twisted tape inserts
The laminar heat transfer coefficient better accounts for swirling flow and mixed convection, ensuring a smooth transition across Prandtl numbers.
Figure 7. Comparison of Xchanger Suite 9.4 laminar Nusselt number to previous versions
Users can now specify internal enhancements per tube pass in Xist by selecting the Variable Internal Enhancement checkbox on the Tubes Panel, revealing a grid to customize enhancements by pass.
Figure 8. Variable Internal Enhancement panel allows you to select enhancements for individual tube passes
Xace heat transfer for high-finned inline bundles
Outside heat transfer coefficient calculations for high-finned inline bundles have been refined. The penalty factor applied to staggered coefficients is now reduced for deep bundles with 10 or more rows, improving accuracy in large-scale designs.
Figure 9. Penalty factor for bundles with 10 or more rows
Xchanger Suite 9.4 delivers meaningful improvements across thermal design, simulation accuracy, and workflow efficiency. Be sure to explore the full documentation for deeper insights into these updates.