button you may choose to display only the ‘Designer’ or ‘User’ database agents.
Heat transfer agents are used by SuperPro Designer in many operation types either directly or indirectly. Direct use implies that the operation’s simulation model can account for one (or more) heating or cooling duties as part of the expected function of the operation. The heating or cooling requirements typically are presented on the ‘Oper. Cond’s’ tab of the i/o simulation dialog. The application expects the user to choose an appropriate agent that is assumed to carry out the heating/cooling assignment. Besides the direct use, heat transfer agents may be engaged to carry out auxiliary heating/cooling loads (indirect use). Such loads can be associated with any operation (regardless of its model) and they can be specified from the Operations Dialog: Labor etc. Tab. Each heat transfer agent carries along several parameters (supply & return temperatures, mass-to-energy factor, cost, etc.); for more details, see Heat Transfer Agent Properties. The application comes with a small set of preexisting agent definitions for heating (Steam, HP Steam, Brine, etc.) and cooling (Cooling Water, Chilled Water, etc.) These agents are part of the ‘Designer’ portion of the databank. However, users may add their own definitions by populating the ‘User’ portion of the databank.
To access the heat transfer agents databanks, select the Databanks } Heat Transfer Agents... menu item from the main menu (or F3 as a shortcut). In the Heat Transfer Agents Databank Dialog that will appear, you may see the full list of available heat transfer agents from the ‘Designer’ and the ‘User’ databases. Using the ‘Database Filter..’ button you may choose to display only the ‘Designer’ or ‘User’ database agents.
If you select a heat transfer agent that belongs to the ‘Designer’ database you can only view (but cannot modify) its properties. Clicking on the 
button will present the Heat Transfer Agent Properties Dialog (in view-only mode) where you can inspect all of the agent’s properties. If you choose a heat transfer agent that resides in the ‘User’ database, then you will be able to view as well as modify the properties of the members in the agent’s databank. Clicking on the 
button will present the same Heat Transfer Agent Properties Dialog but this time, you can view as well as edit (and save) the properties of the selected agent. Finally you may also add a new definitions as well as delete any heat transfer agent definitions that you no longer need (see Adding or Deleting a Heat Transfer Agent).
Before a previously undefined heat transfer agent can be used in a process simulation, it must be first introduced in the agent databank (‘User’ database). Keeping the newly created heat transfer agent in the agent databank will make it readily available for use in any future process simulations. To add a new heat transfer agent, bring up the Heat Transfer Agents Databank Dialog by selecting Databanks } Heat Transfer Agents from the main menu of the application. On this dialog, click on the 
button and in the edit dialog type in the name of the new heat transfer agent. After you type in an acceptable name (must be unique amongst all heat transfer agents in the databank,) a new line will be added in the table to represent the new agent. Notice that all of the agent’s properties have been assigned default values but of course they can be edited to their proper values (click on 
to present the Heat Transfer Agent Properties Dialog and specify the appropriate values for the properties of the new agent). If you want to delete a heat transfer agent from the databank, select the line in the table of contents that represents the agent that you wish to delete and then click on the
button.
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Deleting a heat transfer agent from your databank does not affect any existing process files that may have utilized (registered) this agent. All previous projects utilizing this agent already contain a complete definition of every heat transfer agent engaged in that simulation inside their document (file) and do not depend on the continued presence of such agents in the databank in order to continue to produce simulation results. |
The list of heat transfer agents present in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database, are considered as belonging to three categories:
a) Basic Heat Transfer Agents
b) Essential Heat Transfer Agents
c) User-Defined Heat Transfer Agents
All heat transfer agents that are present in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database upon installation of the program are considered as ‘Basic’. You are free to edit and/or even delete them if you think you will never have a need for some of them. If you have modified the properties of a basic heat transfer agent, saved it in your ‘SuperPro (User)’ database and later you change your mind and decide to revert to the property values as they came (‘out-of-the-box’) you can accomplish this by clicking on the 
button. Also, if you have deleted one or more heat transfer agents and later you wish to recover (restore) their definitions in your ‘SuperPro (User)’ database, you can click on the 
button There are a few heat transfer agents (“Steam”, “Hot Water”, “HP Steam”, “Cooling Water”, “Chilled Water”, “CaCl2 Brine”) that are considered “Essential” and cannot be deleted. The proper functioning of some operations in the software require their presence and they are automatically registered as soon as the operation that requires them is created and for that reason, their definition must exist in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database. Finally, “User-Defined” heat transfer agents are all agents that the user has introduced beyond the set of basic agents that came with the software. Of course, user-defined heat transfer agents can be edited and deleted at any time but once deleted they cannot later be recovered.
