API Reference

hensmith exports six names. HeatExchangerNetwork is the BioSTEAM facility most users need; the functions and classes of hensmith.hxn_synthesis are the pinch analysis and synthesis machinery behind it, usable on their own.

HeatExchangerNetwork([ID, T_min_app, units, ...])	Create a HeatExchangerNetwork object that will perform a pinch analysis on the entire system's heating and cooling utility objects.
problem_table(streams_inlet, ...[, curves])	Energy-consistent problem table (temperature-interval heat cascade).
ProblemTable(Ts, interval_H, point_H, ...)	Result of problem_table: the temperature-interval heat cascade of a set of process streams on the shifted temperature scale (hot streams shifted down by the minimum approach temperature, cold streams unshifted).
synthesize_network(hus[, T_min_app, Qmin, ...])	Synthesize a heat exchanger network without stream splits for the process streams behind a set of utility heat exchangers: pinch analysis (problem_table), then a pinch-outward plan that reaches the minimum energy requirement (MER) targets whenever the search finds an unsplit network that does, realized with one HXprocess per match and one rigorous HXutility per stream.
StreamLifeCycle(index, cold)	The ordered sequence of heat exchangers one process stream passes through in a synthesized heat exchanger network, from its inlet state to its final utility exchanger.
plot_pinch_diagram(stream_life_cycles, ...)	Draw a pinch diagram of a synthesized heat exchanger network: cold streams (blue, flowing left to right) above hot streams (red, flowing right to left), one vertical connector per process heat exchanger with its duty, a dashed pinch line separating the cold-side from the hot-side exchangers, and circles marking the utility exchangers that bring each stream to its outlet temperature.

• HeatExchangerNetwork
  • HeatExchangerNetwork
  • HeatExchangerNetwork.plot_pinch_diagram()
  • Constructor options
  • Class attributes
  • Attributes set by simulation
• Pinch analysis and synthesis (hensmith.hxn_synthesis)
  • problem_table()
  • ProblemTable
  • synthesize_network()
  • StreamLifeCycle
  • LifeStage
  • plot_pinch_diagram()

Note

Importing hensmith binds the facility into biosteam as bst.HeatExchangerNetwork (and bst.facilities.HeatExchangerNetwork), whichever package is imported first; it is the same class object.