How to simulate gas compressor air-cooled aftercooler (fin-fan)
A natural-gas booster compressor followed by an **air-cooled (fin-fan) aftercooler** — the standard way to reject compression heat where no cooling water is available. The compressor raises the gas from 8 to 24 atm (hot discharge ~150 °C); the air cooler then rejects that heat to ambient air, cooling the gas back to 49 °C. Unlike a plain cooler, the `air_cooler` op closes the **air side**: from the process duty and the 35 °C design ambient it solves the air mass flow (a 15 °C air rise) and reports the fan power from the given fan static pressure. Honest scope: screening air-side model (fixed cp_air, ideal-gas air density, no fin/row geometry rating); an air cooler cannot cool below ambient, so the 49 °C target sits safely above the 35 °C air inlet.
- 1Open the ready-made model
Open the "Gas compressor air-cooled aftercooler (fin-fan)" model in the MaximaLabs workspace — no install, no license. It loads live on the canvas, ready to edit and run.
- 2Confirm the thermodynamics
This process is modeled with the PENG-ROBINSON property package over methane, ethane, propane, co2 — already selected, so the phase equilibrium and enthalpy are physically consistent from the first run.
- 3Review the flowsheet
The flowsheet chains COMP, AC. Every block is a real, solvable unit op you can reconfigure on the canvas.
- 4Run the simulation
Click Run. The deterministic solver converges the material and energy balances (recycles included) and fills the live stream table — the AI never invents a number.
- 5Read the results and iterate
Inspect the converged streams, tweak a spec, and re-run — or ask the AI copilot to explain a result or diagnose a failed solve in plain English.
- Thermodynamics
- PENG-ROBINSON
- Components
- methane, ethane, propane, co2
- Unit operations
- COMPAC
Opens live on the canvas — free, no install.
Explore the model & flowsheetFrequently asked questions
- What does the Gas compressor air-cooled aftercooler (fin-fan) model simulate?
- A natural-gas booster compressor followed by an **air-cooled (fin-fan) aftercooler** — the standard way to reject compression heat where no cooling water is available. The compressor raises the gas from 8 to 24 atm (hot discharge ~150 °C); the air cooler then rejects that heat to ambient air, cooling the gas back to 49 °C. Unlike a plain cooler, the `air_cooler` op closes the **air side**: from the process duty and the 35 °C design ambient it solves the air mass flow (a 15 °C air rise) and reports the fan power from the given fan static pressure. Honest scope: screening air-side model (fixed cp_air, ideal-gas air density, no fin/row geometry rating); an air cooler cannot cool below ambient, so the 49 °C target sits safely above the 35 °C air inlet.
- Which thermodynamic method does it use?
- The PENG-ROBINSON property package, over methane, ethane, propane, co2 — already selected. You can switch the method on the canvas before running.
- Which unit operations are in the flowsheet?
- It chains COMP, AC. Every block is a real, solvable unit operation you can reconfigure, add to, or remove.
- Do I need to install software or buy a license?
- No. Gas compressor air-cooled aftercooler (fin-fan) runs entirely in your browser on MaximaLabs — free, no install, no license. Open the model to load it live and run the deterministic solver.
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