Category Archives: Latest News

On March 25, 2023, PFR Engineering released FRNC-5PC v9.6.0. Version 9.6.0 includes a number of enhancements, upgrades and new features. Following are some highlights:

1. Added option to choose ‘Convection-only case’ modeling option (to minimize required inputs for that case).
2. For Convection coils, automatically calculate upstream flue gas ‘zone’ radiation using ‘Distance Upstream’.
3. Improve the calculations of Firebox ‘Mean Beam Length’ and ‘Radiating-to-Bridgewall DeltaT’ for non-simple cases.
4. Added the option to input % Liquid Static (Gravity) head loss for ALL cases (including ‘0’ for no Static head loss).
5. Added new visibility-enhancing features so user knows what input item has been selected.

If you would like additional information about FRNC-5PC v9.6.0 or any of the other PFR Engineering software products, please email us at query@pfrengineering.com.

On March 17, 2022, PFR Engineering released FRNC-5PC v9.5.1. Version 9.5.1 includes a number of enhancements, upgrades and new features. Following are some highlights:

1. Added options to run ‘Process Composition-only’ and ‘Transfer line-only’ cases, without needing to input unrelated items such as Firebox, Firing, etc. as in the past.
2. Added a 2-Phase Critical Velocity calculation option using Gas-Phase properties with a multiplier.
3. Added a Combustion-air flow rate input to the Air Preheater module, mostly for use with the automatic FRNC-5/REFORM-3 link feature in REFORM-3.

If you would like additional information about FRNC-5PC v9.5.1 or any of the other PFR Engineering software products, please email us at query@pfrengineering.com.

On July 6, 2021, PFR Engineering released REFORM-3PC v8.0.3. Following are some of the improvements made to REFORM-3PC:

1. Added the ability to change the units (‘US/English’ or ‘International’) of an entire model.
2. Expanded the radiation calculation correlation range of tube Pitch/Diameter ratios to include values greater than 4.0, and improved the circumferential temperature calculation for single-fired tubes (Box and Circumferential-cylindrical fireboxes). Also improved the calculation of ‘Alpha’ for double-row tubes when Pitch/Diameter ratio is greater than 8.0.
3. For multiple-fuel cases, allowed one of the fuels to contain no combustible components. This can be useful for modeling ‘tramp’ air leakage.
4. Fixed a bug in the calculation of Flue Gas flow rate when there is O2 in the fuel.

If you would like additional information about REFORM-3PC v8.0.3 or any of the other PFR Engineering software products, please email us at query@pfrengineering.com

On March 18, 2021, PFR Engineering released FRNC-5PC v9.5. Version 9.5 includes a number of enhancements, upgrades and new features. Following are some highlights:

1. Added option to run a ‘Combustion-only” case, without needing to input unrelated items such as Firebox, Coils and Process data as in the past.
2. Improved the ‘Inject H2O’ input dialog to help users specify the correct Steam Injection ENTHALPY. Before, it was confusing about how to specify the correct Enthalpy.
3. Added utility to convert an entire input file from ‘US/English’ to ‘International’ units, and vice-versa.
4. Added Therminol VP-1 (R) two-phase fluid to the built-in Property Grid library.

If you would like additional information about FRNC-5PC v9.5 or any of the other PFR Engineering software products, please email us at query@pfrengineering.com.

On February 27, 2020, PFR Engineering released FRNC-5PC v9.4.1. Version 9.4.1 includes a number of enhancements, upgrades and new features. Following are some highlights:

1. Added option to specify Tube Design Stress parameters, to be used in the Tube Wall Thickness calculations.
2. Added utility to display Process Stream properties at a specified Pressure and Temperature.
3. Added utility to display Steam/Water properties at specified conditions.
4. Added option to disable automatic Stack-damper adjustment (to avoid positive Bridgewall draft).
5. Added additional built-in Thermal Fluid properties (for Dowtherm and Exeltherm fluids).
6. Added ability to specify “0” Process stream flow rates. There will be no process-side heat transfer or pressure drop calculations, but any Coils’ tubes will be included in the Flue Gas draft calculations.

If you would like additional information about FRNC-5PC v9.4.1 or any of the other PFR Engineering software products, please email us at query@pfrengineering.com.

On April 30, 2019, PFR Engineering released REFORM-3PC v8.0.2. Following are some of the improvements made to REFORM-3PC:

1. Added the ability to change the units (Weight% or Mole%) from the ‘QuickEdit’ panel for the Feed Compositions (Main, Recycle and Naphtha feeds).
2. Added the ability to create the Firebox from the ‘QuickEdit’ panel instead of needing to go through the Dialog Box option.
3. For Downfired fireboxes, allow users to specify the tubeside Pressure Drop between the Catalyst tube and the Riser (if present).
4. Added new tabs to the Output Spreadsheets for Warning Messages and Secondary Reformer results.
5. Allow combustion Excess Air to be greater than 100% (which can occur in Startup cases).
6. Added more user-friendly error descriptions for softlock license errors, to help diagnose license errors.

If you would like additional information about REFORM-3PC v8.0.2 or any of the other PFR Engineering software products, please email us at query@pfrengineering.com

On February 26, 2019, PFR Engineering released FRNC-5PC v9.4. Version 9.4 includes a number of enhancements, upgrades and new features. Following are some highlights:

1. Added option to fix the Process Stream Phase condition at the Inlet and/or Exit (all-Liquid, all-Vapor, or 2-Phase vapor fraction).
2. Added option to specify a Coil’s radiation “Alpha” value, to override the program calculated value.
3. Enhanced the output tube-by-tube printout to include Liquid and Vapor physical properties. This will help when manually checking the calculated film coefficients and pressure drops.
4. Added Tube Thickness design parameters to output, to help understand the calculated Required Tube Thickness values.

If you would like additional information about FRNC-5PC v9.4 or any of the other PFR Engineering software products, please email us at query@pfrengineering.com

On March 1, 2018, PFR Engineering released FRNC-5PC v9.3. Version 9.3 includes a number of enhancements, upgrades and new features. Following are some highlights:

1. Introduced a new radiant model which includes refractory emissivity. Program will use a default emissivity of 0.8 or one input by the user.
2. Changed the Peak Flux calculation to the second and third rows of Firebox and Shock coils. This will make them more accurate and less conservative for tube design.
3. Added the option to input nominal pipe size. Based on the user input for this, the program will determine the average tube wall thickness to use.
4. Added a new graphical output that shows the Flue Gas Temperature-Heat Duty curve with the Temperature-Heat Duty curve of each Convection Section coil below it. This flue gas-process temperature plot clearly identifies approach temperatures and pinch points.
5. Added a new printout for firebox floor flux density. This firing rate density is a key variable in designing burner layouts and size of the firebox.
6. Reduced the tolerances used to determine convergence in the various calculation loops. Thus, heat duties, bridgewall temperatures, etc. will be slightly more accurate.
7. Changed the “Radiant Flux Multiplier” input from being a Peak flux to Average flux ratio to a direct multiplier to the radiant peak flux. In this capacity, the multiplier is essentially the same as the “Fl” parameter used by many engineers.
8. Allowed negative values to be input for Stack or Convection damper resistances. This is a good way to simulate ID fans.

If you would like additional information about FRNC-5PC v9.3 or any of the other PFR Engineering software products, please email us at query@pfrengineering.com

On August 28, 2017, PFR Engineering released REFORM-3PC v8.0.1. Version 8.0.1 adds many of the same enhancements and functionalities that have recently been added to FRNC-5PC, PFR’s flagship software. Following are some of the other improvements made to REFORM-3PC:

1. Added the ability to launch REFORM-3PC from a command prompt or from an Excel macro, outside of the GUI itself.
2. Changed the numeric values in the ‘Output Spreadsheets’ from text to true numbers.
3. Improved the Quick-Edit panel to alert the user when terrace-wall heights do not add up to the overall tube length, or when secondary reformer air stream composition, GTE composition, fuel composition, or percent fuel combusted at different firebox levels do not add up to 100%.
4. Added an option to automatically open the Full Output file after program execution, instead of the ‘Output Spreadsheets.’
5. Made a slight change to the combustion air composition to be consistent with the FRNC-5PC program, since both programs are used in tandem to simulate the Reformer Firebox (REFORM-3PC) and the Reformer Convection Section (FRNC-5PC).
6. Increased the maximum reformer feed inlet pressure that is allowed.
7. Added versatility to the Output Plots by allowing the user to control what variable to put on the X-axis and what variable to put on the Y-axis.

If you would like additional information about REFORM-3PC v8.0.1 or any of the other PFR Engineering software products, please email us at query@pfrengineering.com