Patent ID: 7726874

Claim:
A method for determining a cooling capacity of a heat exchanger, comprising: measuring an inlet temperature and an outlet temperature of the product whose temperature is to be changed by the heat exchanger; measuring an inlet temperature and an outlet temperature of the auxiliary medium that serves as a cooling or heating medium during operation of the heat exchanger in an at least minimum flow condition; calculating a heat transfer coefficient of the heat exchanger as a function of the measured temperature values; determining that a change in the heat content of the product, a change in the heat content of the auxiliary medium, and an amount of heat transmitted by the heat exchanger, determined with the calculated heat transfer coefficient, are in a relationship within a defined range from which a change in capacity is identified; and displaying the change in capacity in a unit of temperature to determine a level of fouling within the heat exchanger, wherein to determine that a change in the heat content of the product, a change in the heat content of the auxiliary medium, and an amount of heat transmitted by the heat exchanger are in a relationship within a defined range the changes determined with a plurality of value pairs (θ K,Aus,i , θ W,Aus,j ), where θ K,Aus,i is an empirical value of the outlet temperature of the auxiliary medium, which value lies between the measured inlet temperature of the auxiliary medium and the measured inlet temperature of the product, and where θ K,Aus,j is an empirical value of the outlet temperature of the product, which value lies between the measured inlet temperature of the auxiliary medium and the measured inlet temperature of the product, the change {dot over (Q)} K in the heat content of the auxiliary medium, the change {dot over (Q)} W Q in the heat content of the product and the amount of heat {dot over (Q)} which can be transmitted by the heat exchanger having the calculated heat transfer coefficient are calculated, in that from the plurality of value pairs a subset of value pairs is determined for which the two calculated values of the changes in heat content {dot over (Q)} K and {dot over (Q)} W and the calculated value of the quantity of heat {dot over (Q)} which can be transmitted differ by less than a predeterminable threshold value and in that, in accordance with a predeterminable statistical criterion, from the subset a value pair is selected having the value to be displayed of the set outlet temperature of the product.