"CoolProp" fluid thermodynamic properties Excel add-in

After searching over the internet for "Engineering Equation Solver EES package for Excel", I came through some other alternatives for Engineering Equations Solver thermodynamic properties calculator:

RefProp: Open source (free)

CoolProp: Open source (free)

XProps: Commercial package

1. CoolProp

Download the package (zipped file) from the following link

http://sourceforge.net/projects/coolprop/files/CoolProp/

1.1. Installation in Excel:

Unpack the zip file you downloaded to any folder on your hard disk "New folder"

Open "New folder\dist_temp\windows_superpack\Excel and DLL" and copy its contents

Create a folder in your partition C: "C:\CoolProp". It should be placed in C: partition even if it is not your system (default) partition.

Paste the copied files to the folder "CoolProp" you have created

Copy CoolProp.xlam to the default directory of Excel add-ins. To know the default directory of Excel add-ins in your PC, just create a new book and save it as Excel add-in file (*.xlam). Copy the address and discard saving this file.

Open Excel options and select add-Ins

Press "Go..." button shown highlighted by the red box in the image above and you will get a window like below. Check the "CoolProp" add-In so it will be automatically loaded each time you open excel.

It is done...

This is a demo after installation of add-in (see equation in equation bar). You can use cell references instead of direct values for sure.

and this is a snapshot after I have implemented this add-in in my Ref Analysis add-in

1.2. Comparison with EES:

1.2.1 Fluid properties

For real fluids the following are the available properties in EES and CoolProp (units displayed are as displayed in EES):

Property name	EES	CoolProp
Accentric factor	●	●
Conductivity [W/m.K]	●	●
Cp [kJ/kg.K]	●	●
Cv [kJ/kg.K]	●	●
Density [kg/m3]	●	●
Dipole [debye]	●
Ek_Lj [K]	●
Enthalpy [kJ/kg.K]	●	●
Entropy [kJ/kg.K]	●	●
Fugacity [kPa]	●
IntEnergy [kJ/kg]	●	●
isIdealGas [-]	●
MolarMass [kg/kmol]	●	●
P_crit [kPa]	●	●
P_sat [kPa]	●	●
Phase$	●
Prandtl [-]	●
Pressure [kPa]	●	●
Quality [-]	●	●
Sigma_LJ [m]	●
SoundSpeed [m/s]	●	●
SpecHeat [kJ/kg.K]	●	●
SurfaceTension [N/m]	●	●
T_crit [C]	●	●
T_triple [C]	●	●
Temperature [C]	●	●
V_crit [m3/kg]	●	●
Viscosity [kg/m.s]	●	●
VolExpCoef [1/K]	●
Volume [m3/kg]	●

1.2.2 Reference state

The reference state used in CoolProp is International Institute of Refrigeration IIR reference which assumes that the specific enthalpy of saturated liquid fluid Q=0 at 0 C equals 200 kJ/kg and the specific entropy at the same conditions equals 1 kJ/kg.K . From the other side EES uses three reference states IIR, Normal Boiling Point NBP, and ASHRAE, but they can be manually-correlated by adding constants in CoolProp.

1.2.3 Properties abbreviations (names) in CoolProp

Property name	Properties CoolProp codes
Accentric factor	w
Thermal conductivity	L
Cp	C
Cv	O
Density	D
Specific enthalpy	H
Specific entropy	S
Internal energy	U
Molar mass	molemass
Critical pressure	pcrit
Pressure	P
Quality	Q
Sound speed	A
Gibbs function	G
Surface tension	I
Critical temperature	Tcrit
Triple temperature	Ttriple
Triple pressure	ptriple
Minimum temperature	Tmin
Ozone depletion potential	ODP
Temperature	T
Dynamic Viscosity	V

Later, I will update this post and illustrate the notations, units.

Hyundai Verna 2013 accessories fuse box

I was looking for the maximum current of cigarette lighter to use it to power a DC-powered device, so I decided to draw it and share it with others. 

Things that help you decide when to dispose a component or part

For engineers who have workshops in their homes or interested in DIY projects, the following is a survey to decide which component you have to dispose and which you have to keep and store.

This is a copy from an Excel sheet implementing this survey. After finishing this survey, you will be able to decide if you have to dispose the part or not:

Question	Answer	Considered answer	Point
Do you think you can use this part later?		Yes	0
Do you think this part may inspire you in your design? Car designers for example may be inspired by an old electric iron		Yes	0
Do you do lots of DIY projects?		Yes	0
Does this part contain toxic materials?		No	0
Does this part have flammable or explosive gases inside?		No	0
Is this part or component is a standard part		No	0
Do you have a CAD drawing for it?		No	0
Do you plan to draw a CAD model for it?		Yes	0
Is this part difficult to draw in CAD program using the simple measurement tools?		Yes	0
Do you have enough descriptive pictures for this part?		No	0
Do you the price of this part or component?		No	0
Did you get this part or component out from an expensive device, machine, …?		Yes	0
Is its material unique, rare, expensive, difficult to get easily?		Yes	0
Does this part have some unique physical or chemical properties? e.g. High hardness, unique color, low curie temperature, very high thermal conductivity, high transmitivity for certain wave length,… etc.?		Yes	0
Do you plan to make some destructive testing on it, so you need as many pieces as you can collect?		Yes	0
Did you finish all required tests on this component and documented them?		No	0
Is it rust-resistant?		Yes	0
Is this part available in your country? (or have you to buy it from other country)		No	0
Do you know its both commercial and scientific names, so you can search later for it on internet?		No	0
Does it have any label, name plate, model, serial, bar-cade, QR code, …?		No
Do you know its material? If no, so you have to keep it till you know its material		No	0
Is this part an extruded profile, so you can cut it and keep a small sample for the profile section		Yes	0
Will this part age with time, so it will loose its critical properties?		No	0
Is this part old, so it is no more produced nowadays?		Yes	0
Does this part have a small size?		Yes	0
Does this part have a regular shape so it can be stacked if you have many of it?		Yes	0
Is this part easy to clean?		Yes	0
Is this part easy to make in local workshops?		No	0
Is this part cheap to make in local workshops?		No
Do one or more of your friends have this part?		No	0
Do one or more of your friends know what is this part?		No	0
Did you produced this part, so you want to keep it for memory?		Yes	0
Do you know the full specifications of this part?		No	0
Do you know the contact information of the supplier or manufacturer producing this part? Do you have any chance to know?		No	0
Do you know how did you get or find this part?		No	0
Do you remember when did you get this part?		No	0
Does this part have a very nice or visual-pleasant cosmetic shape?		Yes	0
Is this part manufactured by a non-traditional manufacturing technique like 3d printing, CNC machining, ….?		Yes	0
Is this part is a fully-functional-prototype?		Yes	0
Is this part a mock-up?		Yes	0
Was this component a part in assembly? Does it have a potential to be assembled into new assembly design?		Yes	0
Is this part manufactured in your country?		No	0
Is this part manufactured in mass-production?		No	0
Is this part or component sortable or can it be stored in place that you can reach easily?		Yes	0
			0
			0
			0
			0
			0
			0
			0
			0
			0
			0
			0
			0
Total percentage	#DIV/0!