Exergy Destruction in a Heat Exchanger — 2D T-x Diagram

This 2D companion visualises the same counterflow heat exchanger as a flat schematic plus a live temperature-vs-position (T-x) chart. Adjust the hot and cold inlet temperatures plus the exchanger's effectiveness and capacity ratio, and watch two animated streams flow in opposite directions along a shared core while the chart below traces each stream's temperature from inlet to outlet in real time. The gap between the two T-x lines at any point is the local driving temperature difference — the very thing that generates entropy and destroys exergy per the Gouy-Stodola theorem, even though the energy balance always closes perfectly. Drag to pan the schematic and scroll to zoom in on the core.