
The force of steam pressure is shot through a nozzle in a steam impulse turbine and is strong enough to turn the blades of the turbine at such a high pressure. The same is true for a steam reaction turbine except the high pressure steam passes through a fixed set of blades instead of a nozzle.
Full Answer
What is the speed of steam at 0 psi?
The charts show that at 0-psig pressure, the steam will be moving along nicely at 30.44 feet per second. Raise the pressure to 5-psig and the steam slows to 22.5 feet per second. Bring the pressure up to 10-psig pressure and the steam moves at just 18 feet per second.
How do you calculate pressure from a steam table?
A simple curve fit of steam table values gives the following equation. This simple equation is accurate to within 2 psi over the 200 to 400 deg F range. Please note steam tables and this equation are based on “absolute pressures”. Absolute pressure, psia = Gauge pressure, psig + atmospheric pressure, psi.
Why is my boiler firing and making steam pressure?
The boiler is firing and making steam pressure. The pressure is rising, and the boiler is in low fire due to low load. The operator control will shut down the boiler to prevent too much steam pressure from building up. However, the operator control is not the same as the boiler steam pressure setpoint.
How does steam pressure affect temperature control?
The Effect of Steam Pressure on Temperature Control. The control valve has to react to changes in the temperature of the tube-side liquid. When the control valve opens on a call for heat, the system is normally at part load conditions. The steam temperature is greater at higher pressures and the LMTD is higher.

How does steam produce pressure?
This excess energy raises the pressure, in turn allowing the saturation temperature to rise, as the temperature of saturated steam correlates to its pressure. This is the amount of heat required to change the state of water at its boiling temperature, into steam.
How do I increase steam pressure?
You could heat the steam at constant volume, so the pressure will rise.
How do I increase pressure in my steam boiler?
If below 1 bar, your boiler has a low water pressure and needs re-pressurising. Locate the filling loop, often found on the underside of your boiler. Open both valves to allow water into your heating system. Keep an eye on the pressure gauge and close the valves when the pressure reaches 1.5 bar.
What is the pressure of steam?
Steam pressures and temperatures in current practice have reached 97–164 bar and 480–565°C or 593°C. The rate of increase in efficiency with increase in pressure becomes less as the pressure increases.
What temperature is high pressure steam?
High pressure steam boiler characteristics: Temperatures will exceed 250 degrees F up to 1200 degrees F.
What is the difference between air pressure and steam pressure?
The steam performs work both with the pressure it is under and also from the heat stored in the phase change going from a liquid to a gas. Compressed air has only the pressure as a work source, so it is much less efficient.
How do I increase water pressure?
Pressure-Reducing Valve Look on the main supply pipe near your water meter for a conical valve that has a bolt sticking out of the cone. To raise pressure, turn the bolt clockwise after loosening its locknut. Keep an eye on the gauge to make sure the pressure is within bounds, then retighten the locknut.
How long does it take for a steam boiler to build pressure?
around 10 secondsTo reach the desirable boiler pressure, it takes around 10 seconds for the water to increase the pressure inside the boiler.
What is steam pressure in boiler?
The boiler will cycle between 1 and 3 lb. of pressure. If the boiler uses a firing rate or modulating control, that changes the strategy a bit. I would set the operating control slightly higher, to operate between 2 and 4 psi and the firing rate or modulating control to operate between 1 and 3 psi.
What is steam high-pressure?
High-pressure steam is steam which is at or above 75 pounds per square inch gauge pressure. Steam is preferentially generated at as high a pressure as possible, because high-pressure steam is more valuable than low-pressure steam.
What is free steam pressure?
The free stream total pressure (P0) is a function of both pressure altitude and flight Mach number. Free stream total temperature (T0) is a function also of ambient temperature and flight Mach number. Both inlet pressure and temperature are fundamental to engine performance.
What is the relationship between pressure and steam?
The higher the pressure of a boiler the more heat must be applied to make steam. With the increased pressure, you in turn get steam at higher temperatures. Higher temperature steam contains more energy per pound, which is known as Enthalpy.
How do you increase steam temperature?
Increasing the pressure increases the temperature of the phase change, and increases the amount of energy the water/steam can carry. At pressures higher than atmospheric, more heat must be added to water (sensible heat) before it can turn to steam.
How does steam increase temperature and pressure?
Well, you could decrease the diameter of the exhaust. Or increase the power of the boiler.
How much PSI does it take to run a steam engine?
In the later years of steam, boiler pressures were typically 200 to 250 psi (1.38 to 1.72 MPa). High-pressure locomotives can be considered to start at 350 psi (2.41 MPa), when special construction techniques become necessary, but some had boilers that operated at over 1,500 psi (10.34 MPa).
What is the critical pressure of steam?
Critical pressure of steam is 220.6 bar and critical temperature is 374 ºC. In a temperature - X diagram, this point is the maximum of the saturation bell. “Supercritical” means above of EITHER one of these values, that is, above the bell. It represents a zone at very high pressures where there is not difference in density between liquid-gas phases, so that phase change is continuous, without the formation of a phase interface (liquid level, bubbles, drops).
How are saturated steam temperatures and pressures related?
Saturated steam temperatures and pressures are related by a power curve relation. A simple curve fit of steam table values gives the following equation. This simple equation is accurate to within 2 psi over the 200 to 400 deg F range.
How high is the temperature of a steam plant?
Here is an excerpt from Power engineering International: Modern steam plants designed for high efficiency utilize supercritical steam condition (up to 250 bar, 565 °C/565 °C), which is so called because the temperatu. Continue Reading.
How many bar is LP steam?
LP steam - nominally around 4bar for an Alfa-Laval type watermaker, taken off the 10 or 16bar auxiliary line via a reducing valve. The evaporator on these machines is tested to around 7bar, so it’s important to have the right safety devices fitted to avoid overpressure.
What happens when you increase the pressure of a substance?
As we increase the pressure the molecules in the substance are forced closer together, as this happens a temperature increase occurs, so the substance get’s warmer to the touch. If it is getting warmer then it is losing energy to the surroundings and so the substances energy drops.
Is steam table based on absolute pressure?
Please note steam tables and this equation are based on “absolute pressures”.
Is there a limit to the temperature of steam?
There is no inherent limit to the temperature of steam. The achieved temperature is a function of two things: The pressure the steam is under and the maximum thermal input that the boiler can generate.
What is the difference between 30 PSIG and 5 PSIG?
30 PSIG steam is 274°F while the 5 PSIG steam is 227°F. You’ll need more heat transfer surface at 5 PSIG than at 15 PSIG.
Why does the control valve overshoot?
The control valve has to react to changes in the temperature of the tube-side liquid. When the control valve opens on a call for heat, the system is normally at part load conditions. The steam temperature is greater at higher pressures and the LMTD is higher. When using higher steam pressures, the control valve may have a higher temperature overshoot when first opening. This could be a real problem in systems with large changes in instantaneous loads such as domestic water applications, and less of an issue in HVAC applications. Lower steam pressure gives better temperature control.
How to determine the diameter of a heat exchanger?
When selecting a heat exchanger, the diameter is determined by the design flow rate and tube velocity limits. The LMTD (log mean temperature difference) ends up being a big factor in determining the heat exchanger length. The closer the shell-side steam temperature is to the average tube-side water temperature, the longer the exchanger becomes and the more square feet of heat transfer surface is required.
Is it good to use higher steam pressure?
It would seem to be a good idea to use the higher steam pressure, until we look at what we lose when using this higher steam pressure. We lose some temperature control and flash steam.
Why does steam move so slowly?
You know why this happens? Because both the load and the pipe size are fixed. When you increase the steam pressure, you compress the steam. Since the load is the same, the steam moves more slowly.
How fast does steam move?
Isn't that wild? You can see this so clearly on the steam-velocity charts. For instance, let's say you wanted to move 200,000 BTU/Hr. out of a boiler into a three-inch main. The charts show that at 0-psig pressure, the steam will be moving along nicely at 30.44 feet per second. Raise the pressure to 5-psig and the steam slows to 22.5 feet per second. Bring the pressure up to 10-psig pressure and the steam moves at just 18 feet per second.
How does pressuretrol work?
This is where the pressuretrol comes in. The pressuretrol operates the steam system on a curve. Cut-in, cut-out, cut-in, cut-out. It does this so the air vents can open and close. If you keep the cut-in pressure too high, some or all of the air vents won't open after the first cycle. Lower the pressure on that space-heating system and watch how much better it heats.
Why does my radiator get hotter?
You bet it will because it's violating the spirit of the term EDR. Your radiators may get hotter at the higher pressure, but that doesn't mean you're getting any more heat out of your boiler. It just means that you ran your burner too long. All you'll get for your efforts is an overheated building and open windows.
Why do people open windows when the pressure is too high?
They do this because they can. It's the only control they have. It's their double-hung zone valve. Want to cut the fuel bills? Crank it down!
Do Dead Men need pressure?
With space heating, thanks to the Dead Men, you don't need much pressure to overcome the friction the steam faces as it flows through the pipes. To the steam, those oversized mains look like a superhighway.
What happens to steam when it is heated?
If the saturated steam produced in a boiler is exposed to a surface with a higher temperature, its temperature will increase above the evaporating temperature. The steam is then described as superheated by the number of temperature degrees through which it has been heated above saturation temperature.
What causes the movement of steam towards the wall?
By contrast, the condensation of saturated steam causes the movement of steam towards the wall, and the release of large quantities of latent heat right at the condensing surface. The combination of these factors means that the overall heat transfer rates are much lower where superheated steam is present, even though the temperature difference between the steam and the secondary fluid is higher.
What is the difference between a saturated steam table and a superheated steam table?
In general, saturated steam tables give gauge pressure, superheated steam tables give absolute pressure.
Why use the first part of a steam coil?
Using this guideline, the first part of a coil will be used purely to reduce the temperature of superheated steam to its saturation point. The rest of the coil will then be able to take advantage of the higher heat transfer ability of the saturated steam.
Why is superheated steam used?
This is more likely to be because superheated steam is already available on site for power generation, being the preferred energy source for turbines, rather than because it has any advantage over saturated steam for heating purposes. To be clear on this point, in most cases, saturated steam should be used for heat transfer processes, even if it means desuperheating the steam to do so. HPIs often desuperheat steam to within about ten degrees of superheat. This small degree of superheat is removed readily in the first part of the heating surface. Greater amounts of superheat are more difficult, and often uneconomic to deal with and (for heating purposes) are best avoided.
What temperature is a turbine supplied with?
A turbine is supplied with superheated steam at 90 bar a @ 450 °C.
What is the primary heating medium?
The primary heating medium may be either the hot flue gas from the boiler, or may be separately fired. Superheated steam has its applications in, for example, turbines where the steam is directed by nozzles onto a rotor. This causes the rotor to turn.
The boiler house - a basic overview of a steam system -
The boiler is the heart of the steam system. The typical modern packaged boiler is powered by a burner which sends heat into the boiler tubes.
The flow of steam to the plant
When steam condenses, its volume is dramatically reduced, which results in a localised reduction in pressure. This pressure drop through the system creates the flow of steam through the pipes.
Steam at the point of use
A large variety of steam using plant exists. A few examples are described below:
Condensate removal from plant
Often, the condensate which forms will drain easily out of the plant through a steam trap. The condensate enters the condensate drainage system. If it is contaminated, it will probably be sent to drain. If not, the valuable heat energy it contains can be retained by returning it to the boiler feedtank.
