Steam –the ideal source of power!
Steam is a derivative of water. It is a result of a change in phase from liquid to gas for this substance (water) due to the introduction of heat.It is a preferred media for powering engines and turbines in many situations. For one, water is relatively inexpensive and in abundance in most parts of the earth. Water can easily change phase from liquid to gas, too, and vise-versa, and has the capability to store a large amount of heat energy called latent heat per kg of mass compared to many substances. …Other substances, have been explored to take the place of water. To this day, however, its commercial value has not been supplanted. –an excerpt from my blog on “Engineering and Technical Knowledge Arena .”
Written by: Sanoy Suerte, RME/MBM; http://www.linkedin.com/in/sannysuerte ; http://Viralnetworks.com/a/28285 ; http://www.sncgroup-sany.ws/home
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Showing posts with label Steam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steam. Show all posts
Monday, June 21, 2010
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Steam Piping Care!
Steam pipings!
Whenever one sees steam pipings around the plant, or in your apartments/ residential buildings, they would look ordinary and seem to be just like any other kinds of water pipes, but they are not. They have very special design thoughts incorporated in them, and if not maintained properly, a lot of inefficiencies could result, as well as various types of problems, like corrosion, water logging, water hammer, and early failure. Steam pipings are lagged with insulation materials and the insulation materials are protected from being soaked with water by sheet metal claddings. If the insulation is soaked in water, you can be sure that the heat loss could increase by as much as 50x compared to heat loss from a pipe giving heat directly to dry air. Bare hot pipes are also very costly in terms of operating costs. Whenever, the insulation therefore are damaged, they should be repaired immediately, and the insulation properly replaced.
So, why do we need extra care to make sure the hot pipes are well insulated? There are several reasons for this. The first one is prevention of energy loss or heat dissipation along the pipeline, so that the heat reaches its point of application. The other reason is for safety or protection of personnel. The next reason is to avoid too much condensation along the pipeline, which may overload the steam traps that remove the condensates from the system, and the fourth one is to make your operation for your particular application effective.and efficient. Note also that water in the pipeline creates water hammer that can cause a pipeline to be damaged.
There are also other things put by the designer in your piping system. Some of these include pipe alignments designed to drain the condensate in the direction of the steam flow; expansion system to keep the line from breaking during heat ups and cool downs; pipe supports that maintain pipe grade and alignments; steam trap system using different principles in engineering like temperature actuated or condensate level actuated devices, and some other different combination of principles based on these two design principles; and air removal systems or dryness maintaining devices for your steam quality safeguards. Frequent inspection and audits need be undertaken to check on these specific designed items, and replacement of fittings and devices need be initiated to ensure the most economical operation of the system once found damaged or defective. An energy conservation engineer or a steam piping expert should be able to determine this properly for you. If you need one, you can ask around from your local association of mechanical engineers or energy management engineers.
You can also email the undersigned at sanysue@lycos.com for any questions you have.
Written by: Sanoy Suerte, RME/MBM; http://www.linkedin.com/in/sannysuerte; http://businessmanage.sosblog.com
Whenever one sees steam pipings around the plant, or in your apartments/ residential buildings, they would look ordinary and seem to be just like any other kinds of water pipes, but they are not. They have very special design thoughts incorporated in them, and if not maintained properly, a lot of inefficiencies could result, as well as various types of problems, like corrosion, water logging, water hammer, and early failure. Steam pipings are lagged with insulation materials and the insulation materials are protected from being soaked with water by sheet metal claddings. If the insulation is soaked in water, you can be sure that the heat loss could increase by as much as 50x compared to heat loss from a pipe giving heat directly to dry air. Bare hot pipes are also very costly in terms of operating costs. Whenever, the insulation therefore are damaged, they should be repaired immediately, and the insulation properly replaced.
So, why do we need extra care to make sure the hot pipes are well insulated? There are several reasons for this. The first one is prevention of energy loss or heat dissipation along the pipeline, so that the heat reaches its point of application. The other reason is for safety or protection of personnel. The next reason is to avoid too much condensation along the pipeline, which may overload the steam traps that remove the condensates from the system, and the fourth one is to make your operation for your particular application effective.and efficient. Note also that water in the pipeline creates water hammer that can cause a pipeline to be damaged.
There are also other things put by the designer in your piping system. Some of these include pipe alignments designed to drain the condensate in the direction of the steam flow; expansion system to keep the line from breaking during heat ups and cool downs; pipe supports that maintain pipe grade and alignments; steam trap system using different principles in engineering like temperature actuated or condensate level actuated devices, and some other different combination of principles based on these two design principles; and air removal systems or dryness maintaining devices for your steam quality safeguards. Frequent inspection and audits need be undertaken to check on these specific designed items, and replacement of fittings and devices need be initiated to ensure the most economical operation of the system once found damaged or defective. An energy conservation engineer or a steam piping expert should be able to determine this properly for you. If you need one, you can ask around from your local association of mechanical engineers or energy management engineers.
You can also email the undersigned at sanysue@lycos.com for any questions you have.
Written by: Sanoy Suerte, RME/MBM; http://www.linkedin.com/in/sannysuerte; http://businessmanage.sosblog.com
Monday, November 23, 2009
Steam Energy Conservation!
Steam –Energy Savings!
The use of steam as a heating media has been taken lightly many times. People are sometimes not aware that a lot of energy could be wasted by not using the steam system properly, and by not operating the steam boiler efficiently. How steam and energy conservation is assured needs a lot of knowledge on the characteristics of steam, and it is something that needs professional expertise. Take for example, the presence of air in the steam piping system. Not all laymen know that air is an insulator, and as an insulator, it prevents an efficient transfer of heat. Very few laymen know also that air causes corrosion of the piping system. And still, very few are aware that operating the steam system at a higher pressure means, more energy required to generate steam, and operating it at very low pressure, might mean unequal distribution of heat at various locations of the system and increase generation of condensate water. Which parameters are causing you a problem, may not be too obvious for the lay person. The cost could submarine in the company books of accounts, and can mean a lot in terms of money value and equipment life or need to recapitalize investments in equipment for so short a period of time. When was the last time you checked your boiler water and feed-water quality? Was the result good? Are you within the prescribed parameters by your OEM? The next time you get a bad result, try checking your boiler tubes conditions also. When you do, try having your insulations and steam trap conditions surveyed.
Written by: Sanoy C. Suerte, RME/MBM ; Http://www.linkedin.com/in/sannysuerte
Http://businessmanage.sosblog.com
The use of steam as a heating media has been taken lightly many times. People are sometimes not aware that a lot of energy could be wasted by not using the steam system properly, and by not operating the steam boiler efficiently. How steam and energy conservation is assured needs a lot of knowledge on the characteristics of steam, and it is something that needs professional expertise. Take for example, the presence of air in the steam piping system. Not all laymen know that air is an insulator, and as an insulator, it prevents an efficient transfer of heat. Very few laymen know also that air causes corrosion of the piping system. And still, very few are aware that operating the steam system at a higher pressure means, more energy required to generate steam, and operating it at very low pressure, might mean unequal distribution of heat at various locations of the system and increase generation of condensate water. Which parameters are causing you a problem, may not be too obvious for the lay person. The cost could submarine in the company books of accounts, and can mean a lot in terms of money value and equipment life or need to recapitalize investments in equipment for so short a period of time. When was the last time you checked your boiler water and feed-water quality? Was the result good? Are you within the prescribed parameters by your OEM? The next time you get a bad result, try checking your boiler tubes conditions also. When you do, try having your insulations and steam trap conditions surveyed.
Written by: Sanoy C. Suerte, RME/MBM ; Http://www.linkedin.com/in/sannysuerte
Http://businessmanage.sosblog.com
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