COGENERATION AND SITE UTILITY SYSTEMS

STEAM SYSTEMS

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 Steam

Steam usages: Useful features of steam for process heating:

• Indirect heating (heaters) • Energy can be generated at one point and

• Direct heating (live steam injection) distributed
• Power generation (steam turbines) • Convenient form of transferring energy
• Vacuum ejectors around
• Flare atomization • High latent heat content
• Stripping agent in separation process • Ease of temperature control
• Diluent in reactors • Can be used to drive mechanical equipment
locally
• Cheap
• Safe

Steam system

Steam system components

• Boiler feedwater treatment
• Steam boilers
• Steam turbines
• Steam distribution
• Steam users

Properties of steam: steam tables

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 Boiler feed water treatment

Principal problems with raw water

from reservoir, river, lake, borehole or
seawater desalination plant:

• Suspended solids

• Dissolved solids

• Dissolved salts

• Dissolved gases (oxygen and

carbon dioxide)

Steam boilers

Many types depending on:

• Steam pressure

• Steam output

• Fuel type

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 Fire-tube (shell) boilers

• Normally used for small heating

duties of low-pressure steam

• Fuels are normally restricted to

be gas or fuel oil

Water-tube boilers

• High pressures and high steam

output

• Fuels can be gas, fuel oil or solid

fuel

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 Boiler blowdown

• Prevent the build up of solids in the boiler that could

cause fouling and corrosion in the boiler

• Avoid carry over of solids to steam system

• Blowdown rates are the ratio of flowrate of

blowdown to evaporation rate

Evaporation (E)
Boiler feed
BOILER

Blowdown (B)

Steam boiler efficiency

• The heat loss in the stack is the

major inefficiency
• There are also heat losses from
the boiler casing and
blowdown

𝑄𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑄𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚
η𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 = =
𝑄𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑄𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 + 𝑄𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠

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 Steam turbines
• Converts the energy from
steam into power

• Why steam turbine?

– To produce power
(electricity)
– To produce shaftwork (as
prime movers)
– To step-down pressure

High
pressure
steam

Power out

Low
pressure
note:
steam pressure step-down may also be
achieved using throttle valve,
To process
but no shaft work is generated.

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 Steam distribution

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Steam distribution

• Steam normally distributed with several pressure levels

• Typical maximum steam header distribution around 40 bar
• Letdown valves control the steam header pressure (with BFW injection for de-
superheating)
• Heat losses in steam distribution system can be ~ 10% - 20% of fuel fired in boiler

Use low pressure steam rather than high pressure:

• Higher latent heat at lower pressure
• Lower capital cost heat transfer equipment
• Allows power generation in steam turbines from the high-pressure
steam

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 Steam users

• All operational units requiring steam

• Lowest point of steam header usually fitted with steam traps

• Allow condensate (water) to pass out but prevent steam from leaving the system

Steam

Process

Trap

Condensate Steam trap

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