Ethyl Feth V.

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BSME-5
Industrial Steam Process Summary

Steam is used in a wide range of industries. Common applications for steam are, for
example, steam heated processes in plants and factories and steam driven turbines
in electric power plants, but the uses of steam in industry extend far beyond this.
Saturated and distributed at a positive pressure. In most cases, this means that it is
supplied to equipment at pressures above 0 MPaG (0 psig) and temperatures higher
than 100°C (212°F).
Heating applications for positive pressure steam can be found in food processing
factories, refineries, and chemical plants to name a few. Saturated steam is used as
the heating source for process fluid heat exchangers, reboilers, reactors, combustion
air preheaters, and other types of heat transfer equipment.
The use of steam for heating at temperatures below 100°C (212°F), traditionally the
temperature range in which hot water is used, has grown rapidly in recent years.
When vacuum saturated steam is used in the same manner as positive pressure
saturated steam, the temperature of the steam can be quickly changed by adjusting
the pressure, making it possible to achieve precise temperature control unlike
applications using hot water. However, a vacuum pump must be used in conjunction
with the equipment, because merely reducing the pressure will not drop it to below
atmospheric pressure.

Boiler and Pressure Vessel Basics. Boilers are common devices for industrial heating

and humidification applications. Pressure vessels are typically defined as boilers or
tanks designed to operate at pressures much higher than ambient pressure, typically
delineated as greater than 15 psig.

All boilers are designed to include a heat source (furnace) and a heat ex-changer —
typically a system of tubes or piping — which allows water to be heated above its
boiling point. They may use three separate designs to accomplish water heating:

Fire-tube boilers feed hot gases through tubes connected to the furnace. The tubes
pass through a water-filled drum in order to transfer heat to the water.

Water-tube boilers feed water through a system of tubing. The tubing is surrounded

by a boiler drum filled with hot gases from the furnace; the heat in the drum is
transferred to the water tubing to generate steam.

Sectional boilers are constructed of several cast iron sections which are bolted
together. Simple sectional boilers consist of a firebox which directly heats a
corresponding water chamber.

When water is boiled into steam, it expands rapidly and can travel through tubes or
pipes at over 60 miles/hr (100 km/hr). While this results in an efficient means to
transfer energy, it can also easily cause corrosion or scaling due to improper boiler
operation or poor construction. This condition causes reduced steam quality, poor
efficiency and, under worst-case circumstances, catastrophic boiler failure. Failure is
also caused by over pressurization and insufficient water levels, the latter of which
causes overheating and vessel failure.