Subject: ME 241 – Thermodynamics 2
Lesson: What is Steam Tables
Objective:
To be oriented with what steam tables is about and its use in
the industry
What is steam tables?
It is a set of tables specifically containing the values
relating to steam conditions. For example, water normally boils
at 100oC. This will happen if the surrounding pressure on the
water is around atmospheric pressure (0.1013 MPa). If somehow
the surrounding pressure on the water drops say to 0.08455 MPa,
the boiling temperature of water also drops to 95oC. Now, if the
pressure rises to 0.1088 MPa, the water will boil at 102oC. These
values mentioned are all found in the steam tables. Steam tables
does not only contain pressures and temperatures but other
properties as well such specific enthalpy, specific volume,
specific internal energy, and entropy. In figure 1, it shows
what is typically found in a steam tables book. Here, it is
taken from the steam tables book by Keenan, Keyes, Hill, and
Moore.
Figure 1 – What’s inside the steam tables book
How useful is steam tables for mechanical engineers?
The steam tables are a very useful tool for mechanical
engineers. Its usefulness is like how useful a map is to
travelers. Steam tables are used by those who work with steam.
Mechanical engineering deals with power plants and most power
plants are driven by steam. For example, an engineer can quickly
determine the temperature and how hot is the saturated steam
produced in a boiler when he knows the steam pressure in it
through pressure gauge. If he gets all the pressures and
temperatures at different points of the power plant, he can also
make thermal efficiency calculations by using the values taken
from the steam tables. Thermal efficiency is a measure of how
efficient a power plant is in converting raw input fuel energy
to output energy which is usually electrical energy.
Figure 2: An engineer reading pressures
