Steam condensate systems. Many technological processes of industrial enterprises (vulcanization, polymerization, chemical processes, cleaning), food production (drying, cooking, sterilization, etc.), production and processing of materials (drying, heating), etc. occur at a temperature of ~ 60 - 300 °C.
The thermal energy necessary for heating and maintaining the required operating temperature throughout the entire technological process is obtained from a high-temperature source. Most often, the heat of combustion of fuel (gaseous, liquid, solid) is used. Sometimes heat from renewable sources is used - solar or geothermal energy, as well as electrical energy.
But for most technological processes, a temperature of ~ 60 - 300 ° C is required, while the source temperature can reach several thousand degrees Celsius. The issue of heat transfer from a high-temperature source to the required distance and the correct distribution of thermal energy between consumers for heating and maintaining the temperature regime is usually solved with the help of a coolant.
In some cases, when there is a possibility of cooling below 0 ° C, non-freezing coolants are used - oil, propylene glycols, alcohol solutions. But in most cases, the most ordinary water (of course, properly purified and prepared) acts as a coolant, amazing in its physical properties.
Advantages of water as a heat carrier:
1. Relative Availability and Prevalence - water in significant quantities can be obtained in a river, lake, well, there is no need to produce or purchase. Naturally, high-quality water treatment is necessary - cleaning from pollution and changing the chemical composition of dissolved salts - to prevent solid formations in pipelines and heat exchangers
2. Abnormally high heat capacity of water (10 times higher than the heat capacity of steel and 30 times higher than the heat capacity of mercury). It is 4.19 kJ / (kg * K)
This means that by pumping, for example, 100 liters of water through the pipeline and cooling it in the heat exchanger by only 1 ° C, we can transfer 419 kJ of thermal energy. And with a temperature difference of 20 degrees, the same 100 liters transferred through the pipeline will be able to transfer already 8398 kJ of heat.
This is the general principle of heat transfer using heat transfer fluids, but due to the abnormally high heat capacity of water, water allows much more heat to be transferred than other heat transfer media. This reduces transportation costs for pumping the coolant (smaller and more economical pumps, smaller pipelines and, accordingly, their metal consumption, less wear on the transport system)
3. Huge latent heat of vaporization: 2258 kJ/kg (at normal atmospheric pressure and 100°C). What does it mean?
Everyone knows that when boiling, water turns into steam, but few people imagine that during this transformation it is “consumed”, or rather "stored" in pairs huge amount of warmth. During the reverse transformation (condensation) of steam into water, all this stored heat is “released”, i.e. "stands out". Everything is logical, but surprisingly different - the amount of heat "stored" and "released" during such a transition very big, while the temperature of both water and steam remains unchanged (eg 100°C for normal conditions).
It is this latent heat of vaporization (condensation) that makes steam condensate systems far ahead in terms of efficiency compared to other methods of heat delivery (for example, liquid or gaseous heat carrier)
If we consider as a whole the process of heating, steam generation, superheating of steam and further transfer of heat to the consumer, it is clearly seen that the maximum efficiency is hidden precisely in the transition water-steam-water, much more powerful than all other methods of heat transfer coolant:
4. There are additional advantages of steam condensate schemes. – steam fills the working space very quickly and evenly heats the entire area, the condensation temperature is constant – which does not allow individual heated zones to overheat. This helps to improve the quality of processes, uniform processing of materials and significantly reduces dangerous situations (for example, when heating fuels and lubricants with steam or roasting seeds, etc., there is no dangerous situation with overheating and charring - the temperature simply cannot physically rise higher - even if the material is already heated and heat removal has stopped , and such problems could occur with electric or gas heating). In addition, the volume of condensate is many times less than steam - its return is easier, in pipelines of smaller diameter.
So why all this?
The fact that a huge energy is hidden in the process of the Water-Steam-Water transition - we hope we understand this.
But using this knowledge, getting high-quality steam and completely turning steam into condensate (which is the most efficient) is a very difficult technical task that requires expensive equipment, proper connection and operation. These technologies have been perfected for hundreds of years, and even now new solutions are being found and new discoveries are being made.
This is the area in which our company operates. Constantly accumulating valuable knowledge and experience, we use them in energy efficient technologies. We produce complex thermal modules for steam condensate circuits of Enterprises, Oil Extraction Plants, Elevators, Paper Mills, Bakery Plants, Large Thermal Power Plants or Small Boilers, in general, wherever steam and condensate are used.
Steam condensate systems, the result: significant savings, equipment payback and care for wildlife.
