Measurement Techniques, Vol. 42, No. 1.

1999

EXPRESSIONS FOR THERMOPHYSICAL

P R O P E R T I E S OF S U P E R H E A T E D S T E A M

V. I. Lachkov, A. I. Lysenkov,
and Yu. V. Mamonov

UDC 536.531:006.354

Expressions f o r the density, viscosity, the adiabatic exponent, and enthalpy of superheated steam are derived
and their accuracy is estimated.

Differential pressure flow meters and volumetric flow gauges are, as a rule, used for commercial accounting of the mass
and energy of superheated steam. In any volume measurements, the density, viscosity, and adiabatic exponent, and in thermal
energy measurements also the enthalpy (heat content of a unit of mass), must be determined under operating conditions, i. e.,
under known pressure and temperature in the real pipeline.
This problem is very difficult to solve in practice by applying the state equation of water and stream [1] and, what is
even more important, the equation is not regulated by standards on technical documentation. Other known equations describing these properties of water steam do not cover the entire range of pressure and temperature measurements and, as a rule, do
not provide a reliable estimation of their accuracy. The published tables are difficult to apply because of their large steps and
because of the lack of interpolation instructions. At the same time, the most significant problem, probably even more important
than accuracy, is the need to ensure a unified approach to the determination of thermophysical properties of the heat agent. This
demand must be strictly observed in the design of heat meters and steam mass of thermal energy measurement methods.
Here, for the first time, we publish simple expressions for the determination of density, enthalpy, the dynamic viscosity coefficient, and the adiabatic exponent of steam. The expressions hold for the temperature range from 100 to 600~ and absolute pressure range from 0.05 to 30.0 MPa (for absolute pressures lower than saturation pressure). The accuracy of the expressions was estimated in accordance with the instructions stated in the GSSSD 98-86 [2] and GSSSD 6-86 [3] for the entire range
of temperature and absolute pressure measurements.
It is recommended to calculate the density 9 of superheated steam from

9=

73.874969~
,
zZ

(1)

where P is the superheated steam density in kg/m 3, x is the normalized temperature, x = (t + 273.15)/674.14, g is the normalized
pressure, ~ = p/22.064, and Z is the coefficient
Z=l+rd

0"4409392

+ rc2(56.4~548

1.386598

297.0161
+

65.45004 `] + ~3( 149.3651

t,

7"

1.380501

------y--. u------r -

0.7644377"]+

617.8258 634.747 322.8009

x--------~
x-------7~~- z-------3~
895.0375
~

2123.035
~3

2488.625
~4

Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 1, pp. 40-41, January, 1999.

58

0543-1972/99/4201-0058522.00 9 1999 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

TABLE 1
9, kg/m3
t, ~

p, MPa

h, kJ/kg

It, I.tPa.sec

SOSRD by expression(1) 8, %

SOSRD

by expression(2)

150 0.10132

0.52331

0.52327

-13.01

2776.0

2775.3

0.03

14.18

14.08

0.7

200 0.10132

0.46648

0.46645

-0.01

2874.8

2874.4

0.01

16.18

16.07

0.7

0.5

2.35366

2.35319

--0.02

2854.9

2853.8

0.04

16.05

15.95

0.6

250

300

400
600

8, %

SOSRD by expression(3)

8, %

1.0

4.85673

4.85559

--0.02

2827.4

2826.6

0.03

15.89

15.80

0.6

0.5

2.10828

2.10793

--0.02

2960.1

2959.5

0.02

18.14

18.04

0.6

1.0

4.29849

4.29736

-0.03

2941.9

2940.8

0.04

18.04

17.95

0.5

2.5

11.4969

11.4926

-0.04

2879

2879.1

0.00

17.76

17.70

0.3

2.5

10.1133

10.1126

-0.01

3008

3007.1

0.03

20.02

19.95

0.3

5.0

22.0751

22.0609

-0.06

2924

2923.8

0.01

19.80

19.80

0.0

7.5

37.4392

37.4119

-0.07

2812

2812.2

-0.01

19.66

19.76

-0.5

5.0

17.2981

17.3016

-0.02

3196

3194.7

0.04

24.37

24.29

0.3

10.0

37.8645

37.8604

-0.01

3096

3096.3

-0.01

24.49

24.48

0.0

10.0

26.0688

26.0643

-0.02

3625

3623.6

0,04

33.09

32.99

0.3

20.0

55.0388

54.9958

-0.08

3537

3537.2

-0.01

33.92

33.83

0.3

1439.213 327.7709"~+rc4(151
z------------T~
x6
)
~, .t386

967.3387 2478.739
- +
"17-

3178.106 2038.512
523._~2041.'].
,~3
4.
,C-------T--,~5
)'

t is the superheated steam temperature in ~

and p is the absolute pressure of superheated steam in MPa.

The estimated standard deviation (SD) ~ of superheated steam density as calculated from (1) does not exceed __.0.02%.
The maximum relative error of superheated stream density as calculated from (1) does not exceed _+0.01%.
It is recommended to calculate the enthalpy of steam h from
h=

10258.8

+~

20231m3+ -24702.8
X
X2

-16307.3
+ 5579.31
- ,~3
.C4

777.285)+
F
')

,)-'< 2 (" 160.276")

355.878 817.28__8 845.841")

~
F ~2

+ 723 . 95607.__._.~5 443740

_ _
x
z2

767668
_ _
x3

587261
x4

167657"~
~'5 ) +

+7 4(22542.8 84140.2 104198.0 42886.7 ,

(
,C3
Z----'T-)

(2)

where h is the steam enthalpy in kJ/kg.

The estimated SD cy of superheated steam enthalpy as calculated from (2) does not exceed +_.0.09%.
It is recommended to calculate the coefficient of dynamic viscosity g from the expression
1

66119

59

(65.605
+~( 7

74~435)

[
124.47
+r I:2 -19.052+ .~2

+rC3[_1281.1.+ 4910.2

97.428)
V )+

6293.7 ~-2699.2')],

(3)

-'-7-)/

where bt is the dynamic viscosity of superheated steam in btPa-sec.

It is advisable to calculate the adiabatic exponent Z of superheated steam from
)~ = (1.1512t5 + 0.197757

+~

(0.147714
"~

+rc2(_39.0946+ 172.750
"~

0.0583239')+

0.164463')+
.~4 )

283.683
' ' ' ~/7

205.208
+

+x3( 15"0622z 53.8350x

2
~ 63.7138z
3

~""""3~

55.2146.')+
X4

24.901817g
j.

(4)

The estimated SD cr of the adiabatic exponent calculated from (4) does not exceed _+0.05%. The maximum relative
error 5 of the adiabatic exponent given by (4) does not exceed __.0.30 %.
Some values of superheated steam density, enthalpy, and the dynamic viscosity coefficient are compared in Table 1 with
the data of the State Office for Standard Reference Data (SOSRD).
The equations cited in this paper were derived in 1992 to the order of AOZT "NPF LOGIKA" in the All-Russian
Scientific Research Center for Certification of Raw Materials and Substances of the SOSRD of the Russian State Standard
Office.
The published expressions were checked by testing the heat meters of SPT92, STP920, SPT940, SPT960, and SPT961
types, and are recommended for use, in case of density and enthalpy, by the instructions No MI 2451-98 approved by the AllUnion Scientific Research Institute of Metrological Services and the D. I. Mendeleev Institute of Metrology [4].

REFERENCES
1.

2.

4.

60

The IAPS formulation for the thermodynamic properties of ordinary water substance for scientific and general uses.
NBS. Gaithersburg (1984).
GSSSD 98-86. Water. Specific volume and enthalpy at temperatures 0-800~ and pressures 0.001-1000 MPa.
Properties of substances and materials. Water and water steam. Issue 1. Tables of standard reference data. [in
Russian]. GSSSD. Izd. Standartov, Moscow (1990).
GSSSD 6-86. Water. The coefficient of dynamic viscosity at temperatures 0--800~ and pressures 0.001-1000 MPa.
Properties of substances and materials. Water and water steam. Issue I. Tables of standard reference data. [in Russian].
GSSSD. Izd. Standartov, Moscow (1990).
MI 2451. GSI. Recommendations. Heat supplies systems. Expressions for measuring heat energy and mass of the
heat-transfer agent [in Russian].