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SteamEngineeringTutorials>SteamEngineeringPrinciples&HeatTransfer
Anexplanationofthepropertiesandusesofsuperheatedsteam(suchasforelectricitygeneration).IncludingexplanationsoftheRankineandCarnot
thermodynamiccycles,superheatedsteamtablesandtheMollier(HS)chart.

SuperheatedSteam
Ifthesaturatedsteamproducedinaboilerisexposedtoasurfacewithahighertemperature,itstemperaturewillincreaseabovetheevaporatingtemperature.
Thesteamisthendescribedassuperheatedbythenumberoftemperaturedegreesthroughwhichithasbeenheatedabovesaturationtemperature.
Superheatcannotbeimpartedtothesteamwhilstitisstillinthepresenceofwater,asanyadditionalheatsimplyevaporatesmorewater.Thesaturatedsteam
mustbepassedthroughanadditionalheatexchanger.Thismaybeasecondheatexchangestageintheboiler,oraseparatesuperheaterunit.Theprimary
heatingmediummaybeeitherthehotfluegasfromtheboiler,ormaybeseparatelyfired.

Superheatedsteamhasitsapplicationsin,forexample,turbineswherethesteamisdirectedbynozzlesontoarotor.Thiscausestherotortoturn.Theenergy
tomakethishappencanonlyhavecomefromthesteam,sologicallythesteamhaslessenergyafterithasgonethroughtheturbinerotor.Ifthesteamwasat
saturationtemperature,thislossofenergywouldcausesomeofthesteamtocondense.
Turbineshaveanumberofstagestheexhauststeamfromthefirstrotorwillbedirectedtoasecondrotoronthesameshaft.Thismeansthatsaturatedsteam
wouldgetwetterandwetterasitwentthroughthesuccessivestages.Notonlywouldthispromotewaterhammer,butthewaterparticleswouldcausesevere
erosionwithintheturbine.Thesolutionistosupplytheturbinewithsuperheatedsteamattheinlet,andusetheenergyinthesuperheatedportiontodrivethe
rotoruntilthetemperature/pressureconditionsareclosetosaturationandthenexhaustthesteam.
Anotherveryimportantreasonforusingsuperheatedsteaminturbinesistoimprovethermalefficiency.
Thethermodynamicefficiencyofaheatenginesuchasaturbine,maybedeterminedusingoneoftwotheories:
TheCarnotcycle,wherethechangeintemperatureofthesteambetweentheinletandoutletiscomparedtotheinlettemperature.
TheRankinecycle,wherethechangeinheatenergyofthesteambetweentheinletandoutletiscomparedtothetotalenergytakenfromthesteam.
Note:Thevaluesusedforthetemperatureandenergycontentinthefollowingexamplesarefromsteamtables.

Example2.3.1
Aturbineissuppliedwithsuperheatedsteamat90bara@450C.
Theexhaustisat0.06bara(partialvacuum)and10%wet.
Saturatedtemperature=36.2C.

2.3.1.1DeterminetheCarnotefficiency(C)

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2.3.1.2DeterminetheRankineefficiency(R)
ForthetheoreticalRankineCycle,Figure2.3.2,itisassumedthattherearenofrictionallossesintheturbine,perfectexpansionofthesteamoccursinthe
turbine(isentropic),andignoresenergyaddedbythefeedpumpreturningcondensatetotheboiler.

UsingExample2.3.1where:
Aturbineissuppliedwithsuperheatedsteamat90bara@450C.
Theexhaustisat0.06bara(partialvacuum)and10%wet.
Saturatedtemperature=36.2C.
Thisdatacanbeplottedonthetemperature/enthalpycurveasillustratedinFigure2.3.3:

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Examinationofthefiguresforeitherofthecyclesindicatesthattoachievehighefficiency:
Thetemperatureorenergyattheturbineinletshouldbeashighaspossible.Thismeansashighapressureandtemperatureasispracticallypossible.
Superheatedsteamisthesimplestwayofprovidingthis.
Thetemperatureorenergyintheexhaustmustbeaslowaspossible.Thismeansaslowapressureandtemperatureasispracticallypossible,andisusually
achievedbyacondenserontheturbineexhaust.

Notes:
ThefigurescalculatedinExamples2.3.1.1and2.3.1.2areforthermodynamicefficiency,andmustnotbeconfusedwithmechanicalefficiency.
Althoughtheefficiencyfiguresappeartobeverylow,theymustnotbeviewedinisolation,butratherusedtocompareonetypeofheatenginewithanother.
Forexample,gasturbines,steamenginesanddieselengines.

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Superheatedsteamtables
Thesuperheatedsteamtablesdisplaythepropertiesofsteamatvariouspressuresinmuchthesamewayasthesaturatedsteamtables.However,with
superheatedsteamthereisnodirectrelationshipbetweentemperatureandpressure.Thereforeataparticularpressureitmaybepossibleforsuperheatedsteam
toexistatawiderangeoftemperatures.
Ingeneral,saturatedsteamtablesgivegaugepressure,superheatedsteamtablesgiveabsolutepressure.

Example2.3.2
Howmuchmoreheatdoessuperheatedsteamwithatemperatureof400Candapressureof1.013bara(0barg)havethansaturatedsteamatthesame
pressure?

Thismaysoundausefulincreaseinenergy,butinfactitwillactuallymakelifemoredifficultfortheengineerwhowantstousesteamforheatingpurposes.
Fromtheenergyinthesuperheatshown,thespecificheatcapacitycanbedeterminedbydividingthisvaluebythetemperaturedifferencebetweensaturation
temperature(100C)andthesuperheatedsteamtemperature(400C):

However,unlikethespecificheatcapacityofwater,thespecificheatcapacityforsuperheatedsteamvariesconsiderablywithpressureandtemperatureand
cannotbetakenasaconstant.
Thevalueof2.0kJ/kgCgivenaboveisthereforeonlythemeanspecificheatcapacityoverthespecifiedtemperaturerangeforthatpressure.
Thereisnodirectrelationshipbetweentemperature,pressureandthespecificheatcapacityofsuperheatedsteam.Thereis,however,ageneraltrendtowards
anincreaseinspecificheatcapacitywithincreasingpressureatlowdegreesofsuperheat,butthisisnotalwaysthecase.
Typicalvaluerange:
2.0kJ/kgCat125Cand1.013bara(0barg)
3.5kJ/kgCat400Cand120bara.

Cansuperheatedsteambeusedinprocessheatexchangersandotherheatingprocesses?
Althoughnottheidealmediumfortransferringheat,superheatedsteamissometimesusedforprocessheatinginmanysteamplantsaroundtheworld,
especiallyintheHPIs(HydrocarbonProcessingIndustries)whichproduceoilsandpetrochemicals.Thisismorelikelytobebecausesuperheatedsteamis
alreadyavailableonsiteforpowergeneration,beingthepreferredenergysourceforturbines,ratherthanbecauseithasanyadvantageoversaturatedsteamfor
heatingpurposes.Tobeclearonthispoint,inmostcases,saturatedsteamshouldbeusedforheattransferprocesses,evenifitmeansdesuperheatingthe
steamtodoso.HPIsoftendesuperheatsteamtowithinabouttendegreesofsuperheat.Thissmalldegreeofsuperheatisremovedreadilyinthefirstpartofthe
heatingsurface.Greateramountsofsuperheataremoredifficult,andoftenuneconomictodealwithand(forheatingpurposes)arebestavoided.
Therearequiteafewreasonswhysuperheatedsteamisnotassuitableforprocessheatingassaturatedsteam:
Superheatedsteamhastocooltosaturationtemperaturebeforeitcancondensetoreleaseitslatentheat(enthalpyofevaporation).Theamountofheatgiven
upbythesuperheatedsteamasitcoolstosaturationtemperatureisrelativelysmallincomparisontoitsenthalpyofevaporation.
Ifthesteamhasonlyafewdegreesofsuperheat,thissmallamountofheatisquicklygivenupbeforeitcondenses.However,ifthesteamhasalargedegreeof
superheat,itmaytakearelativelylongtimetocool,duringwhichtimethesteamisreleasingverylittleenergy.
Unlikesaturatedsteam,thetemperatureofsuperheatedsteamisnotuniform.Superheatedsteamhastocooltogiveupheat,whilstsaturatedsteamchanges
phase.Thismeansthattemperaturegradientsovertheheattransfersurfacemayoccurwithsuperheatedsteam.
Inaheatexchanger,useofsuperheatedsteamcanleadtotheformationofadrywallboilingzone,closetothetubesheet.Thisdrywallareacanquickly
becomescaledorfouled,andtheresultinghightemperatureofthetubewallmaycausetubefailure.

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Thisclearlyshowsthatinheattransferapplications,steamwithalargedegreeofsuperheatisoflittleusebecauseit:
Givesuplittleheatuntilithascooledtosaturationtemperature.
Createstemperaturegradientsovertheheattransfersurfaceasitcoolstosaturationtemperature.
Provideslowerratesofheattransferwhilstthesteamissuperheated.
Requireslargerheattransferareas.
So,superheatedsteamisnotaseffectiveassaturatedsteamforheattransferapplications.Thismayseemstrange,consideringthattherateofheattransfer
acrossaheatingsurfaceisdirectlyproportionaltothetemperaturedifferenceacrossit.Ifsuperheatedsteamhasahighertemperaturethansaturatedsteamat
thesamepressure,surelysuperheatedsteamshouldbeabletoimpartmoreheat?Theanswertothisisno.Thiswillnowbelookedatinmoredetail.
Itistruethatthetemperaturedifferencewillhaveaneffectontherateofheattransferacrosstheheattransfersurface,asclearlyshownEquation2.5.3.

Equation2.5.3alsoshowsthatheattransferwilldependontheoverallheattransfercoefficientU,andtheheattransferareaA.
Foranysingleapplication,theheattransferareamightbefixed.However,thesamecannotbesaidoftheUvalueandthisisthemajordifferencebetween
saturatedandsuperheatedsteam.TheoverallUvalueforsuperheatedsteamwillvarythroughouttheprocess,butwillalwaysbemuchlowerthanthatfor
saturatedsteam.ItisdifficulttopredictUvaluesforsuperheatedsteam,asthesewilldependuponmanyfactors,butgenerally,thehigherthedegreeof
superheat,thelowertheUvalue.
Typically,forahorizontalsteamcoilsurroundedwithwater,Uvaluesmightbeaslowas50to100W/m2Cforsuperheatedsteambut1200W/m2Cfor
saturatedsteam,asdepictedinFigure2.3.4.
Forsteamtooilapplications,theUvaluesmightbeconsiderablyless,perhapsaslowas20W/m2Cforsuperheatedsteamand150W/m2Cforsaturated
steam.
Inashellandtubeheatexchanger,100W/m2Cforsuperheatedsteamand500W/m2Cforsaturatedsteamcanbeexpected.Thesefiguresaretypicalactual
figureswillvaryduetootherdesignandoperationalconsiderations.
Althoughthetemperatureofsuperheatedsteamisalwayshigherthansaturatedsteamatthesamepressure,itsabilitytotransferheatisthereforemuchlower.
Theoveralleffectisthatsuperheatedsteamismuchlesseffectiveattransferringheatthansaturatedsteamatthesamepressure.ThenextSectionFouling
givesmoredetail.

Notonlyissuperheatedsteamlesseffectiveattransferringheat,itisverydifficulttoquantifyusingEquation2.5.3,

=UA

T,asthetemperatureofthe

steamwillfallasitgivesupitsheatwhilepassingalongtheheatingsurface.
Predictingthesizeofheattransfersurfacesutilisingsuperheatedsteamisdifficultandcomplex.Inpractice,thebasicdataneededtoperformsuchcalculations
iseithernotknownorempiricallyobtained,puttingtheirreliabilityandaccuracyindoubt.
Clearly,assuperheatedsteamislesseffectiveattransferringheatthansaturatedsteam,thenanyheatingareausingsuperheatedsteamwouldhavetobe
largerthanasaturatedsteamcoiloperatingatthesamepressuretodeliverthesameheatflowrate.
Ifthereisnochoicebuttousesuperheatedsteam,itisnotpossibletomaintainsteaminitssuperheatedstatethroughouttheheatingcoilorheatexchanger,
sinceasitgivesupsomeofitsheatcontenttothesecondaryfluid,itcoolstowardssaturationtemperature.Theamountofheatabovesaturationisquitesmall
comparedwiththelargeamountavailableascondensationoccurs.
Thesteamshouldreachsaturationrelativelysoonintheprocessthisallowsthesteamtocondensetoproducehigherheattransferratesandresultinahigher
overallUvalueforthewholecoil,seeFigure2.3.5.
Tohelptoenablethis,superheatedsteamusedforheattransferpurposesshouldnotholdmorethanabout10Cofsuperheat.

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Ifthisisso,itisrelativelyeasyandpracticaltodesignaheatexchangeroracoilwithaheatingsurfaceareabaseduponsaturatedsteamatthesame
pressure,byaddingonacertainamountofsurfaceareatoallowforthesuperheat.Usingthisguideline,thefirstpartofacoilwillbeusedpurelytoreducethe
temperatureofsuperheatedsteamtoitssaturationpoint.Therestofthecoilwillthenbeabletotakeadvantageofthehigherheattransferabilityofthe
saturatedsteam.TheeffectisthattheoverallUvaluemaynotbemuchlessthanifsaturatedsteamweresuppliedtothecoil.
Frompracticalexperience,iftheextraheatingareaneededforsuperheatedsteamis1%per2Cofsuperheat,thecoil(orheatexchanger)willbelargeenough.
Thisseemstoworkupto10Cofsuperheat.Itisnotrecommendedthatsuperheatedsteamabove10Cofsuperheatbeusedforheatingpurposesduetothe
probabledisproportionateanduneconomicsizeoftheheatingsurface,thepropensityforfoulingbydirt,andthepossibilityofproductspoilagebythehighand
unevensuperheattemperatures.

Fouling
Foulingiscausedbydepositsbuildingupontheheattransfersurfaceaddingaresistancetoheatflow.Manyprocessliquidscandepositsludgeorscaleon
heatingsurfaces,andwilldosoatafasterrateathighertemperatures.Further,superheatedsteamisadrygas.Heatflowingfromthesteamtothemetalwall
mustpassthroughthestaticfilmsadheringtothewall,whichresistheatflow.
Bycontrast,thecondensationofsaturatedsteamcausesthemovementofsteamtowardsthewall,andthereleaseoflargequantitiesoflatentheatrightatthe
condensingsurface.Thecombinationofthesefactorsmeansthattheoverallheattransferratesaremuchlowerwheresuperheatedsteamispresent,even
thoughthetemperaturedifferencebetweenthesteamandthesecondaryfluidishigher.

Example2.3.3Sizingatubebundleforsuperheatedsteam
Superheatedsteamat3bargwith10Cofsuperheat(154C)istobeusedastheprimaryheatsourceforashellandtubeprocessheatexchangerwitha
heatingloadof250kW,heatinganoilbasedfluidfrom80Cto120C(makingthearithmeticmeansecondarytemperature(

TAM)100C).Estimatetheareaof

primarysteamcoilrequired.
(Arithmeticmeantemperaturedifferencesareusedtokeepthiscalculationsimpleinpractice,logarithmicmeantemperatureswouldbeusedforgreater
accuracy.PleaserefertoModule2.5
HeatTransferfordetailsonarithmeticandlogarithmicmeantemperaturedifferences).
First,considerthecoilifitwereheatedbysaturatedsteamat3barg(144C).
TheUvalueforsaturatedsteamheatingoilviaanewcarbonsteelcoilistakentobe500W/m2C.

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Otherapplicationsusingsuperheatedsteam
Alltheaboveapplieswhensteamisflowingthrougharelativelynarrowpassage,suchasthetubesinashellandtubeheatexchangerortheplatesinaplate
heatexchanger.
Insomeapplications,perhapsadryingcylinderinapapermachine,superheatedsteamisadmittedtoagreatervolume,whenitsvelocityplummetstovery
smallvalues.Here,thesteamnearthewallofthecylinderquicklydropsintemperaturetonearsaturationandcondensationbegins.Theheatflowthroughthe
wallisthenthesameasifthecylinderweresuppliedwithsaturatedsteam.Superheatispresentonlywithinthecoreinthesteamspaceandhasnodiscernible
effectonheattransferrates.
Thereareinstanceswherethepresenceofsuperheatcanactuallyreducetheperformanceofaprocess,wheresteamisbeingusedasaprocessmaterial.
Onesuchprocessmightinvolvemoisturebeingimpartedtotheproductfromthesteamasitcondenses,suchas,theconditioningofanimalfeedstuff(meal)
priortopelletising.Herethemoistureprovidedbythesteamisanessentialpartoftheprocesssuperheatedsteamwouldoverdrythemealandmake
pelletisingdifficult.

Theeffectsofreducingsteampressure
Inadditiontotheuseofanadditionalheatexchanger(generallycalledasuperheater),superheatcanalsobeimpartedtosteambyallowingittoexpandtoa
lowerpressureasitpassesthroughtheorificeofapressurereducingvalve.Thisistermedathrottlingprocesswiththelowerpressuresteamhavingthesame
enthalpy(apartfromasmallamountlosttofrictioninpassingthroughthevalve)astheupstreamhighpressuresteam.However,thetemperatureofthethrottled
steamwillalwaysbelowerthanthatofthesupplysteam.
Thestateofthethrottledsteamwilldependupon:
Thepressureofthesupplysteam.
Thestateofthesupplysteam.
Thepressuredropacrossthevalveorifice.
Forsupplysteambelow30barginthedrysaturatedstate,anydropinpressurewillproducesuperheatedsteamafterthrottling.Thedegreeofsuperheatwill
dependontheamountofpressurereduction.
Forsupplysteamabove30barginthedrysaturatedstate,thethrottledsteammightbesuperheated,drysaturated,orevenwet,dependingontheamountof
pressuredrop.Forexample,drysaturatedsteamat60bargwouldhavetobereducedtoapproximately10.5bargtoproducedrysaturatedsteam.Anylessof
apressuredropwillproducewetsteam,whileanygreaterpressuredropwouldproducesuperheatedsteam.
Equally,thestateofthesupplysteamatanypressurewillinfluencethestateofthethrottledsteam.Forexample,wetsteamatapressureof10bargand0.95
drynessfractionwouldneedtobereducedto0.135bargtoproducedrysaturatedsteam.Anylessofapressuredropwouldproducewetsteamwhileany
greaterpressuredropwouldsuperheatthethrottledsteam.

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Example2.3.4Increasingthedrynessofwetsteamwithacontrolvalve
Steamwithadrynessfraction( )of0.95isreducedfrom6bargto1barg,usingapressurereducingvalve.
Determinethesteamconditionsafterthepressurereducingvalve.

Thisquantityofheatenergyisretainedbythesteamasthepressureisreducedto1barg.
Totalenthalpyofdrysaturatedsteam,at1barg=505.6+2201.1
Totalenthalpyofdrysaturatedsteam,at1barg=2706.7kJ/kg
Astheactualenthalpyofthesteamat1bargislessthantheenthalpyofdrysaturatedsteamat1barg,thenthesteamisnotsuperheatedandstillretainsa
proportionofmoistureinitscontent.

Sincethetotalenthalpyafterthepressurereducingvalveislessthanthetotalenthalpyofsteamat1barg,thesteamisstillwet.

Example2.3.5Superheatcreatedbyacontrolvalve
Steamwithadrynessfractionof0.98isreducedfrom10bargdownto1bargusingapressurereducingvalve(asshowninFigure2.3.6).

Determinethedegreeofsuperheatafterthevalve.
Asinthepreviousexample(2.3.4),thespecificenthalpyofdrysaturatedsteam(hg)at1bargis2706.7kJ/kg.
Theactualtotalenthalpyofthesteamisgreaterthanthetotalenthalpy(hg)ofdrysaturatedsteamat1barg.Thesteamisthereforenotonly100%dry,but
alsohassomedegreeofsuperheat.
Theexcessenergy=2741.72706.7=35kJ/kg,andthisisusedtoraisethetemperatureofthesteamfromthesaturationtemperatureof120Cto136C.

Thedegreeofsuperheatcanbedeterminedeitherbyusingsuperheatedsteamtables,orbyusingaMollierchart.

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TheMollierchart
TheMollierchartisaplotofthespecificenthalpyofsteamagainstitsspecificentropy(sg).

Figure2.3.7showsasimplified,smallscaleversionoftheMollierchart.TheMollierchartdisplaysmanydifferentrelationshipsbetweenenthalpy,entropy,
temperature,pressureanddrynessfraction.Itmayappeartobequitecomplicated,duetothenumberoflines:
Constantenthalpylines(horizontal).
Constantentropylines(vertical).
Thesteamsaturationcurveacrossthecentreofthechartdividesitintoasuperheatedsteamregion,andawetsteamregion.Atanypointabovethe
saturationcurvethesteamissuperheated,andatanypointbelowthesaturationcurvethesteamiswet.Thesaturationcurveitselfrepresentstheconditionof
drysaturatedsteamatvariouspressures.
Constantpressurelinesinbothregions.
Constanttemperaturelinesinthesuperheatregion.
Constantdrynessfraction( )linesinthewetregion.
Aperfectexpansion,forexamplewithinasteamturbineorasteamengine,isaconstantentropyprocess,andcanberepresentedonthechartbymoving
verticallydownwardsfromapointrepresentingtheinitialconditiontoapointrepresentingthefinalcondition.
Aperfectthrottlingprocess,forexampleacrossapressurereducingvalve,isaconstantenthalpyprocess.Itcanberepresentedonthechartbymoving
horizontallyfromlefttoright,fromapointrepresentingtheinitialconditiontoapointrepresentingthefinalcondition.
Boththeseprocessesinvolveareductioninpressure,butthedifferenceliesinthewayinwhichthisisachieved.
ThetwoexamplesshowninFigure2.3.8illustratetheadvantageofusingthecharttoanalysesteamprocessestheyprovideapictorialrepresentationofsuch
processes.However,steamprocessescanalsobenumericallyrepresentedbythevaluesprovidedinthesuperheatedsteamtables.

Example2.3.6Perfectisentropicexpansionresultinginwork
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Considertheperfectexpansionofsteamthroughaturbine.Initiallythepressureis50bara,thetemperatureis300C,andthefinalpressureis0.04bara.
Astheprocessisaperfectexpansion,theentropyremainsconstant.Thefinalconditioncanthenbefoundbydroppingverticallydownwardsfromtheinitial
conditiontothe0.04baraconstantpressureline(seeFigure2.3.9).
Attheinitialcondition,theentropyisapproximately6.25kJ/kgC.Ifthislineisfollowedverticallydownwardsuntil0.04baraisreached,thefinalconditionof
thesteamcanbeevaluated.Atthispointthespecificenthalpyis1890kJ/kg,andthedrynessfractionis0.72(seeFigure2.3.9).
Thefinalconditioncanalsobedeterminedbyusingthesuperheatedsteamtables.

Sincetheentropyofdrysaturatedsteamat0.04bara(8.473kJ/kgC)isgreaterthantheentropyofthesuperheatedsteamat50bara/300C(6.212kJ/kgC),it
followsthatsomeofthedrysaturatedsteammusthavecondensedtomaintaintheconstantentropy.
Astheentropyremainsconstant,atthefinalcondition:

TheseanswerscorrespondcloselywiththeresultsobtainedusingtheMollierchart.Thesmalldifferenceinvaluebetweenthetwosetsofresultsistobe
expected,consideringtheinaccuraciesinvolvedinreadingoffachartsuchasthis.

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