Steam Traps

Tell him it will save money. It's the only thing they understand.
Del

Without the traps, instead of all the latent heat in the steam being released to the heated surface, some of the steam will appear at the condensate return pumps' inlet. As the pumps increase the pressure to push the condensate back to the boiler, the steam bubbles collapse, eroding the impellers of the pumps until they fail to pump. Once they fail to pump, the steam system will flood with condensate and the heating process will fail, with knock-on impact to product throughput and quality. So the net effect of removing the traps is higher energy usage, lower product quality and quantity, and higher maintenance costs in the condensate return system.

It's the top a slippery slope towards economic closure of the facility and the loss of jobs.

Do re-install the traps.

I'm going to add on here because you seemed to cover the main points .

Steam traps protect the pipe and system by releasing the condensate from the system. Condensate causes bad corrosion issues and water hammer as it travels long lengths of pipe. It also protects the system because typically a system designed for steam service doesn't quite operate the same when condensate is present lol.

Get an Armstrong catalogue and read the literature at the beginning. It will give you all the detailed reasons on why you should steam trap steam systems.

To give you an example that might help your cause...last year I was in charge of a group that was tasked with maintaining the steam system in the plant. They basically just fix steam leaks and steam traps. We spent about $350,000 on the year for labor and materials and saved about $1,500,000 in lost steam/energy. The pressures on our lines were anything between 30 psi to 600 psi. Bigger pressures mean bigger savings.

And your bosses are.......... the owners nephews, maybe??

Steam releases it energy when it changes from a vapor to a liquid.

This little description may help

Here are some excellent links, where you can research:

http://www.armstronginternational.com/steam-traps

and

http://www.spiraxsarco.com/

No Phoenix, the bosses are MBAs.....

And, like all MBAs, none will take reponsibility for the removal of the traps.

And the disclaimer comes from their lawyers,

Your management should remove your boss because his action has/is caused/causing thousands $ losses in fuel bill & delayed heating. If you management cannot do this/your boss the owner/his son then change job.

When these traps were removed?

My be your superior may have removed it to upgrade it with new one. Check with him

If he is a non-technical person you need to explain him in common man language i.e. in terms of cost.

He can take the horse to the water but he cannot make him drink.

Just last week I came across a similar case with 3 sets Canning Retort being operated with 1 bar steam pressure (Pressure/Temperature Modulating Control Valve installed) and a lift from the Spirax 2" FT14-4.5 bar steam trap of 4 metre to the overhead condensate return main (also tapped with several high pressure condensate return from steam headers). Due excessive water logging with no back pressure available to lift the condensate, the operators would open trap by pass to speed cooking and finally the Production Manager ordered to take off the steam traps to prove that the result is better off without steam traps.

I recommended to disconnect the steam trap lift, fit the 2" steam trap back again and take the condensate at floor level to a Condensate Pump (in a pit/outside the Dept. which is at a lower level) to pump back to boiler house.

They don't need restrictive orifices ; It seems that they're already quite capably throttling the flow of condensate so that it floods the upstream as such devices are wont to do. And, they're doing it much more effectively since by adjusting the discharge port manually, they have at least a modicum of control during process fluctuations. These orifices as suggested can't do that: They're simple static holes in the return flow .

Unless labour is so cheap in the OP's part of the world that his bosses can afford to have somebody sitting at the discharge end of each heat exchanger all day long, opening and closing the outlet valve so that the steam/condensate interface is controlled regardless of process load, they need "real" steam traps.

twanda, check my thread#11. maybe the heat exchanger became undersized or the steam trap was not designed for the condensate load and was under capacity. Maybe the steam trap was Thermodynamic (wrong) and not Ball float/Inverted Bucket type? Maybe the trap was installed by just pipe size and capacity was not considered? How old is the heat exchanger? Is it with TCV? Was the condensate first lifted without pump? When was heat exchanger tube last cleaned? Has it fouled badly? Is the condensate coming rusty? Too a many questions to ask and answer.

it uses the traditional thermodynamic steam traps,heat exchanger is changed every 4 years mainly if leackages start to develop,fouling non,condensate not rusty. i now dont no hw i can rate the steam trap and determine wether it was to capacity o not.

Twanda - A TD Steam trap is the WRONG type to drain Heat Exchangers because it is intermittent discharge capacities and poor air venting facilities. The steam traps hold backs condensate at every off-cycle water-logging the heat exchanger's steam coils. When this happens the temperature of the heating fluid drops/time increases so the by-pass is opened to speed up heating. The air inside is Oxygen which mixes with condensate CO2 and forms ferric-oxide which eats up your pipes/tubes and the causes leakage. This is why every 4 year /so the heat exchanger is replaced.

The ideal Steam trap is ball Float with inbuilt Air Vent. Spirax FT14-4.5TV ideal(if steam operating pressure 4.5 bar) or Spirax FT14-10TV (10 bar)

You must first calculate the condensate load with formula :

Q = Gpm x delta T F x cp x 500 x sg/LH

Q = steam lbs/hr . delta T =Final temp f minus inlet fluid temp F

cp = specific heat, sg = specific gravity

LH = latent heat at the operating steam pressure psig

Example: say you want to heat water 50 gm from 40f to 140F at 15 psi

Q = 50 x 100 x 1 x 500 x 1 /945 = 2645 lbs/hr steam x 2 (safety factor for startup load) = 5300 lbs/hr.

Now size a Ball float Steam Trap (Spirax/any make) to discharge 5300 lbs/hr at 15 psi. whatever size (1/2" thru 2") comes is the RIGHT size.

Based on this you work out your capacity and size of steam trap for your heat exchanger.

Wait until they have a meeting and want to discuss how they can operate the plant better and save money.

There is your opening. Have all you evidence need to show how much fuel or power is wasted. Also ask about any past problems with the water supply, contamination, filtering or problems with the boiler that required the traps to be removed.

Often if it is not broken fixing it seems like a waste too. If it never rains why fix the roof ?

Dear Mr.Tawanda,

In addition to the comments from CR4 Members, I want to say the following.

Apart from the Heat Loss the condensate is bound to escape which is treated water - may be through DM plant or RO Plant-which is a costly affair.

You have not mentioned the boiler/steam pressure. The higher the pressure - the higher will be the quality of feed water.

Ultimately severe loss interms of efficiency, fuel and chemicals for the feed water.

DHAYANANDHAN.S