Saturated steam as the heat source for the heat exchanger
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Why are reboilers and heat exchangers heated with saturated steam rather than superheated steam? Superheated steam releases heat in the form of latent heat and sensible heat, with latent heat being much greater than sensible heat; saturated steam, on the other hand, releases only sensible heat
It’s a simple principle: heating with superheated steam can be considered in two stages. 1: The stage in which steam changes from superheated to saturated steam; during this stage, the gas is involved in heat exchange, and the heat transfer coefficient K is low. The heat exchange area in this section is thus wasted. 2: The stage of saturated steam condensation and heat release; during this stage, the condensation of steam generates a large amount of heat, the heat transfer coefficient K is high, resulting in excellent heat transfer efficiency.