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Dear seniors, there is a question that has been bothering me, and I hope you can help me answer it. For the reboilers used in the chemical industry, steam from the air separation turbine’s backpressure system (superheated steam at 1.0 MPa and 240°C) was previously used for heating after being reduced in pressure via a pressure regulator to 0.3 MPa and 230°C; 15 tons of such steam were required, and all of this steam ended up as condensate, which had to be pumped away. Now, I am considering installing a small turbine behind the air separation turbine’s 1.0 MPA pipeline system to drive an electric motor for power generation. The steam exiting this turbine would be dry saturated steam at 0.3 MPa and 140°C, to be used for heating. I want to know whether this approach will result in an increased amount of steam needed for heating. I feel that although dry saturated steam has a higher heating efficiency than superheated steam, with superheated steam all turning into water, its sensible heat is also utilized. On the other hand, although dry saturated steam is easier to use for heating, the amount of heat it releases is certainly less than that of superheated steam, both in terms of sensible heat and latent heat. Therefore, if we still want to achieve the same processing conditions as before, more steam will be required. Is that correct?
Yes, but the share of sensible heat is not large: 0.3 MPa, 230 degrees, enthalpy: 2927.19 kJ/kg; 0.3MPa, 140 degrees, enthalpy: 2739.36kJ/kg ; (2927.19-2739.36)/2927.19*100=6.42%