On the effect of steam pipeline elbows on the conveying pressure
Thread Content
The pressure of the steam pipeline at the outlet of the existing boiler room is 0.87 Mpa. After traveling a certain distance (via DN200 carbon steel pipes, approximately 1000 meters of piping and 20 90-degree elbows), the pressure drops to 0.59 at the end point. The end point is a steam heat exchanger that continuously exchanges heat with the air. Is the pressure loss in the above steam pipelines normal? Please also indicate the possible reasons for this pressure drop. Thank you
The pressure drop is abnormal; operations should be stopped immediately to take advantage of the situation!
Is the pressure at the end point here the pressure before heat exchange or after it? If it’s the pressure after heat exchange, then that’s quite normal – as the temperature drops after heat exchange, the pressure surely decreases as well. If it is the pressure before heat exchange, what is the process downstream of the steam pipeline? Are there valves or throttling devices in the 1000-meter pipeline? What is the temperature of the steam at the outlet? Could a poor insulation leading to a drop in temperature be responsible for the decrease in pressure?
There should be some pipeline pressure drop, but it shouldn’t be that large. Are there pressure regulators or flow control valves somewhere in between? Does it matter whether one end is in front of or behind the heat exchanger?