Questions regarding the piping of equipment that uses both steam and condensate water
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The equipment needs to be heated as well as cooled. When switching from using condensate to steam, and the valve in front of the steam trap is opened, will the condensate flow away through the steam trap?
Do you mean whether the cooled water remaining in the pipeline when steam is turned on can flow out through the drain valve? Sure.
For equipment that uses steam for heating and cooling water for cooling intermittently, its piping system needs to be switched. It should be said that the cooling water will flow out of the trap, so the valve in front of the trap needs to be closed during cooling.
There is a recovery system for excess condensate, so nothing is delayed
In my company, the steam heating and cooling system I designed does not require the recovery of steam condensate; instead, it all goes into the cooling tank to serve as a supplement to the cooling water. On the one hand, not using it would be a waste; on the other hand, the hardness of the cooling water is relatively low, so it does not cause scaling in the heat exchanger, making it a rational form of utilization. By doing this, there is no need to close the trap valve.
Sure； If there is a large amount of water in the jacket or coils, adding a bypass to the steam trap allows for timely drainage, which facilitates the maintenance of the steam trap.
It is possible. However, steam traps generally have limited drainage capacity; they must remove both the residual cooling water and the steam condensate that is produced as the temperature rises, which can take some time. It is recommended to add a bypass for the steam trap or install a valve in front of it to allow rapid drainage, closing that valve once the water has been drained, after which the steam trap can be used for drainage.
I agree with you. It is also possible to add a temperature measurement point on the bypass pipeline; once the cold water has been drained and the temperature starts to rise, it will then be possible to switch to the steam trap pipeline, which is more cost-effective.