What is the phase of the condensate in the pipeline behind the steam pipe steam trap?
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What is the phase of the condensate in the pipeline behind the steam pipe steam trap? Is it pure liquid condensate, or a mixture of liquid condensate and steam?
It depends on: 1. Whether the steam trap is properly sealed； 2. Is the pressure control of the condensate water pipeline stable? If either of these two conditions is not met, there will be a back-and-forth transition between saturated water and saturated steam within the pipeline, resulting in water hammer in the pipeline.
Usually, a certain amount of steam is released after drainage, depending on the structural principle of the steam trap. So, when it comes to the phase state of the pipeline, the phase state should be the primary consideration, while the gaseous state is determined by the heat exchange that occurs within the pipeline. For reference
"It should be based on the phase state; as for the gaseous state, it relates to heat exchange with the surroundings within the pipeline. I’m not quite sure about this
In the saturated steam section, due to the relatively good thermal insulation of the pipe’s insulation chamber, a portion of the steam can also condense into a liquid state during heat exchange with the surroundings. For reference.