Lowest Pressure Steam Saves More BTU's Than You Think

Abstract

Steam is the most common and economical way of transferring heat from one location to another. But most steam systems use the header pressure steam to do the job. The savings are substantially more than just the latent heat differences between the high and low steam pressures. The discussion below shows how the savings in using low pressure steam can be above 25%! The key to the savings is not in the heat exchanger equipment or the steam trap, but is back at the powerhouse - the sensible heat requirement of the boiler feed water. Chart III shows potential steam energy savings and will be useful in estimating the steam energy savings of high pressure processes.