Why do we use steam?

There are many reasons why steam is one of the most widely used
ways for conveying (transporting) heat energy.
1) It is economical because the raw material is water. Water is
available freely and is relatively inexpensive.
2) It is not toxic and is environmentally safe.
3) Steam is sterile, and thus widely used in hospitals and in the
food, pharmaceutical and health industries. It is also used for
sterilisation purposes.
4) Steam is safe - it cannot cause sparks and presents no fire risk. It
is therefore ideal for use in hazardous areas or explosive atmospheres.
Steam is also used in fire-extinguishing systems.
5) It is efficient as steam can hold five or six times as much
potential energy as an equivalent mass of water. Therefore, in its
gaseous form, it is a safe and efficient energy carrier.
6) Steam is an excellent carrier of potential heat energy. If we
pressurize steam, it can carry higher temperatures. (Take a look at the
steam tables) At higher temperatures, more heat energy is contained
so its potential to do work is greater.
7) We find it is very easy to pressurize steam. So, in most boilers
steam is generated at high pressures to give high steam temperatures.
8) Steam technology is now so advanced, that boiler designs and
plant processes use almost all the energy carried by steam. In fact,
boilers are now using bagasse (sugarcane husk) and other agri wastes
as fuels, thus making the steam boiler a natural choice for
environmental reasons. Even "heat losses" in blowdown and
condensate are now being utilised in the process.
9) Steam is easy to distribute. Boilers generate steam under
pressure and steam flows naturally in response to the pressure drop
along the line.
10) Pressurized steam has a high heat content and lower specific
volume, so small bore pipework is required to distribute the steam at
high pressure. The pressure is then reduced at the point of use, if
necessary. Therefore if steam is used installation is easy and cheap. Its
easier to maintain. Therefore it is the preffered choice to convey heat
over distances.
11) Steam is easy to control. As seen earlier, there is a direct
relationship between the pressure and temperature of saturated
steam, so its easy to see why controlling steam is very easy. The
amount of energy input to the process is easy to control, simply by
controlling the saturated steam pressure.
12) Modern controls are precise and react very fast to changes of
pressure or temperature. We use Pressure Control Valves (PRVs) and
Control Valves to control pressure. Also, we use two-port valves on
steam, whereas liquid systems necessitate three-port valves. This
reduces cost as well. Heat transfer properties of steam are very high.
Steam evenly surrounds the product to be heated or can be injected
directly into the product being heated. It can fill any space at a uniform
temperature and will supply heat by condensing at a constant
temperature. Therefore the required heat transfer area is relatively
small; resulting in a compact, easy to install and physically small plant.
Managing a modern steam plant is easy. Everyone is trying to reduce
costs and increase the energy efficiency of steam operations. Now,
more than ever, industrial energy users are looking to maximize
energy efficiency and minimise production costs and overheads. Your
per unit production costs can mean the difference between survival
and failure in the marketplace. Some plants even hook-up their steam
system to modern networked instrumentation and control systems to
allow centralised control. If the user wishes, the components of the
steam system can also operate independently (standalone).
Plant personnel starting from the boiler in-charge up, are made aware
of costs. Planned maintenance and systematic checks aid quality and
drastically cut downtime. Any leaks or blockages are automatically
pinpointed and immediately brought to the attention of the utilities
engineer. With proper maintenance schedules, plants can last for many
years
In addition to this, when a steam system requires maintenance, the
relevant part of the system is easy to isolate and can drain rapidly,
meaning that repairs may be carried out quickly. Even if your steam
plant is old, it is far cheaper to bring it up to date than replace it with
an alternate method of energy distribution system.
• Water relatively cheap Water readily available
• High heat content Clean and pure
• Small bore pipes Inherently fire-safe
• Ease of control Low noise
• Already under pressure, no pumping reqd Boilers are fuel efficient
• Gives off heat at a constant rate Waste heat recovery (eg., from
bagasse)
• Low maintenance cost Condensate/ blowdown heat recovered
• Low capital cost Steam can be metered, therefore managed
• Can be automated
• Reduced plant size
• Long life of steam system
• Choice of fuels
• System is flexible; can be added to