Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Heat Transfer (Book)

    Uploaded by

    Ubaid Khan
    13 views13 pages

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    13 views13 pages

    Heat Transfer (Book)

    Uploaded by

    Ubaid Khan

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    of 13
    12 ) Heat Transfer ; Many pharmaceutical processes involve heating of materials and thjé chapter will consider the methods by which heay can be transferred, with special reference to thd heating of liquids. Of the various heating media, steam is the most important, and the properties and use of steam will receive attention. Methods of Heat Transfer Heat transfer can take place by three methods— Conduction In conduction, the energy transfer occurs by trans mission of momentum of individual molecules. No mixing acti some way that prevents free movement. Convection In convection the heat flow results from mixing or turbulence, which can occur in fluids only. Radiation Heat transmission by radiation occurs by energy transfer through space by electromagnetic radiation. Thus, a hot body acts as an emitter, the energy being transmitted through the intervening space toa receiving body where it is absorbed and is mani- fested as heat. Heat Transfer by Conduction When heat is flowing under steady-state conditions, the quantity of heat transferred is given by: _kAly = 199 Q : 2.1) or q= (12.2) where Q = quantity of heat, = area, (7, — 1) = temperature ‘difference, ime, £ = thickness, q = quantity of heat transferred in unit time, & = constant for the material. The constant, k, which is characteristic for any material, is known as the coefficient of thermal conductivity and can be defined by putting all other factors in Eqn (12.1) equal to ons, Thus, the coefficient of thermal conductivity is the “heat passing in unit ti.ne from one face of a cube of unit side to the opposite face, the temperature difference being kept at one unit. Since any units can be used, these must be given when values are quoted. Ther- mal conductivities vary considerably, ranging from metals that have high ‘values, through non-metallic solids and liquids to gases ‘that have the lowest values, 3 for a range of materials are given in Table 12.1. Equation (12.1) or (12.2) enables the heat flow to be calculated for a particular set of circumstances Table 22. "hermeai eonductiolt Material 4 Wak Copper ; Aluminium z Stee! 4 Stainless steel Borosilicate glass ‘ Water x Boiler scale 109 to 28 Diatomite Glass wool Air Example Calculate the amount of heat tia: will g a sheet of stce! 10 mm in thickness, 0-6 m wide and minutes with a temperature of 70°C ‘on the other, However, a difficulty arises in a compound layer of soveral maferiais of different thermal conduc- tivities, since the overall conductivity cannot, be - obiained simply by adding together the individual conductivities. ‘The mort Ay can be overcome by se-arranging Eqn (12.2) into the following form: L 1) fia 23) ase for heat transfer by conduction of the general expression represeating any rats pros: resistance This is the 5 2.4) ‘Thus, the temperature difference is the driving force for, heat transfer, and it will be realised that the resistance to conduction will increase for greater thicknesses and will decrease as-the coefficient of thermal conductifity incresses and as the area be- comes larger. * Recalling the theory of electricity, conductivities gannot be added together to obtain the total con- ductivity of a circuit, but the overall resistance of a number of resistances in series is obtained by taking their sum. Furthermore, the resistance and the conductivity bear a simple relationship to each other, being inversely proportional. Applying the elec- trical analogy to heat transfer means that the overall - resistance to heat transfer of a number, m, of Ia can be obtained by adding the reciprocals of thei thermal conductivities, that is— ! Ey (2.5) This assumes that, the layers are each of unit thickness, which is very unlikely, so that allowance must be made for this, By Resistance Lyhy... BtEt (12.6) TUTORIAL PHARMACY. Generally, the area for conduction will be the same for each iayer, but if it is not, an additional area term can be included, To teats heat transfer wo need to iow the overall thermal conductivity, which can be obtained by rgversing the process, that "is by taking the reciptocal of the overall resistance, Usually, this is Distance Fig. 12.1 ‘Temperature gridients through solids kciown as the overall coeficient of heat transfer and is repiesented by U. aw : Z| ‘To calculate heat transfer, U is used instead of ‘KIL in (12.2), 80 that: . : q = UAC, — 1) 2.8) The situation in a compound layer may be in @ convenient graphical form using ture and thickness of layer as ordinates, 30 that the relative slopes of the various sections of the temperature gradient will be dent upon the - ‘thermal ivity of the material of each layer, as shown in Fig. 12.1. “Heating of Fluids When a liquid is to be heated, the is com monly carried out in a vessel, similar the jacketed pan described in Chapter 14. At first sight it might appear that there would be a simple’ temperature “gradient through -the wall the steam and the liquid. Referring back to 148, however, it will be recalled that whenever e iuid contacts a surface there will be #, boundary layer and, being stationary, heat must be conducted through this layer to the bulk of the liquid, Also, it is likely that some scale will have been deposited on + [ Sra po senhs HEAT TRANSFER Temperature the surface of the metal wall, and heat must be conducted through this. ‘When steam gives up its latent heat, water will condense on the surface of the vessel. "Again, the hheat must be conducted through this water film. Furthermore, as explained on p. 160, air exists in the jacket before heating begins, and some may remain with the steam. The air will not remain as a clearly defined film, but there will be a greater number of air molecules adjacent to the surface. For the Sake of simplicity, therefore, it will be assumed Temperature Fig. 12.3. Temperature gradients through heating surface and fluids, actual 1) steam 2) ai fim @) condensate film (4) scale (3) metal wall (6) liquid Bim liquid Fig. 12.2 Temperature gradients through heating surface and fiuids, idealised () steam GQ) condensate sim G) metal wal Mique that the air is present as 2 stag which heat must be conducted. . The situation is rather more complicated than a first impression of Fig. 12.2 suggests, the diagram- matic form of Fig. 12.3 being nearer to the truth, The temperature gradients of Fig. 12.3 suggest that the various layers are likely to exert a consider- able effect on heat transfer, the extent of which can best be seen from a numerical example. ‘The values assigned to the thicknesses of the various layers age hypothetical, but are of the correct or nt Bim through Mm - ae 8. Distance TUTORIAL PHARMACY cketed pan with a steel, wall, 5mm in ng used to heat water. Calculate the coefficient Coefficient of thermal conductivity ( Wimk . ky = 003 kg = 06 ky = 04 kya kg = 04 ky 06 Cleariy, Simm in value of about 95 WimtK for a wall jckness is very low when it is considered that steel has a thermal conductivity that can ‘conduct 4300 W/mK for a wall 10 mm in thickness. Other metais are better conductors of heat, for example copper, which has a thermal conductivity of 379 WimK, and substitution of a copper wall «transfer, using the follow. of heat transfer. Repeating the calculation with ‘copper instead of steel: Coefficient of Thickness thermal conductivity Layer m x 10-8 WimK Air film L, = 025 k= 003 Condensate film 1, = 0-25 kg = 06 Scale Lz = 0-25 ky= 04 Copper wail Ly =.50 keg = 379 Scale Ls = 025 ky= 04 ‘Water film Ly = 025 ke = 06 (0-25 | 0-25 y25 5:0 0-25 0-25) v=1/ (atte eos oF =) x 10% = 95-88 Wim'K Comparison of the two values shows that, al though the thermal conductivity of the metal wall is almost nine times greater, the overall coefficient of heat transfer has changed from 94:94 to 95-88, a negligible increase, Obviously, factors ‘other than the metal wall are involved, and the answer lies in the other layers on the wall. Table 12.2 shows the effect of using various materials for the wall and of reducing or removing the various layers. Examination of the values of the overall coefficient of heat transfer listed in Table 12.2 emphasises the influence of the surface layers and films on heat should increase the value of the overall coefficient transmission. Note especially the considerable Table 12.2 Condensate Air, Liquid film film ‘Scale Wail Scale film Material of woll of thickness’ thickness thickness thickness thickness thickness u heating surface” —m X10 mx 10-8. m x 108 mx 10 m x 1 om x 10 (W[mPK) Copper 025 025 025 50 0-25 025 95-88 Aluminiur: 0-25 0-25 025 50 0-25 025 95:80 Stee! 0-25 0-25 0-25 50 0-25 0-25 9494 Stainless stcei 0-25 0-25 025 50 0-25 0-25 93:36 Borosilicate giess 0-25 0-25 0-25 50 0-25 0-25 6487 Steel (liquid fim halved) 0-25 025 025 50 0-25 0-125 9685 , Steel (one scale layer removed) 0-25 0-25 50 — 025, 100-93 Steel (air film halved) 0-25 025 50 0-25 0-25 157-08 Steely, 025 - 50 - 0-25 107-72 Steel| ey eyed = 50 — 7025 112-79 Steel = 50 - = 11834 Steel) niiely - = 30 ~ = 8 62069 * Borosilicate glass = = _ 50 = a 200-00 Copper = - - 50 ~ ~ 76 923.00 HEAT TRANSFER 183 shange in the value of U when the air film is halved, and the dramatic increase when it is eliminated entirely. ‘The material of the wall has a negligible effect, unless it is of very low thermal conductivity (boro: silicate glass, for example) or untess the various films and layers can be removed completely, which is impossible in practice. ‘This will be understood if the thermal conductivity of air is compared with metals, when it will be found that the resistance to heat transfer of an air film 025 mm in thickness is the same as 360mm of steel, 2m of aluminium, and more than 3m of sopper. Film Coefficients The calculation of overall coefficients of heat transfer in the previous section used the resistance of each layer, expressed as L/k, but in practice this is i possible. While the thermal conductivity of the material may be known, clearly the thickness of a liquid or air film cannot be defined. Hence, these ‘two are combined in the film coefficient which replaces the expression A/L in Eqns such as (12.1) or (12.2). The film cocfficient represents, therefore, the thermal conductivity of a particular film of a uid, whereas the usual coefficient of thermal con- ductivity refers to unit thickness of the material. Film coefficients may be determined practically or may be calculated theoretically and used inthe conduction equations; for example, Eqn (12.2) for a single layer is: q = hA(t, — 1) 2.9) where fi = film coefficient. For a solid wall with two fluid layers, the overall coefficient of heat transfer would be given by: Li kw mf pea = 2, u Ui +Ete (12.10) Design of Heating Equipment Consideration of the factors affecting heat transfer shows that a number of precautions’ must be observed in designing equipment for operations involving heating,, especially when steam is the source of heat. le AREA Heating should take place over as large @ surface area as possible. TEMPERATURE GRADIENT A suitable temperature gradient should be employed! and theory suggests that this should be as great as + further possible, but this is not so in practice. First, many Pharmaceutical substances ase thermolabile und ‘would be damaged or destroyed by contact with a surface at high temperature. This is discussed connection with evaporation in Chapter 14. Secondly, liquids boiling on 2 hot surface form ivegular streams of vapour bubbles end, because each stream originates from a point on the surface, is called nucleate boiling. Above a éervain critical surface temperature, however, evolution of vapour is so rapid that it cannot escape and the surface acquires a blanket of vapour, which forms an additional resistance to heat transfer. This condition is known as film boiliny. MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION ‘The plant should be made from thermal" conductivity. serials of suitable GENERAL DESIGN The design of the plant shouid.o- ances duc to surface layers are mi Air Rervoval timina\ion, as far as possidic, of air in steam is of extreme importance and is discussed in more detail later in this chapter, on p. 169. Cleanliness ‘The surfaces of the vessel shou! free from deposits of solids or » c kept clean and Condensate Removai The system should be erranysd to perm drainage and removal of the condensate the steam gives up its heat. Methods of enstring this are considered iater ( p. 158), Liquid Circulation Liquid movement shouid be srvanged to ensure turbulent flow by avoiding awkward shapes where “stagnation might occur, and using foreed circulation if natural circulation due ic density or viscosity changes is inadequate. ‘The importance of this will be apparent if it is realised that, if the velocity of the fluid is V, then, when fow is streamtine, heat transfer is proportional to 9 swiile for turbulent flow the heat transferred is propo: yon Convection Heat transfer by cfhvection wii not be considered in detail partly because 5 plexity of the ieee 184 subject, but the principal reason is that convecti ig rarely the controlling factor in-equipment opera- tion. Heat transfer to a fluid by conduction through the boundary layers, as discussed in pre- ccéding sections. In the bulk of the fluid, the.rise in temperature causes change in density and viscosity, setting up convection currents the form of which will depend upon the surroundings; for example, whether the liquid is passing through a pipe or over banks of tubes. “If natural convection is inadequate, forced circulation mey be indueed by the use of a ‘emphasised that transfer of heat through the boundary layers to the fluid is related to the vigour of the movement of the fluid, as’ this influences boundary layer thickness (see p. 148). Radiant Heaj ‘0 ‘A hot body emits energy in yae form of electro- magnetic waves, this radiation proceeding in all directions with virtually no loss to the intervening atmosphere. If it falls on another body, some of the radiation may be transmitted, some reflected and part absorbed, the relative proportions depending ‘on the properties of the body. A black body is the perfect emitter and absorber, .- but all bodies radiate to some extent, the'amount and the quality of the emission being t upon the Absolute temperature. This can be summarised in three expressions: TOTAL ENERGY ‘The total zy emitted, J, ig given by: Eat 12.11) where 7 =: Absolute temperature. ‘This emission is distributed in a spectrum between the wavelengths 1 to 100 xm, which is above the visible red, hence the commonly used term ‘infra- red’. In practice, the useful wavelengths lie between Vand 10 yam, PEAK WAVELENGTS “The emission of energy is not distributed uniformly over this band of the spectrum, there being a wavelength, Z, test: ee Zor 2.12) INTENSITY Once more, the Absolute temperature controls the intensity of the radiation, J, at the peak wavelength at which the intensity of cabin and is given by: foc Tt (123) ‘Thus, as the temperature of the emitter is raised, the total radiated energy is increased, the peak wa becomes shorter, and the radiation at the peak wa is of greater intensity. This is illustrated graphically in Fig, 12.4. 23 464 5 6 7 8 9 0 Wavelength (ym) Fig. 124 Radiant energy distributions LUSE OF RADIANT HEAT TRANSMISSION ‘The character of radiant ‘means that, when ‘used in practice for heat transfer, the heating effect ‘depends upon the temperature of the eriilter,and the absorption into the material to°b& heated. )* Forms of emitter include infra-red lamps ia 00% pings peak wavelength of out tm 1000°C ‘giving a peak wavelength o 1a, an eee panels “heated by’ gas. of electricity. ‘The latter work at lower temperatures, usually from 800°C down to 500°C, with peat wavelengths between 2.and 4 um, This means that the latter may be preferable when pharmaceutical mmterials that are thermolabile and likely to be * HEAT TRANSFER affected the iter intensity of emission of the intared lamp Fvonat 2 ‘A special feature of this form of heat transmission, is that the radiant, netrates a short distance, (Ito 2 mm) into materials so that the heating effect ‘occurs below the surface. This property can be of Considerable importance where the atrial is being heated in thin layers_or films; for. example, in a film of a solution Being dried by radiant heat, where the energy will pass through the film and be absorbed into the supporting mediumi. Hence, the film is heated from below outwards, thus possibly avoiding the surface skin which can retard the drying process when convection methods are used. ‘Absorption of the energy into a substance will depend on the properties of the material, but, in _ general, more energy, will be absorbed into dark- colgured, opaque, rough-surfaced media, and Teast into light-coletired, ‘transpafent, smooth-surfaced substances" + * Combination of Heat Transfer Methods It is stated commonly that heating occurs by a particular method of heat transfer; for example, an ‘oven with forced cjrculation-of the hot air by a fan transfers heat yvection.’ While this is the pllsclal method of het tanner, must not be forgotten that an object in an oven receives heat also by conduction from the shelf on which it stands and by radiation from the hot walls of the oven, ‘Steam 2s u Heating Medium Gf the various means of heating pharmaccut materials to effect operations such as evaporation or drying, steam is used most commonly. In addition, steam has important uses in pharmacy for sterili- sation. ‘Among-the reasons for the widespread use of steam, are: steam has a very high heat conten © the heat is given up at constant temperature; the raw material—water—is cheap and plentiful. Steam is clean, odourless and tasteless, so that the results of accidental contamination of a product are not likely to be serious. Alternative heating media, such as oils, could be very dangerous if any entered 2 product. ‘Steam can be used at high pressure to generate lectric power, and the low-pressure exhaust steam used for process heating. Steam is easy to generate, distribute, and control. From the kinetic theory of heat, it will be recalled 135 that a vapour contains heat in two ‘forms'—sensible Aeat.and latent heat. Sensible heat is heat that can ‘Be detected “bythe senses, that is, a temperature change is caused when sensible heat is taken up or given out, ‘Latent’ means concealed or invisible, 30 that latent heat is not detected as 9 temperature change. Thus, latent heat is taken up or given out at.constant tem; ‘as a change of phase occurs betweerrsolid”or liquid or vapour. . The sensible and Iatent heat contents are very important properties of steam. =. Properties of Steam The ies can be visualised if one kilogramme of water is imagined in 2 cylinder enclosed by a frictionless piston at a constant pressure P bars and at a temperature of 0°C. If heat is added until a change of state occurs, that is, the watér starts to boil, it will take place at a temperature f, and the amount of heat required is h =f, ~0 kilojoules. ‘The heat, i, is the sensible heat of the water. If more heat is added, @ fraction of the water, 9, will be vaporised. If the latent heat of vaporisation is L kJ/kg, then the amount of heat added is g. kJ and the total heat content of the wet steam {that is the steam-water mixture) is + gL kJ. 9 is known as the dryness fraction of the wet stearn and can be expressed as a percentage or as 2 decimal part of ‘one. Thus, steam may be spoken of as 85 per cent dry or 0-85,dry. ‘As further heat is added, @ poi be reached when =I, that is, all the water has been evapor- ated and the steam is dry. The total heat now added ish +L =H, kJ, but it must be remembered that the temperature will still be f Clearly, the kilogramme of water occupies a small volume, but the steam wil! occupy a considerably greater volume. One kilogramme of dry steam at a temperature /, will occupy a volume ¥ cubic metres. V, is known as the specific volume and can ve defined as the volume occupied by one kilogratame of dry steam. ‘When steam is in this condition, vaporised, so that the steam is dry, and is exerting its full saturated vapour pressure, hence the descrip» tion dry saturated steam. ‘Any additional heat added cannot be used as latent -hegt of vaporisation, and therefore must enter as sensible heat, which causes the temperature of the vapour to rise, when the steam is said to be superheated. Thus, the temperature reaches a value feaps the volume increases (approximaicly in accord- ance with the Gas Laws), and the ‘otal hieat coatent is Hy + Hoy ‘These data « in the form of ‘Steam the following information publ Tables’, which tabulate P = pressure temperature at pressure P : of vaporisation H, = total heat of dry saturated steam specific volume for specified aumber of degrees It should temperature used as the datum Examples from S| From the list in tlie previous section it will be seen that Steam Tables enable us to calculate the sensible heat in water at any temperature, the total heat of, wet and dry saturated steam (if the dryness fraction’ is known), and of superheated steam. A few examples of the heat contents of steam under various conditions will illustrate the informa~ tion that can be derived from Steam Tables and, also, certain important properties of steam. Example Determine the temperature, /,, and the total heat, saturated steam at 2 bars. 7 4, = 1202°C Sensible heat (h) = 505 kI/kg peat (L) = 2202 ki/kg t (EL) = 2707 ki/kg for any saturated steam at 198°C . hes B45 ki/kg ‘ 1947 KS/kg. . “i, = DID kM kg Example Determine f, and H, for saturated steam at 15 bars, | dryness fraction, ¢ = 0-95. 845 ki fieg gh = 095 x 1947 = 1850 KI kg + #, = Tos kIfky Example & Determine the total heat, H, for superheated steam: at 2 bars with 80°C superheat. TUTORIAL PHARMACY ‘From superheated steam tables: 4, = 122°C at 2 bars = 1202 + 80 = 200:2°C = 2830 ki/kg. DISCUSSION OF EXAMPLES From Example 1 it will be seen that approximately one-fifth of the heat content of steam at 2 bars is sensible heat, while about four-fifths is latent heat. Tt must be remembered that, if it is to be used for process heating, the steam (at its saturation tempera- ‘ture) will be brought into contact with the surface to be heated, Heat will be transmitted to the cold surface and, as the steam was at its saturation ‘temperature, the heat given. up will be the latent heat, that is, part of the steam will condense, This will continue, either until all the steam has been condensed or the surface has bees brought up to the steam temperature, In practice, the transferred heat is used for a process such, as evaporation and the steam is replaced continually, so that the process can go on indefinitely. Two conclusions must be emphasised: first, that this process will-occur-at the saturation temperature of the steam, dependent upon ‘the pressure, ie. 100°C at 1 bar, 115°C at 1-7 bars, 121°C at 2 bars and so on; secondly, that the Jatent heat is the wsefial heat of the steam. Only when all the steam has been condensed will the temperature begin to fall and sensible. heat “be_ liberated. ‘Comparison of Examples 1 and 2 shows that the saturation temperature of steam at 15 bars is about 200°C against 120°C at 2 bars, which means that the sensible heat is 340 kJ/kg higher in the first case. Total heat, however, is only 85 kJ/kg higher, due to a decrease in the latent heat from 2202 kJ/kg at bars to 1947 kI/kg at 15 bars. This may appear surprising, since school work in physics often leaves the impression that the latent heat of steam is constant at 2258 kJ/kg (540 cal/g). In fact, this.is ‘the value for atmospheric pressure and itis a variable at upon pressure. Sean Tor ws var lity will be understood casily if the situation is considered in terms of the of heat, In a liquid, the molecules vibrate and are able to make some movement relative to each other, but they do not have complete freedom, due to intermolecular attractive forces. ‘These forces may cause molecules to aggregate into . especially near the surface, leading to d Ein effet (surface tension). When the liquid ‘vaporises, sufficient energy has been imparted to the molecules (as latent heat) to allow them to overcome these ‘attractive forces. Thus, the molecules can HEAT TRANSFER expand to fill the available volume, moving frely with random movements in all. directions, the spocthe volure of the steam decreases a5 the ressure increases, it follows that the molecules will need. less energy to expand to fill the available yolume at high pressure with that neces- sary at lower pressures; in other words, the higher the pressure, the smaller the specific volume and the lower the latent heat of steam. ‘To give some idea of the difference, the specific volume of steam at 2 bars, from Steam Tables, is 0-8856 m/kg, while at 15 bars it is 0-1317 m'/kg. “The ultimate case will occur, of + course, at the critical pressure (221-2 bars) when one kilogramme of steam occupies the same volume as one Kilogramme of water and” the latent heat of vaporisation is zero, ‘The conclusion to be reached from these observa- tions is that, since the latent heat is the useful heat, steam should be used at the lowest pressure that will give a sititable temperature gradient, ‘Turning.to Example 3, it will be seen that steam at 15 bars, which is 0-95 dry, contains less heat than dry saturated steam at 2 bars, and that the useful Jaient heat is considerably less, although, the 15 bars” steam will still be at the higher temperature, of course. Since heat is lost from steam pipes, it will be realised that a great deal more than 5 per cent of the steam can be condensed, constituting a costly loss of heat, “Thus, it is important that precautions should be taken to keep the steam as dry as possible, by minimising heat losses. ‘Example 4 should be compared with Examples 1 and 2, when it will be seen that steam at 2 bars with 80°C superheat contains only about 123 kJ/kg more than dry saturated steam at that a] although the temperature is considerably higher. ‘The tem- perature will, in fact, be thou hea as that of dry saturated steam at 15 bars, but the important difference to realise is that dry saturated steam at 15 bars-will liberate its latent heat at 200°C, but the superheated steam of the example will liberate only 123 kJ of sensible heat in cooling from 200°C down to 120°C, when the latent heat will become available. ‘These conclusions lead us to three important rules for using steam for process heating: Steam Pressure Steam should be used at the lowest pressure that will give a suitable temperature gradient. Steam Dryness Great care should ‘be taken to keep steam dry by minimising heat losses. ‘Steam Saturation Saturated steam and not superheated < be used in equipment, Practical Aspects of the Use of Steam In practice, it is usual for steam to be generated centrally in the factory and distributed to the various ‘items of process plant. GENERATION OF STEAM The method of generating the sieam in a central boiler houseat “high pressure has x number of advantages. The high pressure steam can be used to drive a turbine for generating eleciric power, and the low ‘exhaust steam for process heating, Central tion ts more economical in fuel. (Having high pressure steam available means that higher temperatures are available, if required, for special purposes) ‘More steam is stored in the boifer if high pressures are used. Although Boyle’s Iaw applies only to a perfect gas at constant temperature, it gives an approximate indication of the behaviour of steam, ‘which means that, if the pressure is doubled, the boiler will hold about twice as much steam. ‘This willbe found to be true if specific volumes are looked up in Steam Tables, for example, ¥, at 2 bars = 08856 mike and Y, at 4 bars = 04623 mYJkg, Hence, a better reserve of steain is provided to allow for fluctuations in the demand. Expansion of the high pressu steam to Tow pressure at the plant will heip to dry the steam (see p. 158). ‘The pressure provides the driving force for distribution of the stearn, DISTRIBUTION From the boiler, the steam will G+ distributed through piping which should be of adequate size to carry the required quantities of steam and as short as possible to minimise heat losses. To reduce loss of heat farther, the pipes should be Jagged, that is covered with layer of porous, poor conducting material, such as kieselguhr, asbestos, or giass wool. “The most important property of lagging is that it stiould be porous, to trap a stagnant layer of air round the pipe, since air is such @ very poor con- ductor of heat.’ As an alternative, severai layers of aluminium foil can be applied effective for insulation, the surface of preventing radiation losses and 2 between the layers minimising com d this is very the foil Since some heet losses ere inevitable, arrange ments should be made for.the condensate to be drained off 2% low points. 310 PRs: In general, process plant uses steam at a pressure of 1-7 to 2 bars, 80 that a reduction from the boiler pressure .is necessary.° This is carried out by a piinciples of which are shown in ‘The pressure of a spring attempts to open the valve against the high pressure steam., The.closing of the Valve is causedby the low pressure steam, so that, when this reaches a ined value, a balance will be reached in which the low pressure steam acting on the diaphragm closes the valve against the spring pressure, Tn practice, an equilibrium is set up in which the valve is opea slightly, sufficient steam passing through from the high pressure to maintain the desired level on the fo sure side. that some drying of the steam c j the higher value of the latent-heat-of-vaperisation-at Slower pressures. This process is known as “throt- ding or ‘wire-drawing’ and the effect can-be-seen-by | ‘a numerical example, using Steam Tables. ‘Consider steam at 2-7 bars and dryness fraction 0.99, being expanded to 1-7 bars. 7 At 27 bers: h= S46 kI/kg 217% x 0-99 me 2153 KI/kE, H = 2699 ifkg TUTORIAL PHARMACY ‘At 1-7 bars: hem 483 Ike 1 = 2216 ki fkg H = 269 Whke ‘This means that the water in the steam will be vaporised and will become dry saturated steam at 1-7 bars. ‘There is a risk, however, that the steam may ‘become superheated if expanded to a pressure that is too low; for suppose the steam at 2-7 bars and 0-99 dry is to i bar. From Steam Tables, H for dry saturated steam at 1 bar is 2675 ki/kg and from tables for superheated steam, 2699 kJ/kg at 1 bar gives 12°C superheat. in }, though, steam that has béea trans- mitted any distance through pipes is likely to have a dryness fraction lower than 0-99 and expansion will be insufficient to dry it completely. Méchanical methods are used, therefore, in which the steam is caused to change direction suddenly, the greater momentum of the liquid droplets causing separa- tion, Centrifugal or baffles may be used. USE OF STEAM IN THE PLANT ‘The use of the steam at the plant may be direct ot indirect. In the first case, the live steam is blown directly into the material. It has-the advantage of greater efficiency of heat transfer with no bour resistance to overcome, but the disadvantage ic tise ful layer that the condensate enters the mat method of heating liquids if this important, but the special applications are in steam distillation and for sterilisation (see Gunn and Carter, 1965). ‘When the steam is used indirectly there is a barrier between the steam and the material to be heated. “This may be effected by means of a jacket round the piste of plan pr by having a stim coll or tubes throug’. thé vessel. The use of a steam jacket is convenient but has the limitation that,. as the vessel increases in size, the heating area decreases e crptelative to the volume.’ This will be understood easily ‘Expansion at the plant has the advantage also | ifthe simple case is taken of a y spherical vessel, when the volume is proportional to the cube of the diameter, whereas the surface area is proportional only to the square of the diameter. A steam coil or tubes permits the use of larger areas and increase the heat transfer coefficient by promoting turbulence but may make cleanine of a

    You might also like