Steam flow loss through top of open condensate tank

[engoz]

Hi there,
I have two questions here but the first and most important is I'm trying to find out the flow of steam from the top of a return condensate tank from a sugar mill pan area so I can work out the condenstae loss. The pressure in the water tank is 75kpa and their is an open 6 inch gate valve on top of the tank which lets out the steam from the water.
The second is I want to put some sort of steam trap on this 6 inch outlet pipe to save this condensate loss. Is this a possibility for this application?

Thanks in advance,

 

[MortenA]

You need to find the Cv (or an quvalent measure for pressure loss in the valve). Then you can calculate the steam flow through the valve (usually the valve manufactors handbook will have the equations).

In theory the steam should remain as steam unless you cool it. So you will ned a condenser to "catch" the steam. Then a pump to feed it back into the vessel.

A steam trap is usually intended to remove condensate that occurs from (unwanted) cooling of a steam carrying pipe.

Best Regards

Morten