Superheated steam in heat exchangers
Can anyone point me in the direction of some information regarding the use of superheated steam in heat exchangers. I know that it reduces the heat transfer rate as the bulk of the heat transfer is obtained by the change of phase, which only occurs after the steam has lost its superheat.
Well, it depends. If the cold surface is below the saturation
temperature of the steam, chances are that a nominal amount of superheat
will not make any difference. The exchanger will operate basically at
the saturation temperature.
However, if there is a LOT (say a
few hundred degrees-Instrument Manifolds) of superheat, then it's a different ballgame. The
steam side heat transfer coefficient would then be based on a dry gas in
the desuperheating portion of the exchanger, until it reaches a point
where the wall temperature is at saturation. The dry gas coefficient is
MUCH lower than the condensing coefficient. Chances are that the
amount of surface required would then be greater than if just condensing
the steam, even though the temperature difference in that portion is
greater.
The amount of steam required would be slightly less than
if just condensing. It would be a function of the total enthalpy
difference between the superheated enthalpy and the saturated liquid
enthalpy (assuming that you would be controlling the steam with a simple
trap at the outlet).
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