Industries
Any site, whether industrial, commercial or utility, utilizing steam for power, heat or process is a candidate for Green Box Telemetrix products. All steam systems must return as much condensate as possible to be efficient while utilizing all of the available latent heat energy in the steam. Working steam traps provide that function, but it is not always evident that a steam trap is working properly.
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School & University Campuses
Generally, a central steam heating plant supplies energy through steam to campus buildings through a series of underground pipes either directly buried or in tunnels. As steam travels through the pipes, some energy is lost causing steam to condense to hot water. In a steam system, liquid condensate is not a good thing which is why multiple steam traps are used along the length of the distribution piping and at any heat transfer device like a radiator.
Campuses can have hundreds of steam traps that may or may not be working properly. Typically, Campus facilities can check traps only once a year allowing trap failures to leak steam without being identified for long periods and lose energy and money for the facility in higher fuel bills.
Hospitals
Hospitals also utilize distribution piping to move steam from a utility area or boiler room to where the heat is needed. Along with distribution traps, hospitals require clean rooms and sterilization using steam autoclaves and de-humidification re-heat. These processes also require working steam traps for proper operation and efficiency.
Food & Beverage Manufacturing
In the food industry, steam is used for routine cleaning (CIP) and sterilization as well as for cooking and direct injection into certain recipes. Steam distribution piping will include steam traps to remove condensate making heat exchange where the heat is required more effective. Heat exchangers, ovens and kettles using steam will all require steam traps before and after the heat exchange device.
District Heating
Central steam plants in cities like Boston, Detroit, Pittsburg, San Francisco and others around the country supply heating in the form of steam to residences and office buildings throughout the city. This requires long distribution lines and the need to remove condensate along those lines using steam traps. Generally, distribution piping is buried in tunnels under ground along with condensate return piping and sometimes chilled water piping. Steam traps in these tunnels may not be routinely checked and until a steam leak becomes evident by steaming man hole covers, leaking steam can cause thousands of dollars in lost energy.
Small & Large Industrial
Again, industrial manufacturers generally have a utility area where power, steam and chilled water are generated. Steam must be transported via distribution piping through the building or across the facility to multiple areas. Within the boiler room, there may be many steam traps to eliminate condensate from the steam piping and return the condensate to the boiler. Processes such as injection molding, product heating, drying, curing chemical reactions and catalysis utilize steam and require traps to remove condensate and maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of the equipment.
Pulp & Paper Manufacturing
A very large user of steam, pulp, and paper manufacturing involves heating material by direct injection of steam or steam heating of drying “cans” that process and remove water from the pulp to make long continuous sheets of paper. Again, dry steam is essential for effective heating and process control and the use of steam traps to remove condensate is very important. A paper mill may have hundreds of steam traps throughout the system.
Refining
In refining, heavier raw materials are generally processed into lighter products for general use including fuels, cooking oils, and chemicals. Heavy, viscous liquids must be able to move through piping to process areas which is made easier by steam heat tracing of the piping. Heat tracing, especially in colder climates, is necessary to reduce viscosity to keep the product flowing. Steam heat tracing, steam injection, and vessel heating is essential to the process making working steam traps very important to the overall operation and efficiency of the plant. With potentially thousands of steam traps, it is common practice to test traps once a year or less with a manual “study” taking days if not weeks to complete for only a “snapshot” view of steam trap health. Continuous monitoring will eliminate the need for annual steam trap studies and provide real time health of the facility steam system.
Common to all steam use applications is the need to remove condensate by the use of working steam traps.
It is not always evident that a trap is working properly or even completely failed allowing live steam and the energy carried by that steam to be lost. This is why continuous monitoring can help to save large amounts of energy as well as aid in resolving process issues.
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