Steam-to-Water Heating

Steam-to-Water Heating

Plant Steam Into Process Water

Steam-to-water is the highest volume heating duty in industry. In a plate exchanger it is straightforward thermally and demanding hydraulically, because steam occupies an enormous specific volume compared with the condensate it becomes.

Pressure drop governs. Steam entering a narrow plate channel accelerates, and pressure drop on the steam side directly lowers saturation temperature, which works against the duty you are trying to achieve. Plate selection and port sizing follow from the allowable drop rather than from the heat balance alone.

Condensate has to leave. A steam-heated plate pack that cannot drain floods progressively and loses surface, and the symptom looks exactly like fouling. Trap sizing and the drain arrangement matter as much as the exchanger.

Control. A modulating steam valve operating far below its range produces unstable outlet temperature. Where the load turns down a long way, that needs designing rather than discovering.