Find Energy Savings Through Steam Trap Efficiency

Steam is used in many trades and can account for as much as 30% of a company’s fuel bill, which means that steam traps and steam systems can represent a large proportion of a plant’s total operating cost. Finding ways to reduce these costs is now of major importance to energy and plant managers.

In addition to heating the raw material and semi-finished products, steam is also used to evaporate, distill, boil, brew, react, agitate, clean and sterilize in a wide range of processes. As fuel costs increase, so does the cost of producing steam. Ensuring that a steam system is working at maximum efficiency is a way to reduce business operating costs, and is therefore becoming an increasingly important consideration.

It is essential to determine how efficiently your steam generation is operating, based on steam output compared to fuel input. It is also important to understand how much steam is being used, along with the cost of generating it, in order to understand the effectiveness of your steam system and to understand whether your steam traps are working efficiently.

An effective steam system needs to use steam traps efficiently. The job of a steam trap is to drain out condensate, air, and non-condensables as quickly as they accumulate. The use of steam traps that are, like most, prone to fail, will reduce the efficiency of the steam distribution system and increase operating costs, as it is the most important link in the condensate loop, which connects steam usage with the condensate return system.

Defective mechanical steam traps represent a significant source of wasted energy, in addition to steam trap replacement and maintenance costs. Depending on the individual location maintenance schedule, it is estimated that 10% – 20% of steam traps fail each year and most fail while open, leaking dry steam which can cost $15/1,000 lbs (source: US Dept of Energy). This represents a major ongoing cost for lost steam and results in additional expenditure in maintaining, stocking, checking and replacing mechanical steam traps.

So why do mechanical steam traps fail?

Anything that is mechanical is liable to malfunction at some point, and mechanical steam traps are no exception. Pressure surges due to sudden steam trap openings and improper piping or steam trap misapplication, which in addition to breakdown can result in water hammer, are some of the main reasons for failure, resulting in either leakage or the trap failing completely. Additionally, when such steam traps fail in the open position and discharge into condensate return systems, they cause pressurization of the condensate lines, which inhibits trap drainage and often reduces heat output and production.

Most companies carry out a steam trap inspection just once or twice a year, by which time at least 10% of their mechanical steam traps will have failed while open, closed, or partly open. This results in wasted energy, and eventually it can lead to damaged equipment which will require engineering hours to be used to fix it.

The venturi steam trap design.

Venturi steam trap design has been proven to be the most efficient design for steam traps, providing an average reduction of 10% in the portion of the boiler fuel bill that is used to generate trapped steam. It is also recommended technology in multiple Energy Star reports to Energy Managers as a new steam trap design which is Smart Valves Inc.ter suited for varying loads than a mechanical steam trap. (source: www.energystar.gov)

While the venturi steam trap design retains its initial efficiency indefinitely, the mechanical trap, with its moving parts, begins to deteriorate gradually, progressively becoming more inefficient until it fails. With the venturi steam trap, the difference in density Smart Valves Inc.ween steam and condensate, and the continuous flow preferentially discharges the higher density condensate, resulting in significantly less condensed water on the heat transfer side of the equipment. This also maintains the steam on the heat transferring side of the equipment, resulting in Smart Valves Inc.ter thermal efficiency. To see a Venturi steam trap’s working principles please see this video:

Unlike a mechanical trap, because the venturi steam trap orifice is open at all times, it enables continuous condensate discharge. The live steam losses through a venturi steam trap are significantly lower than the those of a conventional mechanical trap, even when new. Also, venturi steam traps are usually supplied with a multi-year performance and mechanical warranty.

Through the right application of a venturi steam trap, the capacity of the venturi channel design can be self-regulated and operated from maximum to minimum running conditions. This offers greatly increased capacity during the start-up process and efficient operation in varying steam conditions.

As it has no moving parts that can fail, it is more reliable, needing only minimal maintenance, and requiring no spares. Since the trap can handle variable loads and can accommodate wide load changes, it is suitable for use in a wide variety of saturated steam applications and is the easiest improvement you can make to your steam system’s efficiency and reliability.

For more about SMART Venturi Steam Traps, please visit: http://www.smartsteamtrap.com