Steam condensate leakage

Conference · Mon Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996

OSTI ID:273678

Midlock, E B; Thuot, J R

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is a multi-program research and development center owned by the United States Department of Energy and operated by the University of Chicago. The majority of the buildings on site use steam for heating and other purposes. Steam is generated from liquid water at the site`s central boiler house and distributed around the site by means of large pipes both above and below the ground. Steam comes into each building where it is converted to liquid condensate, giving off heat which can be used by the building. The condensate is then pumped back to the boiler house where it will be reheated to steam again. The process is continual but is not perfectly efficient. A substantial amount of condensate is being lost somewhere on site. The lost condensate has both economic and environmental significance. To compensate for lost condensate, makeup water must be added to the returned condensate at the boiler house. The water cost itself will become significant in the future when ANL begins purchasing Lake Michigan water. In addition to the water cost, there is also the cost of chemically treating the water to remove impurities, and there is the cost of energy required to heat the water, as it enters the boiler house 1000 F colder than the condensate return. It has been estimated that only approximately 60% of ANL`s steam is being returned as condensate, thus 40% is being wasted. This is quite costly to ANL and will become significantly more costly in the future when ANL begins purchasing water from Lake Michigan. This study locates where condensate loss is occurring and shows how much money would be saved by repairing the areas of loss. Shortly after completion of the study, one of the major areas of loss was repaired. This paper discusses the basis for the study, the areas where losses are occurring, the potential savings of repairing the losses, and a hypothesis as to where the unaccounted for loss is occurring.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 273678
• Report Number(s): ANL/EMO/CP--90439; CONF-960741--10; ON: DE96012756
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
42 ENGINEERING
ANL
CONDENSATES
LEAK TESTING
LEAKS
STEAM
STEAM CONDENSERS
WATER REQUIREMENTS
WATER SUPPLY