Original situation
Condensate collected in a drum flashes as its pressure falls. The re-evaporated steam, 1,500 kg/h, went up the drum vent to atmosphere as a white plume.
Technical enhancement
- A Jetomat® (Baelz 590) DN 150 takes the drum’s flash steam as its suction.
- Steam from the 12.5 bar g main drives it as motive steam.
- The mixed steam goes into the LP steam header at 1.56 bar g.
- A pressure controller on the discharge sets the Jetomat’s motorised actuator.
| Jetomat duty | Motive | Suction | Discharge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure | 12.5 bar g | 0.2 bar g | 1.56 bar g |
| Flow | 4,700 kg/h | 1,100 kg/h | 6,000 kg/h |
The result
- 1.1 t/h of flash steam recovered into the LP header: of the 6,000 kg/h the Jetomat delivers, 1,100 kg/h is steam that used to vent
- About Rs 3.8 crore a year, as calculated by the plant on 1.1 t/h, all year round
- The plume over the drum is gone
Why it works
Flash steam at 0.2 bar g is too low in pressure for any steam user. In the Jetomat the 12.5 bar g motive steam expands through the nozzle at high velocity, entrains the drum’s flash steam, and the diffuser turns that velocity back into pressure: the mix leaves at 1.56 bar g, a pressure the LP header takes. The variable nozzle matches the motive flow to the flash steam the drum actually produces.
Takeaway
A plume over a condensate drum is steam with a price on it. When the plant has an LP header, a Jetomat puts that steam back on the meter.
