Original situation
Condensate from the factory’s steam traps collected in a 15 m³ tank that had stood open to atmosphere for 50 years. The steam it re-evaporated, at about 100 °C and 0.1–0.2 bar g, escaped from the open tank, while the deaerator took all its heating steam from the 10 bar g main.
Technical enhancement
- The tank was closed.
- A motorised Jetomat® steam ejector (Baelz), driven by 10 bar g steam from the main, draws the re-evaporated steam out of the tank through a motorised shut-off valve.
- The mix leaves at DN 100 and heats the deaerator. A pressure controller on the deaerator (set point 0.25 bar g) sets the Jetomat’s nozzle; pressure and temperature switches guard the suction line.
- The deaerator keeps its direct steam supply from the main, through a motorised valve.
The result
- About Rs 10.6 lakh a year saved, as reported
- The tank’s steam heats the deaerator instead of the sky
- The installation had run for several years when Baelz documented it as a reference
Why it works
Condensate at about 100 °C keeps releasing steam at 0.1–0.2 bar g: too low a pressure for any user, so an open tank simply loses it. The Jetomat uses the pressure energy of the 10 bar g motive steam to draw that steam out and deliver the mix at the deaerator’s pressure. Because the closed tank already holds a little pressure, suction starts early in the nozzle stroke.
Takeaway
Almost every plant has an open condensate tank with a plume above it. Closing it and putting a Jetomat on the vent turns a free waste stream into deaerator steam.