Chemical industry · Jetomat TurboHeat®
We close the steam loop in your chemical plant. Flash and vent steam goes back into the process as usable steam, and the Jetomat’s variable nozzle follows the load as it swings.
Jetomat® variable-nozzle thermocompressors, made in Germany by Baelz. Engineered and commissioned in India by i-Kcal.
Chemical plants we work with
Where it leaks
Six things we hear first when we walk a chemical plant.
Condensate pumped or dropped to atmosphere flashes, and low-pressure steam vents because there is more of it than demand.
High-pressure steam is throttled down to process pressure and nothing is recovered from the drop.
Dozens or hundreds of small traps on the pipe racks and in classified areas, seldom checked.
A film of condensate sits on the jacket wall and holds the heat back, so batches take longer.
Batches start and stop, and the flash and the steam demand swing with them.
Tracer and process condensate dropped at every trap, with its heat and treated water.
What changes
Steam you already paid for, back in the process: from the flash tank, the vent and the reducing station.
A variable-nozzle Jetomat entrains vented flash steam and delivers it at process pressure.
Jetomat thermocompressorThe Jetomat runs in parallel with the existing pressure-reducing station, so production keeps its supply.
How the Jetomat worksJetomat recirculation on the jacket keeps the steam moving and the temperature even across the wall.
Jetomat thermocompressorOne Jetomat per traced area keeps the steam moving through every tracer and brings the condensate home from one point; lines that keep their traps get trap modules.
Condensate & flash recoveryA Jetomat between effects reuses the low-pressure vapour as heating steam.
Jetomat thermocompressorAcoustic inspection of valves and traps, and a steam flow meter on the line you fix.
Valve & trap leak detectionAlso for the boiler house
Applications
From reactor jackets to the boiler house: the duties we fit, and what each one changes.
ProblemA film of condensate sits on the jacket wall and holds the heat back, so batches heat slowly and unevenly.
What changesA Jetomat on the jacket keeps the steam moving round it and sweeps the film off the wall. Batches heat faster, and the temperature stays even across the wall.
ProblemEvery effect is fed live steam while low-pressure vapour from the later effects goes unused.
What changesA Jetomat between effects lifts that vapour to the pressure of the effect before it and reuses it as heating steam. The evaporator needs less live steam for the same water removed.
ProblemThin-film dryers and calandrias give off low-grade vapour in useful quantity, and the duty follows the batch.
What changesA variable-nozzle Jetomat lifts that vapour back to a pressure the process can use, and follows the batch as the duty rises and falls.
ProblemHigh-pressure steam is throttled down to process pressure and nothing is recovered from the drop, while low-pressure steam vents elsewhere on the site.
What changesA Jetomat runs in parallel with the reducing station and uses the same pressure drop to lift vented steam to process pressure. Production keeps its supply, and the reducing station stays as standby.
ProblemCondensate pumped or dropped to atmosphere flashes, and the low-pressure steam goes up the vent because there is more of it than demand.
What changesA variable-nozzle Jetomat entrains the vented flash steam and delivers it as process steam, following the swings in flash as batches start and stop.
ProblemHot condensate goes to drain or into open receivers, and takes its heat and treated water with it.
What changesA flash separator takes the flash off, and a pressure-powered pump sends the hot condensate back to the boiler feedwater tank. Heat and treated water stay in the plant.
ProblemTracing carries most of a plant’s steam traps: small, numerous, up on the pipe racks and seldom checked, with condensate going to drain at every one.
What changesOne variable-nozzle Jetomat per traced area keeps steam moving through every tracer at one set pressure. The tracer traps go, every line holds its temperature to the tail, and the condensate comes home from one point.
ProblemTank coils and tracer lines run on many small traps and valves that are rarely surveyed, so leaks run unseen.
What changesAn acoustic survey checks every trap and valve against its tag and shows which leak or are blocked, so repairs go to the right ones and the next survey shows what changed.
ProblemThe deaerator vent is a manual valve set at commissioning and never re-checked, so steam and treated water leak all year.
What changesA deaerator package with its vent set to the duty keeps oxygen out of the feedwater, and the returned condensate lands where its heat is kept.
ProblemBoiler blowdown is opened by hand, on habit, so hot water and flash steam leave the boiler house with it.
What changesBlowdown is set by measured water quality, the flash steam goes to the deaerator and the remaining heat to the feedwater.
Proof
Chemical plant · Bharuch, India
At UPL in Bharuch, flash steam from condensate pumping went up the vent while the steam load kept changing. A variable-nozzle Jetomat, supplied and commissioned by i-Kcal, runs alongside the 3.5 bar reducing station and turns that flash into 3.5 bar process steam, with no change to production.
Vent steam recovery 65 kg/h vent steam recovered 
Process hot water Pharma How it works
The short version. The engineering detail is on the Jetomat page.
High-pressure steam enters the variable nozzle and does the pumping.
The jet entrains vented flash or low-pressure steam from the vessel or the vent line.
The mixture is recompressed to the pressure the process needs, and the nozzle follows the load as it swings.
Next step
Tell us about your plant and send us the ten numbers below.
A first number for your plant, or a date for a site visit.
Add the ten numbers to the message if you have them.
FAQ
It takes flash or vent steam that would go to atmosphere, compresses it with high-pressure steam and delivers it back at process pressure. On reactors and tracing it keeps the steam moving instead of trapping it.
Yes. The variable nozzle opens and closes with the load, so recovery and pressure hold while batches start and stop.
Up to 30% less steam on the duties it fits. Typical payback for a Jetomat is 6 to 18 months, depending on the application and the fuel price; at UPL in Bharuch it was under 8 months.
No. The Jetomat is tied in beside the existing reducing station, and the old path stays in service until the new one is proved.
On a Jetomat tracing loop the tracers run without traps and the condensate comes home from one point. On a retrofit the old traps can stay in place, valved off, as standby.
The Jetomat has no rotating machinery; only the nozzle spindle moves, and there is no seal or lubricant in the steam path.
A Jetomat on the jacket recirculates the steam, so the jacket heats faster and more evenly; three reactors in a polycarbonate plant in Europe have run this way at full capacity since 2000.
It depends on the line pressure and size; much low-pressure recovery stays outside IBR. Where it is IBR, i-Kcal takes the approvals through the Inspectorate.
We show where your flash and vent steam can go back into the process, and what it brings back, free.
