‘Test results recommend using %-inch floating disc thermodynamic steam rap as standard and prescribe maximum tracer size and length of run Kenneth G. Eland AdlanticRichfieldCo,, Philadelphia, Pa. Sreast TRACING COMPONENT DESIGN and selection varie ations for process and instrument piping, car. and does jlead to steam wastage. We decided that a standard appli- cation method for steam tracing components would not ‘only minimize steam losses but eliminate design time on run-of-the-mill steam tracing systems, ‘The following facts are based on tracing systems using 150 psig saturated steam. (The basic findings and recom- mendations will also hold true for all lower-pressure trac- ing systems.) Capacities and the length of tracer runs will, of course, vary. ‘There is a steam pressure below which pressure drop will govern the length of a tracer run rather than the condensate load. This is true for 15 psig eshaust steam systems which are quite prevalent ‘A great deal of basic information was gathered by ob- serving the operation of various traps in the field. Checks ing cyele times, discharge times, and taking upstream and downstream pyrometer readings on many traps gave an excellent indication of quality and repeatability of each vendor's product. ‘The effect of design and quality eontrol on field opera: tina may be demonstrated by the results of a series of load laboratory tests which showed that each of the taps tested was capable of operatirig on less than 5 sounds per hour of condensate! These results are shown in Table 1. ‘Tests were conducted in Atlantic's Refinery to obtain ‘rating data under the rigors of field conditions. These ‘malts are shown in Table 2. Typical Tracing System. \ typical steam (racing system s shown in Fig, 1. The keystone of this system is the \ trap. Correct selection and application of other -onweats i to no avail ifthe steam trap is improperly rots Selection must be based on two choices: type and ep ‘pes. ‘The two types of traps normally used in traci service are the bucket trap and the floating isnatnie trap, Sinee the bucket trap is subs TARLE 1—Ste0m Trap To “The following teste were conducted indoors on 100 psig steam. ‘The traps were installed s0 that no condensate could reach them, This test, in effect, gives the minimum condensate load required to operate the trap without steam loss. Condensate Site Recovered Trap Inches Pounds per Hour a % 28 B % 19 a % 16 Ds he 25 ‘TABLE 2—Steam Trap Tests ( AtlanticRichficldGo,, #904 Paraffin, Wax Hydrogenation Unit, Point Breeze refinery, Philadelphia, Pa. The teap was allowed to discharge into a calorimeter and the results were obtained by heat balance calculations. Field teste conducted Steam Load Steam Lose Trap/Test No. Inches Lbs./e. Lh. /He. A=1 % 8.78 0.4 2 % 152 None 3 % 480 None 4 % 26.35, 1571 BI % 278 None 2 % 262 None cH % 20.78 0.62 2 % 20.88 040 Bi w 5.80 218 2 268 042 a1 246 132 2 i 112 ject to freezing, the thermodynamic trap is generally ‘used in outdoor locations. Because of handling ease and reduced inventory, the thermodynamic trap is also used to a great extent in indoor locations. Other advantages of the thermodynamic trap are its small size and insensi= tivity to pressure variations (up to 600 psig) Trap Sizing. The sizing of thermodynamic traps is more etitical than for other types. Size a trap too small and it will back up condensate; too large, and it will waste steam. Excessive oversizing will cause the trap to destroy itself. This occurs when the trap cannot get ‘enough condensate to fulfil its energy requirements and, therelore, begins to cycle more rapidly partly on live steam, This causes an accelerated wear rate, which causes an een more rapid eycling, which causes an even more rapid wear rate, and s0 on until the trap becomes useless Sizing to include potential startup loads leads to over siding in thermodynamic traps. A thermorlynamic trap will handle a great deal more cold condensate than hot condensate; and if a still greater rate is desited, the li 139 RSFig. 1—Typical steam tracing system, can be manually blown down. For applications other than steam tracing, careful consideration should be given before introducing any startup allowance, especially if the addition requires an increase in trap size, For steam tracing applications, a flow rate of 100 pounds per hour gives the best balance between trap siz ing and traced length of pipe, The allowable lengths at various temperatures stays within the realm of possibility while the unavoidable short runs do not cause the flow rate to fall into the trap's inefficient range. ‘On this basis, the selection of a group of steam traps to handle all steam tracing situations is possible. Actually this consists of a J4-inch nominal size trap; but lately the steam trap manufacturers have begun to rate their traps by orifice size rather than by connection size. Suit- able traps should have 190 psig steam condensate capa ties from 350 to 600 pounds per hour at saturation tem- perature and from 550 to 850 pounds per hour at 30° below saturation temperature. Some representative traps are shown in Table 3, show that the nominal %-inch size trap will operate efficiently below 20 pounds per hour and has enough ca- pacity to give safety factors of two or more, depending ‘on the trap, based on a 100 pounds per hour normal load. Low Loads and Gyeling. The trap should be able to handle londs down to a very small percent of its 1 which should be in the realm of 2-8 percent at operating temperature, Cycling, or condensate blowing, should oc- cur at a thrce-to-four-cyele-per-minute rate, with a blow- ing time of five to ten seconds duration. With proper operation, the trap will not allow condensate buildup in the tracer and will blow down completely each time. ‘This, of couse, is based on a bare trap; insulation should not be applied to a thermodynamic steam trap. Trap Oporating Problems. Determining the causes of ‘erratic and improper operation leads to a comparison of ‘operating theories and manufacturing techniques. ‘The operation of a floating or tilting dise trap is based, in part, on the Bernoulli effect. When air and/or con- denste enter the trap, the disc is raised from its seat which allows flow at full trap capacity. As steam enters the trap, the high velocity between the disc and seit creates a Jow pressure area beneath the disc, and at the same time, steam is reeompressing above the dise raising the pressure at that point. This combination causes the disc 10 sap down on its seat, sealing the trap. As the steam above the dise condenses, the pressure decreases to a point where the eycle is repeated. (See Fig. 2) In studying manufacturing techniques, it was noted that some manufacturers use a small scribe mark in the isc to prevent air binding, while others rough grind the disc to a 7 to 12 microinch finish. This rough grinding apparently controls steam losses much better than the scribe mark, Recompression volume and radiation surface directly affect trap operation. If they are small or there is a poor balance between them, the result will be poor cycling and discharge characteristics which will cause condensate buildup upstream of the trap, The required balance is achieved when the radiation of heat is such that the steam trapped above the dise condenses at a rate which gives the desired cycling rate, If the volume is large. compared to the surface, the cyeling rate will be too slow; if the volume is small compared to the surface, the cycling rate will be too fast, Replaceable-seat Traps. A more nebulous area but yet directly involved is the gasketing between the body and seat of replaceable-seat traps. A poor fit in this area evidently causes live steam loss and consequent erratic cycling. Atlantic does not normally use replaceable-seat traps, but of the few tested, the losses were high. The type tested used a flat metal gasket to seal the body-seat joint. ‘This sealing problem has been recognized by the manus facturers and they have done extensive testing which bas resulted in no two using the same method; one does not even offer a replaceable-seat, The problem, of cours, can. be avoided by using integral seat traps. The decision to use or not to use replaceable-seat traps must be based on economics of the individual user Tracor Lengths. As mentioned earlier, recommended maximum traced lengths have been computed to give @ steam flow of 100 pounds per hour and are shown in Table 4. For the majority of steam-tracing applications, the length of tho tracer run is uncontrollably short. Only for long transfer line runs can the length be controlled for effective trap utilization, The usual length of a tracer run produces a condensato flow much below the capacity, fof the trap. Grouping of small systems is useful but limited, since combined systems rapidly beeome unwieldy. By basing traced lengths on a flow of 100 pounds per hour, TABLE 3—Stoam Trop Cepaclilos Continuous Dischorgs Capacity, Pounds per Hour 15 psig Steam 150 psig Steam She 30” Below 30" Below ‘Teap Inches Sat. Temp. Sat, Temp, Sat, Temp, Sat. Temp. A *% 2 330 315 350 BM 195 (300) 490 (723) c % 185 225 350 ‘510 Do 250 380 315 350 D % 250 380 375 350 Numbers in parentheves are approximate; normal trap operation conats of three to four discharges per minute of sixto-ten ‘econds duration, meea os we GUIDE TO STEAM TRACING DESIGN . . . xp can be selected which is small enough to avoid ‘siting, while the allowable runs are reasonably long. ises where looping or pocketing of the tracer exists, pe tm@eer should incorporate no more total pocket height (Cr determined by the following API formula: Sum of pocket heights = 231 x 10 percent of inlet joatt pressure, psig. ‘This condition will cccur in the J Vecity of tracing applications within a refinery unit, srsiners, To insure trouble-free operation, once the trap has been selected, it is necesary t0 keep dirt » from the orifices and the disc seating arca, This is ~ secomplished through the use of a strainer, although stemate method is manual blowdown of all tracing © cers and lines before startup. However, using the down method, it is difficult to assure that the system + caperly blown’ down. After startup, the majority of ss are a clean service; but it is during initial startup + any subsequent startup following a shutdown that colems arise, Either a trap may seal itself because of accumulation of sludge, or it may trap dirt under the Jin, allowing the steam to blow freely. With a closed Scedensate system, such malfunctioning is not readily apparent; and during the duress of a startup, it will prob- 2s go unnoticed, In the course of conducting field tests, 2 out of 14 traps ronal tracing service were malfunctioning because of ‘vt under the disc, To provide strainers for each and e-y tracer, to prevent possible trouble during startup, 1 undoubtedly false economy, especially when the fre- svengy of such problems appears to be no more than five escent. A better solution is to install a strainer in each © all header feeding a number of tracers, thereby cover= «all systems. Integral-Strainer Traps. The author believes that in- following reasons: their straining capacity is too ‘specially for startup conditions; they cost consider- +} mote than separate units; and for complete coverage, + \\traeor would have to be equipped with an integral- ner trap, Condensate Collection System, The remaining facet ‘song systems is the condensate collection system. For ‘sound systems, Atlantic uses a small lash pot which wisdle a given number of traps. The tracing systems Ken down into groups, each having its own flash eh 777] About the author ' | Keser G. ELAN is an autrmotive )| equipment engineer with Attantitteh- fold. in Philadelphia, specif yi Ponent testing, He received egrce in mechanical engineering from Drexel Institute of Technology, Phila ‘telphia, He was formerly a design en nrineer with Atlantic Refining Con aa sisting in the engineering of refinery military service, he served aa test engi eaten launcher researeh projvch, sbstrainer traps are not suitable for large refinery units « Fig, 2—Crowection of typical Moting-dis eam trap Som flow is shown by the arrows. = TABLE 4—Maximum Tracer Lengths for 3c Trp W (Lit) Based on the formula: (SF) ie cere ao tnt: WO pet np en toe tag tat te ea a as = NOTES: (1) Chart ature. (2) The tracer should incorporate no mote total pocket height than computed by the followine API formula: Sum of pocket heights = 2.31 x 10 percent of inlet steam pressure, psig H (3) Tnnulation thicknesses are hosed on economic stodies for the Philadelphia area valid from 150° F to 350° F flid temper pot, Insufficient sizing of these, as well as any other open condensate collection system, will cause a steady rain of condensate in the area of the vent pipe, and the sewers in the area will emit flash steam, An underground system ccan cause maintenance problems when the coolers must he installed beneath conerete ‘The alternative is to install an above-ground conden- sate collection system. From a maintenance viewpoint, { a single centralized unit would be even better, Und ground flash pots, being generally horizontal, do not as good a separation as an above ground vertical unit ‘The difficulty in drawing any specific conclusions on con: densate collection systems is the nature of the application and the existence of local codes. Originally presented to the ASME Petroleum Mecha ical Engineering Conference, New Orleans, Septeriber 18-21, 1966. ACKNOWLEDGMENT 41