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Posted by lou on June 09, 2004 at 23:57:45:
In Reply to: Steam Drum design posted by Chris on June 07, 2004 at 10:48:13:
: A certain area of water surface is required in a boiler from which to release the steam at an acceptable velocity with minimal carryover. I am looking for design standards or calculation methods for determining steam drum diameters and lenghts to ensure that the area of the normal water level would be acceptable for a given steam load.
: I am doing some research to determine why and how boiler manufacturers determine the size of their drums. Typically, diameters of steam drums are supplied as 30, 36, 42, 48, and 54". I am trying to determine, why not 34, or 40, or 45?? Since the steel plate can be rolled into any diameter, why are these the industry standard? I am trying to find a relationship of steam capacity, steam disengagement area, and liquid-vapor separation properties to determine, if in fact, that for a boiler of X capacity, one could use a 35" drum instead of a 36" drum. Most of the design information is proprietary of the boiler manufacturer, or it's based on the fact that "it's been done like this for years, so we must follow tradition." Or, is it simply a matter of being able to fit all of the steam separation equipment into the drum, and the actual diameter is irrelevant to the capacity of the boiler??
: These are the questions I am trying to answer.
: Anyone know where I could find the answers or does anyone have experience with this topic?
: Please advise, thanks.
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Good point.
The only reason for discrete drum diameters we can think of is that the drum end formers may only come in 6" steps.