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Steam Separator
A steam separator, sometimes called a moisture separator or steam drier, is a device for separating water droplets from steam. The simplest type of steam separator is the steam dome on a steam locomotive. Stationary boilers and nuclear reactors may have more complex devices that impart a "spin" to the steam so that water droplets are thrown outwards by centrifugal force and collected. All separators require steam traps to collect the water droplets that they remove. It is important to remove water droplets from steam because: * In all engines, wet steam reduces the thermal efficiency * In piston engines, water can accumulate in the cylinders and cause a hydraulic lock which will damage the engine * In thermal power stations, water droplets in high velocity steam coming from nozzles (or vanes) in a steam turbine can impinge on and erode turbine internals such as turbine blades. * In other steam-using industrial machinery, water can accumulate in piping and cause steam hammer: a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Dome
The steam dome is a vessel fitted to the top of the boiler of a steam engine. It contains the opening to the main steam pipe and its purpose is to allow this opening to be kept well above the water level in the boiler. This arrangement acts as a simple steam separator and minimises the risk that water will be carried over to the Cylinder (locomotive), cylinders where it might cause a Hydrolock, hydraulic lock, also known as Priming (steam locomotive), priming. A steam dome should not be confused with a Sandbox (locomotive), sand dome. Railway locomotives The first locomotive with a deliberate dome added to the boiler barrel was Stephenson's 'Phoenix' an 0-2-2 for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830. Many other locomotives built from the late 1830s instead used either the haycock boiler, 'haycock' boiler, where the firebox outer casing was raised high above the main part of the boiler, forming a steam dome, or Daniel Gooch, Gooch's development of this where the semi-cy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Hammer
Hydraulic shock ( colloquial: water hammer; fluid hammer) is a pressure surge or wave caused when a fluid in motion is forced to stop or change direction suddenly: a momentum change. It is usually observed in a liquid but gases can also be affected. This phenomenon commonly occurs when a valve closes suddenly at an end of a pipeline system and a pressure wave propagates in the pipe. This pressure wave can cause major problems, from noise and vibration to pipe rupture or collapse. It is possible to reduce the effects of the water hammer pulses with accumulators, expansion tanks, surge tanks, blowoff valves, and other features. The effects can be avoided by ensuring that no valves will close too quickly with significant flow, but there are many situations that can cause the effect. Rough calculations can be made using the Zhukovsky (Joukowsky) equation, or more accurate ones using the method of characteristics. History In the 1st century B.C., Marcus Vitruvius Pollio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Reactors
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for commercial electricity, marine propulsion, weapons production and research. Fissile nuclei (primarily uranium-235 or plutonium-239) absorb single neutrons and split, releasing energy and multiple neutrons, which can induce further fission. Reactors stabilize this, regulating neutron absorbers and moderators in the core. Fuel efficiency is exceptionally high; low-enriched uranium is 120,000 times more energy dense than coal. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid coolant. In commercial reactors, this drives turbines and electrical generator shafts. Some reactors are used for district heating, and isotope production for medical and industrial use. Following the 1938 discovery of fission, many countries initiated military nuclear research programs. Early subcritical experiments probed neutronics. In 1942, the first artificial critical nu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boilers
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central heating, boiler-based power generation, cooking, and sanitation. Heat sources In a fossil fuel power plant using a steam cycle for power generation, the primary heat source will be combustion of coal, oil, or natural gas. In some cases byproduct fuel such as the carbon monoxide rich offgasses of a coke battery can be burned to heat a boiler; biofuels such as bagasse, where economically available, can also be used. In a nuclear power plant, boilers called steam generators are heated by the heat produced by nuclear fission. Where a large volume of hot gas is available from some process, a heat recovery steam generator or recovery boiler can use the heat to produce steam, with little or no extra fuel consumed; such a configuration is commo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biomass
Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how biomass is defined, e.g., only from plants, from plants and algae, from plants and animals. The vast majority of biomass used for bioenergy does come from plants and fecal matter. Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy that the bioenergy industry claims has the potential to assist with climate change mitigation. Uses in different contexts Ecology * Biomass (ecology), the mass of living biological organisms in a given area or ecosystem at a given time. This can be the biomass of particular species or the biomass of a particular community or habitat. Energy * Biomass (energy), biomass used for energy production or in other words: biological mass used as a renewable energy source (usually produced through agriculture, forestry or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laundry
Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this universal human need are of interest to several branches of scholarship. Laundry work has traditionally been highly gendered, with the responsibility in most cultures falling to women (formerly known as laundresses or washerwomen). The Industrial Revolution gradually led to mechanized solutions to laundry work, notably the washing machine and later the tumble dryer. Laundry, like cooking and child care, is still done both at home and by commercial establishments outside the home. The word "laundry" may refer to the clothing itself, or to the place where the cleaning happens. An individual home may have a laundry room; a utility room includes, but is not restricted to, the function of washing clothes. An apartment building or student ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Dryer
A clothes dryer (tumble dryer, drying machine, drying device, or simply dryer) is a powered household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing, bedding and other textiles, usually after they are washed in the washing machine. Many dryers consist of a rotating drum called a "tumbler" through which heated air is circulated to evaporate moisture while the tumbler is rotated to maintain air space between the articles. Using such a machine may cause clothes to shrink or become less soft (due to loss of short soft fibers). A simpler non-rotating machine called a " drying cabinet" may be used for delicate fabrics and other items not suitable for a tumble dryer. Other machines include steam to de-shrink clothes and avoid ironing. Tumble dryers Tumble dryers continuously draw in the ambient air around them and heat it before passing it through the tumbler. The resulting hot, humid air is usually vented outside to make room for more air to continue the drying pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superheater
A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, in some steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. There are three types of superheaters: radiant, convection, and separately fired. A superheater can vary in size from a few tens of feet to several hundred feet (a few metres to some hundred metres). Types * A radiant superheater is placed directly in the radiant zone of the combustion chamber near the water wall so as to absorb heat by radiation. * A convection superheater is located in the convective zone of the furnace, in the path of the hot flue gases, usually ahead of an economizer. A convection superheater is also called a primary superheater. * A separately fired superheater is a superheater that is placed outside the main boiler and has its own separate combustion system. This superheater design incorporates additional burners i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Turbine
A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884. It revolutionized marine propulsion and navigation to a significant extent. Fabrication of a modern steam turbine involves advanced metalwork to form high-grade steel alloys into precision parts using technologies that first became available in the 20th century; continued advances in durability and efficiency of steam turbines remains central to the energy economics of the 21st century. The largest steam turbine ever built is the 1,770 MW Arabelle steam turbine built by Arabelle Solutions (previously GE Steam Power), two units of which will be installed at Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station, England. The steam turbine is a form of heat engine that derives much of its improvement in thermodynamic efficiency from the u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat water in the locomotive's Boiler (power generation), boiler to the point where it becomes gaseous and its volume increases 1,700 times. Functionally, it is a steam engine on wheels. In most locomotives, the steam is admitted alternately to each end of its Steam locomotive components, cylinders in which pistons are mechanically connected to the locomotive's main wheels. Fuel and water supplies are usually carried with the locomotive, either on the locomotive itself or in a Tender (rail), tender coupled to it. #Variations, Variations in this general design include electrically powered boilers, turbines in place of pistons, and using steam generated externally. Steam locomotives were first developed in the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermal Power Station
A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat from the source is converted into mechanical energy using a thermodynamic power cycle (such as a Diesel cycle, Rankine cycle, Brayton cycle, etc.). The most common cycle involves a working fluid (often water) heated and boiled under high pressure in a pressure vessel to produce high-pressure steam. This high pressure-steam is then directed to a turbine, where it rotates the turbine's blades. The rotating turbine is mechanically connected to an electric generator which converts rotary motion into electricity. Fuels such as natural gas or oil can also be burnt directly in gas turbines ( internal combustion), skipping the steam generation step. These plants can be of the open cycle or the more efficient combined cycle type. The majorit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrolock
Hydrolock (a shorthand notation for hydrostatic lock or hydraulic lock) is an abnormal condition of any device which is designed to compress a gas by mechanically restraining it caused by a liquid entering the device. In the case of a reciprocating internal combustion engine, a piston cannot complete its travel and mechanical failure may occur if a volume of liquid greater than the volume of the cylinder at its minimum (end of the piston's stroke) enters the cylinder, due to the incompressibility of liquids. Symptoms and damage If an engine hydrolocks while at speed, a mechanical failure is likely. Common damage modes include bent or broken connecting rods, a fractured crank, a fractured head, a fractured block, crankcase damage, damaged bearings, or any combination of these. Forces absorbed by other interconnected components may cause additional damage. Physical damage to metal parts can manifest as a "crashing" or "screeching" sound and usually requires replacement of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
