“Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way.”

(Comedian Steve Martin)

 

WHAT'S IN THE PACKAGE?

3-Element Control: The typical automatic control system on a modern package boiler that uses input from the BFW flow rate, the steam production flow rate, and the level in the steam drum to automatically control steam production.

BFW: The abbreviation for Boiler Feed Water.

BFW  is chemically treated well or city water that is boiled into steam.

Burner Assembly: The igniter and burner from which flames and combustion products spew in a package boiler.

The burners could be on the floor of the boiler firebox but are more typically mounted to shoot out flames horizontally through the boiler firebox.

Downcomers: When BFW flows downward from the steam drum to the lower drum via a water tube then that tube is behaving as a downcomer.

D-tubes: The water tubes in Package Boilers that are shaped like the sideways U part of a capital D (or backwards D depending on how you look at it).

Mud Drum: The lower, smaller drum in a Package Boiler that is on the receiving end of downcomers and the starting flow point of the risers.

Solid particles tend to end up in the mud drum, hence the name.

Package Boilers: A steam generator found in the utility area of the processing plant.

The typical Package Boiler is a water tube design (as opposed to fire tube).

The term "Package" delineates that the boiler was made offsite and delivered to the processing plant as a nifty package.

Risers: When BFW and steam flow upward from the mud drum to the steam drum via a water tube then that tube is behaving as a riser.

Steam Drum: The upper, top drum of a Package Boiler which has the BFW liquid/saturated steam interface level.

Fresh BFW flows into the steam drum and from there flows into the downcomers.

 

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Heat of Condensation: The thermal energy that is released when a vapor or gas changes state into a liquid.

The Heat of Condensation is not sensed nor displayed on a thermometer so it is sometimes called the Latent Heat of Condensation because "latent" means hidden.

The Heat of Condensation is the same magnitude but opposite in sign to the Heat of Vaporization.

Otherwise stated, the Heat of Condensation is released to the surroundings and the Heat of Vaporization is absorbed from the surroundings.

Heat of Freezing:The thermal energy that is released when a liquid changes state into a solid.

The Heat of Freezing  is not sensed nor displayed on a thermometer so it is sometimes called the Latent Heat of Freezing.

The Heat of Freezing and the Heat of Fusion have the same magnitude but evolve and absorb heat, respectively.

Heat of Fusion: The thermal energy that is absorbed when a solid melts into a liquid.

The Heat of Fusion is not sensed nor displayed on a thermometer so it is sometimes called the Latent Heat of Fusion.

Heat of Vaporization: The thermal energy that is absorbed when a liquid changes state into a vapor or gas.

The Heat of Vaporization is not sensed nor displayed on a thermometer so it is sometimes called the Latent Heat of Vaporization.

Sensible Heat: The thermal energy of a solid, liquid, or gas that can be sensed and gauged by a thermometer and thus displayed as a temperature reading human beings can understand.

 

HOUSTON ... YOU FIXED THE PROBLEM

Saturated Steam: The steam that is generated in a boiler at the interface between the surface of the liquid BFW and the steam being vaporized from that surface.

Saturated steam has just as many particles wanting to move into the vapor state as wanting to condense back into the liquid state.

Saturated steam is too wet for most industrial uses except inerting, sanitizing, and spray cleaning.

Superheated Steam: Steam that is not in contact with BFW and can therefore be heated above its boiling point.

The temperature of the superheated steam can be sensed and displayed on a thermometer.

Superheated steam is much drier than saturated steam and can be used for many industrial purposes.

Superheaters: The hardware component that saturated steam flows through after exiting a boiler which makes it possible to increase the temperature of the steam.

The steam is indirectly heated by the heat of combustion that is generated in a fired heater or by some other flowing hot gas.

 

THE HEAT IS ON!

By-Products: Products that are made in a chemical reaction that are less valuable than the product for which the reactor was intentionally built to make.

(Written) Chemical Reactions: A written expression that shows reactants on the left side and an arrow pointing to products that are shown on the right side.

When arrowheads point to both reactants and products this indicates that the reaction can go either way, dependent upon the process temperature or pressure.

The job of the Process Operator is to make  certain the reaction goes in the desired direction.

Chemical Reaction Arrows: In a written chemical reaction, arrows separate reactants and products and point to the products.

Exothermic (Chemical) Reactions: Reactions in which heat is evolved as a by-product of the reaction.

The thermal energy that is evolved as heat has been concentrated in the bonds that were broken between atoms.

The products made from exothermic chemical reactions have totally different chemical and physical properties than the reactants from which they were made.

Reactor: The process industry equipment in which a chemical reaction takes place.

Intermediate (Reaction) Products: Products that are made in a chemical reaction that then become reactants used in a different reaction.

Reactants: The chemical species that are going to be changed into a different chemical species.

In a written chemical reaction, reactants appear on the left side of a chemical equation.

In the real processing world, reactants are feedstocks that flow into a reactor.

Reactor Effluent: The stuff that flows out of the reactor outlet that is chemically different than the feedstock that flowed into the reactor.

The reactor effluent typically has both gas and liquid components that need to be separated and also entrained by-products and impurities that need to be removed.

In other words, more processing is needed before the products from the reaction are  ready for sale.

Reactor Inlet: The opening on a reactor where the feedstocks/reactants flow into the reactor.

Physically speaking, the reactor inlet is an extension of large-diameter pipe extending from the reactor body that has a flange face bolted to the inlet piping.

Reactor Outlet:The opening on a reactor where the reaction products/reactor effluent exit the reactor and continue to further separation and polishing equipment.

The construction of the reactor outlet is the same as described for the Reactor Inlet.

©2015 PTOA Segment 00052
PTOA Process Industry Jargon Recap 2-2

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