What Does a Steam Trap Do in a Boiler?
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How A Boiler Works
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A common heating system for buildings, a boiler system boils water in order to fills an extensive network of metal pipes with steam. The thermal energy in the stream heats tight coils of pipe known as "radiators." This heated metal warms the surrounding air, maintaining a comfortably high indoor temperature.
Pressure Inside A Boiler
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Set in the basement of the building, the boiler's furnace consists of a large tank full of water (a.k.a. the reservoir) with a heat source underneath. While boilers in the 19th and early 20th centuries used coal or wood fires, modern boilers use gas-burners or electrical coils to heat the water from liquid to gaseous form (i.e., steam).
The hotter a gas is, the higher its pressure. While steam needs pressure to force it throughout the entire pipe system, too much pressure could cause the metals to rupture/explode. To prevent this, the boiler has a valve designed to release steam when the pipe pressure reaches dangerous levels. Alternatively, if the building dwellers decide that the boiler has made the room uncomfortably warm, they need a way to quickly stop the radiators from radiating heat. In this case, the boiler has a release valve to allow the steam to escape from the pipes. By emptying this heat-laden steam from the pipes, the boiler flushes the excess thermal energy from the radiators.
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The Important Role Of Steam Traps
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Skin-melting, paint-curling and metal-corroding, steam cannot just be released helter skelter into the surrounding environment. This is where steam traps come in. Both the pressure and release valves open to pipes leading to steam traps.
When gas is allowed to freely expand in a large space, its temperature decreases. Steam traps force the incoming steam from the valves through a narrow pipe that opens into a large tank. The small opening slows the rate at which steam particles can enter the tank, giving the gas more room to expand and cool. As the expanding gas cools to safe temperatures, it flows out of the trap through a pipe opening to the outside.
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