subject: Armstrong Steam Traps [print this page] Steam is an efficient, and generally clean, source of power. Whatever type of heater design, size, and functional mechanism are selected for a particular use, the simplistic principal of turning water into steam for power is the principle behind every operation. The trick is to separate the steam from the water and other undesirables, such as air and carbon dioxide gas. Water, air and other impurities will contaminate and compromise steams ability to be pressurized, thus decreasing its functionality.
The presence of water in the system can cause inefficiency and may possibly cause corrosion of the system. Steam traps could be called condensation traps, because it is the water from the recovery process that is trapped and drained, and not the steam. The steam continues to move through the pipes in order to create the necessary power for the system to operate.
The separation of steam from water can be done in several ways:
1.The strictly mechanical method uses floats, which detect the difference in the weight of a gas and the weight of a
liquid.
2.Thermostatic traps detect differences in temperature.
3.Thermodynamic traps make use of volumetric and pressure differences.
4.The Steamgard System simply uses a nozzle to drain off condensates.
Armstrong steam traps offer all of these different types of devices via a quality product. In addition to steam trapping, Armstrong offers steam-tracing devices to monitor the steam within a larger system. The tracers will calculate temperature throughout the system and help to maintain necessary uniformity. Armstrong traps can involve computer-monitoring systems. This creates information that is more consistently accurate, and the monitoring system allows for improved performance and easier maintenance. Armstrong traps are preferred over many other companies that specialize in steam traps.
