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Re: [Phys-l] Heat transfer lab



From one web source:

Types of Steam Radiator Systems
Steam radiators are most commonly found in homes that were built before the
1950s. There are two types of steam radiator systems out there: a one-pipe
and a two-pipe system. For the one-pipe system, there is one main pipe that
runs from the furnace to each radiator. The same pipe carries the steam up
to the radiator as well as the condensation back down to the furnace to be
heated again. A two-pipe system has two pipes; one pipe carries the steam
from the furnace to each radiator and the other pipe carries the
condensation back to the furnace.

Read more:
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-steam-radiators-work#ixzz15aQB4iz5

More at:
http://www.victormfg.com/pdf/htgcat03/2003htgcat_p214.pdf

From what I gather the vents are there to relieve the back pressure so the
steam travels to the radiator. There are also main line vents. There are
plenty of web articles for the do-it-yourself crowd on the single pipe
radiator systems, but I didn't see any plain explanations.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


On 11/17/2010 9:43 AM, LaMontagne, Bob wrote:
Steam systems, like the one in my old house, use no aids. The boiler
turns water to steam and it travels through the pipes to the radiators.
There are small vents on the radiator that pop open when the pressure
rises and produce a dressure differential allowing the steam to travel to
the radiator. After condensation in the radiator, the water flows back to
the furnace purely by gravity - the pipes are pitched to allow the return.

Bob at PC


I am intrigued by the mechanism of the one pipe steam radiators. My
youth provided no opportunity to examine such a system - though the two
pipe pumped water boiler radiator, with plain flow controls or flow
thermostats on each radiator were and are a familiar site in England.
[Quiet, clean, comfortable, but unfitted to cool the room if needed]

I can easily visualize a series one pipe arrangement, with return water
flowing everywhere downhill.
I can even comprehend the possibility of a one pipe one port steam
radiator, where steam condenses, and runs back down the same pipe that
it entered, and the reduced volume is made good by an air vent allowing
air into the radiator.
I'm pretty sure this is just a creature of my imagination though: how
does a steam one pipe system really work, and what does the vent
actually do? Does it meter steam into the radiator, in fact?

Brian W
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