any reason for 9 PSI steam?

Steamhead (in transit)

He's out in Amboy but might like a job like this:

http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=393&Step=30

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Craig_8

steam at 9 PSI?

working on a church built in 1926 with a very elaborate steam system. over the last 20 years they have had service contracts with 2 major companies in town. all they did was put grease in anything with grease fittings and call it a day. Theres water hammer like crazy, some radiators don't heat if others are on (due to steam in the returns) and if the system runs more than 30 minutes, steam starts blowing from the condensate pumps. and 2 of 3 air handlers have frozen up and burst the coils

basically the whole thing is a disaster thats gonna take alot of time and money to fix.

The question is.. the heat timer sequencer is set for 9 PSI. this seems kind of high. im thinking by lowering it I could reduce the amount of steam blowing through the failed traps untill a decision is made on how far they want to go with repairs (bringing the system back to fully operating condition is gonna run $10-$15,000). Is there any reason to run a system with pressure this high?

also, if it matters, i think it used to be a vacuum system, however one of the pumps has been replaced with a non-vacuum pump. with all the leaks and bad traps in the system it would never hold a vacuum anyways. the two remaining vacuum capable pumps were found set to float only

kevin coppinger_4

ignorance...

crank it way down...1 psi if you can. It can be saved. Start off w/ the easy logical stuff and see where that gets you. you may be surprised. kpc


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[Deleted User]

If it were me..

You would be light years ahead by hiring the likes of Frank Wilsey (Steamhead) to come out and let him do a total system assesment. He can then tell you how to prioritize monies spent in such a manner that will not waste energy or money.

I'm not sure what he charges, but I guarantee you would see that returned probably in the first year.


Has gun, will travel...

ME

Steve Ebels_3

As I recall............

The Empire State building heats on 6 psi. That should be a clue.

Paul Fredricks_4

I think it's only 2-3 PSI. Craig, where are you located?

Keith_8

Heat exchangers

If you have heat exchangers at the church they may have been sized based upon the 9 psi steam the system is currently running.

Twice in recent memory I walked into boiler rooms that were running steam pressures above 10PSI.

Once it was to satisfy a steam heat exchanger. That H.E. lived 10' away from 2 steam boilers. The only purpose the steam boilers served was to produce steam for the heat exchangers that ran for hydronic hot water. The only thing I could think of was the height of the building would have required boilers capable of a 80PSI rating and the engineer didn't think of water to water as a means of defeating his pressure dilema.

The other time was in central boiler room. They were running 10PSI which was causing all kinds of problems. They used to dump the condensate outside in a parking lot in order to get steam out to some of the buildings. As I dialed the steam pressure down to 2 lbs all was well. 2 days later I got a phone call, their steam kettle in the kitchen didn't work. They were running these (2) 150 HP boilers into the ground for 1 steam kettle. Still are.

Dial it down and see what happens.

Keith

Steamhead (in transit)

Thanks, ME

that means a lot coming from one of your stature.

Craig, we need to know where you are located. There just might be a real good steam man near you.

9 PSI is about 8.5 PSI too high for steam heating.

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Craig_8

Im located in the North Chicago suburbs.

right now were working on setting up a plan of action with the church in terms of which repairs are more important and which can wait. was supposed to meet with them tomorrow, but that is put off till wednesday due to an emergency hot water boiler replacement.

next time im there and have a full day available, im gonna try turning the boiler down to 3 PSI and see what happens.

Untill the meeting, I'm not sure how much they have to spend, but it sounds like they're willing to do whatever it takes to get the system working right. They also want to add individual thermostatic control to each room.