How does wet steam behave?

ChrisJ

Does wet steam flow through a radiator any different than dry steam? 

nicholas bonham-carter

Wet steam

You will probably hear some gurgling in the radiators with wet steam, and the radiator vents may spit or become waterlogged. Adding some main venting capacity will help to keep the condensate in the mains, and not have it carried up the risers into the rads.--NBC

ChrisJ

Vents

Wouldn't the steam simply flowing through a radiator (condenser) cause it to become wetter all on its own?



The reason I started this thread is, as mentioned in the thread "Rinsing the boiler" I washed out my boiler using Gerry Gills wand method.



I just warmed the house up 2 degrees as I was chilly and I swear the radiator right next to my computer behaved differently than it used to. I remember the bottom half and center staying cool even though steam had reached the vent. This time the entire center and bottom are burning hot before the vent clicked for the first time. This is a 20 section 52 EDR rad so when its fully heated its interesting to sit next to.



I'm hoping my Hoffman 1A's will stop getting clogged with water now.

nicholas bonham-carter

Pressure?

Did you tell use what the pressure is on your gauge?

I am sure that since you are such a frequent flyer here, that you have generous main venting?--NBC

ChrisJ

Pressure

Didn't look but normally my 3PSI gauge won't even move until all vents are shut and I wasn't near that point this evening. I have a WM EG-45 rated for 392 sqft connected to 392 sqft of radiation so it takes a long long time to build pressure.



Main venting is currently three Gorton 1's on a 30' main and a Hoffman 4A on a 10' main. I might be off on my length but I think its either correct or close.



I'm adding a fourth Gorton 1 to the long main and going to try going back to a single Gorton 1 on the short main when I do. Problem was the short main is the first on the header and ends up hogging steam so I slowed up the venting last year. It brought the whole system into balance.

Rod

Wet Steam vs Dry Steam

Hi Chris-  Attached are some pictures by Noel Murdough of his boiler with glass piping in operation.   The picture labeled "Dry Steam" is how dry steam would normally look.  He then added a tablespoon of oil to the boiler water and the results are water you see in the picture labeled "Wet Steam".  When I saw these photos and then visualized this happening in my pipes and radiators, things started to make sense.

- Rod

BobC

great visual aid

A picture really is worth a thousand words.



Bob

crash2009

This is not really on topic

 but I just thought I would post these to give you some idea's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSp7K_C6IDg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_CfD0h1LEE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lFDcgxy-WM