steam trap bypass

john_24

I am sure That I havnt seen as many steam jobs as most of the experts on here but I have seen my share of them. Today I saw something new and was hoping for an explanation. I went to a job for a noise call and found that a ton water hammer was the culprit. After going over the system I found that someone had piped a bypass to one of the main steam traps in the basement. I shut the valve eliminating the bypass and the noise went away. I cant think of any reason why you would try to bypass a trap but then again I dont know it all. any ideas?
thanks in advance
John R

Unknown

I've seen that.

> I am sure That I havnt seen as many steam jobs

> as most of the experts on here but I have seen my

> share of them. Today I saw something new and was

> hoping for an explanation. I went to a job for a

> noise call and found that a ton water hammer was

> the culprit. After going over the system I found

> that someone had piped a bypass to one of the

> main steam traps in the basement. I shut the

> valve eliminating the bypass and the noise went

> away. I cant think of any reason why you would

> try to bypass a trap but then again I dont know

> it all. any ideas? thanks in advance John R

Unknown

I've seen that.

Three bypasses in one building. Way out at the ends of the mains. I never figured out why they were there. 3/4" with a plug cock in them, around an F&T trap, in each case.

It was a 1911 building, with a Vari-Vac system.



I closed them.

Noel

john_24

closing solved the problem here too. I just dont like not knowing why its there. but guess i cant know it all

thanks
John R

Unknown

The REAL kick in the pants is

Why were they open, in both cases?

Noel

Steamhead

Those bypasses

were put there so if the F&T traps failed, you could work on them without shutting down the system. You'd throttle the bypass so it would let the air and water pass but not let too much steam thru.

Why were they open? Probably someone didn't know what they were doing.

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Art Pittaway

Manual startup

on large mains that are starting from cold will produce a lot of condensate, initial air and non-condensibles. The bypass allows the mains to drain and vent freely until they get warm, then are closed. Some large high pressure mains have two traps set at different pressures. When the main is starting a 30# trap and a 100# trap discharge the large flow. As the pressure builds the 30# trap is "locked closed" by the pressure, leaving the proper main drip trap to deal with everyday loads.
Art