Probably Stupid Steam Question

Uni R

Could steam systems operate in a vacuum state? If my question is stupid sounding, there's a reason - I'm quite ignorant of steam systems and how pressure plays a part in the steam making its way to the rads.


What got me thinking about this is that if you could vary the vacuum in the system (with some kind of a vacuum pump), you could effectively have outdoor reset on the boiler and maybe even take advantage of condensing technologies. With enough vacuum, water will boil at room temperature.


I'm sure that venting would be the reason if they couldn't, but still, I wonder if there has ever been much research into this?

Dean_7

vapor

go to the library section and read the steam/vapor/vacuum articles

Steamhead

Vacuum pump systems were common

in larger buildings. The Dunham Vari-Vac was king of these.

Some Vapor systems could reach vacuum without using a pump, but this doesn't work well with oil or gas firing since the cycles are way too short.

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JimGPE_3

That would be...

The library section of this website.

And not for nothin', water under almost total vacuum does not boil, it freezes. Yeah, like that little bit of trivia going to help you through your day today!