CH-93-15-4 -- The Application of Vacuum Pumps and Outdoor Reset Control on a Steam Heating System PDF

Describes the introduction of a vacuum pumping system (designed to vary the usable steam temperature) as a method of and apparatus for substantially improving a conventional steam-heating operation, which normally consists of a boiler(s) or a district steam supply, as a source of heat. The central system could be composed of (1) a steam to hot water heat exchanger, (2) a steam trap for the heat exchange unit, (3) a vacuum pump (designed to pull 26 inches of vacuum) for removing noncondensable gases, thus allowing the vapour pressure to be reset, and (4) a monitoring panel designed to control either the burner firing rate of the boiler(s) or the volume of district steam to be accepted. The retrofit vacuum pump and control apparatus improve the efficiency of the heating system while markedly reducing the control system operating cost.

KEYWORDS: air pumps, outdoor, controls, steam, temperature, steam boilers, modernising, district heating, central heating, steam traps, heat exchangers, water air heat exchangers, efficiency, performance, costs, energy conservation, energy consumption, USA.