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Superheated steam was widely used in main line steam locomotives. Saturated steam has three main disadvantages in a steam engine: it contains small droplets of water which have to be periodically drained from the cylinders; being precisely at the boiling point of water for the boiler pressure in use, it inevitably condenses to some extent in the steam pipes and cylinders outside the boiler ...
The Mollier enthalpy–entropy diagram for water and steam. The "dryness fraction", x , gives the fraction by mass of gaseous water in the wet region, the remainder being droplets of liquid. An enthalpy–entropy chart , also known as the H – S chart or Mollier diagram , plots the total heat against entropy, [ 1 ] describing the enthalpy of a ...
When steam has reached this equilibrium point, it is referred to as saturated steam. Superheated steam or live steam is steam at a temperature higher than its boiling point for the pressure, which only occurs when all liquid water has evaporated or has been removed from the system. [6]
The steam thus produced is at the same temperature as the water below it. This is called saturated steam. If the steam is taken away from the boiler, in a pipe, and then further heat is applied to that steam, the steam can rise above the temperature of the water in the boiler. This heated-above-the-boiler-temperature steam is called "superheated".
A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, in some steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. There are three types of superheaters: radiant, convection, and separately fired.
The last ten, Nos. 1452–61 built at Doncaster in 1910, had boilers producing superheated steam at 150 lbf/in 2 (1,000 kPa), and the cylinders were fed through piston valves. [ 12 ] No. 279 was rebuilt in 1915 with four cylinders 15 by 26 in (380 by 660 mm) utilising simple expansion and driving the rear coupled axle.
Steam engines use water vapor to push pistons or turbines, and that movement creates work. The quantitatively described steam quality (steam dryness) is the proportion of saturated steam in a saturated water/steam mixture. In other words, a steam quality of 0 indicates 100% liquid, while a steam quality of 1 (or 100%) indicates 100% steam.
The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves before the high-pressure turbine. Nuclear-powered steam plants do not have such sections but produce steam at essentially saturated conditions. Experimental nuclear plants were equipped with fossil-fired superheaters in an attempt to improve overall plant operating cost.