WORK INSTRUCTION MEGHNAD SAHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

1.0 EXPERIMENT NO.: ME592/STC/03

2.0 NAME OF EXPERIMENT: Determination of dryness fraction of steam by combined

separating and throttling calorimeter.

3.0 OBJECTIVE: To determine dryness fraction of steam by combined separating and

throttling calorimeter.

4.0 PRINCIPLE:
Steam may exist in three conditions namely wet, dry saturated or superheated. If
the steam contains moisture (or, particles of water in suspension) it is said to be wet.
When the wet steam is further heated and it does not contain any suspended
particles of water, it is known as dry saturated. When the dry steam is further
heated at a constant pressure, thus raising its temperature, it is said to be
superheated.
In any application of steam like steam engines, steam turbines etc. the state of
steam is a necessary data. To ascertain the actual state of steam it is necessary to
determine the quality of steam.
The quality of wet steam is usually defined by its dryness fraction. When the dryness
fraction, pressure and temperature of the steam are known, then the state of wet
steam is fully defined.
The dryness fraction or, quality (x) is defined as the ratio of the mass of vapor to
the total mass of the mixture:
mvapour mf
x  where, mtotal = mliquid + mvapor = mf + mg
mtotal mg  m f

Quality has significance for saturated mixtures only. It has no meaning in the
compressed liquid or superheated vapor regions. Its value is between 0 and 1. The
quality of a system that consists of saturated liquid is 0 (or 0 percent), and the
quality of a system consisting of saturated vapor is 1 (or 100 percent).
Measuring Principle: Calorimeter is a device for measuring the moisture content of
steam.
Separating calorimeter: It consists of two concentric chambers, the inner chamber
and the outer chamber, which communicates with each other through an opening at
the top. As the steam discharges through the metal basket, which has a large
number of holes, and it is made to change direction suddenly; the moisture droplets,

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Applied Thermodynamics & Date:
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 being heavier than the vapor, drop out of suspension and are collected at the bottom
of the vessel. The value of dryness fraction
found by separating calorimeter is always
higher than the value of actual because of
incomplete separation of moisture by
mechanical means.
Throttling

calorimeter:
Throttling valves are any kind of flow-restricting
devices that cause a significant pressure drop in
the fluid. Some familiar examples are ordinary
adjustable valves, capillary tubes, and porous plugs. They produce a pressure drop
without involving any work and it is often accompanied by a large drop in
temperature. The enthalpy values at the inlet and exit of a throttling valve are the
same.
Throttling calorimeter consists of a narrow throat (orifice). Pressure and
temperature are
measured by pressure
gauge and
thermometer. The
steam after throttling
process passes
through the heat
exchanger and
condensate is
collected. But In case
of throttling
calorimeter the minimum dryness fraction of the steam should not be too low; in that
case the steam fails to reach in superheated state after throttling.
Combined calorimeter: The above said drawbacks can be eliminated by using the
separating throttling calorimeter together and the same is known as separating
throttling calorimeter. Even if the steam is too wet (say 0.6 to 0.7 dry) the dryness
fraction can be found out accurately. A combination of separating and throttling

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 calorimeter is therefore found most suitable for accurate measurement of dryness of
steam

Separating and Throttling Calorimeter

h3  h2  h f @ p1  x 2 h f @ gp1 ....... (1)

Enthalpy of steam after throttling h 3 can be found from superheated steam table at
p2 and T2. From saturated steam table hf@p1 and hfg@p1 can also found.
mass of dry vapour at state 1 x 2 m2
x1   .........( 2)
mass of liquid  vapour mixture at state 1 m1  m2
Mass of water particle separated in separating calorimeter, mass condensed after
throttling is calculated from the volume measured by volume measuring flask.

Separating and Throttling Process on h-s plot

The quality x2 can be calculated using equation (1) and using the values from steam
table and equation (2), quality at 1 can be calculated.

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5.0 APPARATUS / UTILITIES REQUIRED:
5.1 Continuous water supply for
heat exchanger.
5.2 Electricity supply: Single phase
220 V AC and 4 KW
5.3 Steam table for calculation.
5.4 Combined separating and
throttling calorimeter. It consists
of a steam generator which is
provided at the base of
apparatus. A digital temperature
controller provided to control the
temperature inside the steam
generator. Steam from the generator passed from separating calorimeter
which has S.S. tube lagged with glass wool and a water level indicator where
most of the water particle gets separated from steam. After water particles are
being separated out of the separating calorimeter comparatively dry steam
enters the throttling calorimeter. The throttling calorimeter consists of a
suitable narrow aperture, pressure and temperature indicator, and is also
lagged with glass wool. As the steam is throttled, it gets superheated. The
steam from the throttling calorimeter is passed through exchanger to
condense the steam. A manometer and thermometer are connected with
throttling calorimeter to measure the pressure and temperature after
throttling process.
5.5 Volume measuring flasks.
5.6 Stop watch.

6.0 PROCEDURE:
6.1 Firstly clean the setup.
6.2 Connect water connections to the condenser and maintain a steady flow.
6.3 Drain out the water if any inside the separating calorimeter.
6.4 Pour distilled water into the steam generator and check the water level by
water level indicator.
6.5 Switch the steam generator on keeping the steam supply valve closed. Check
the steam pressure periodically.
6.6 Now pour some water into the chamber to collect water separated from steam
so that the amount of water separated can be easily measured.

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 6.7 When steam pressure is raised to some desirable value (say 1.5 or 2 bar),
slowly open the needle valve, to maintain the constant gauge pressure and to
control steam flow to separating calorimeter.
6.8 Keep a graduated jar underneath the condenser to collect the condensate.
6.9 Allow the steam into the separating calorimeter through the control valve until
there is considerable rise in the water level in the indicator and steady state
is reached (i.e., a continuous flow from the condenser). Hence note down the
pressure difference from manometer and Temperature after throttling by
thermometer.
6.10 Record the amount of condensate collected in a particular time period (say 2
mins) from the condenser in the graduated jar.
6.11 Notice carefully the rise of water level in the separator in the same time span.
Drain out that water until the water level touches the previous value and
collect the same in the graduated jar and measure it.
6.12 Put down the readings in the observation table given below:
Observation Table:
Gauge After throttling Volume of Volume of
Pressure at water collected condensate
Sl.
inlet to Manometer from collected from
No Temperat
separating Reading: z separating throttling
. ure: T2
calorimeter (cm) calorimeter in calorimeter in
: p1 (bar) …..min: V1 (ml) …..min: V2 (ml)
1
2
6.13 Now at last calculate the dryness factor by the given formulae.
Calculation Table:
Absolute Absolute Steam
Enthalpy
Pressure Pressure properties at
Sl. of steam
at inlet to after m1 m2 p1
No at p2 and x2 x1
separating throttling: (kg) (kg)
. T2:
calorimete p1 (bar) hf hfg
h3 (= h2)
r: p1 (bar)
1
2
7.0 SAFETY:
7.1 Keep dimmerstat to zero volt position after the test.
7.2 Maintain safe distance from the steam generator while in operation.
7.3 Do not stand behind the emergency steam release cock.
7.4 If rate of rise of pressure inside the steam generator is too high, switch off one
of the coil of heating
7.5 Do not touch any switches unless you are instructed to do so.

8.0 DISPOSAL: N.A.

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9.0 REPORT WRITING:
9.1 Attach the rough note with your final report.
9.2 The front page of report shall be as per the format shown in Annexure.
9.3 Report sheet must contain the following article in order.
 Experiment No
 Name of Experiment
 Objective of the Experiment
 Principle
 Apparatus used
 Procedure
 Results & Discussion
 Calculation (Calculation must be given at least for one reading.)
 ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS:
a) What is the difference between saturated vapor and superheated vapor?
b) If the pressure of a substance is increased during a boiling process, will
the temperature also increase or will it remain constant? Why?
c) What is the physical significance of hfg?
d) Which process requires more energy: completely vaporizing 1 kg of
saturated liquid water at 1 atm pressure or completely vaporizing 1 kg of
saturated liquid water at 8 atm pressure?
e) Explain why a throttling calorimrter can not measure the quality if the
steam is too wet?
f) Write a short note on ‘Throttling process’.

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Applied Thermodynamics & Date:
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Heat Transfer Lab WI/ME592/STC/03 20/07/14