Steam performance

Like steam injection, in-situ combustion is a thermal process designed to reduce oil viscosity and hence improve flow performance. Combustion of the lighter fractions of the oil in the reservoir is sustained by continuous air injection. Though there have been some economic successes claimed using this method, it has not been widely employed. Under the right conditions, combustion can be initiated spontaneously by injecting air into an oil reservoir. However a number of projects have also experienced explosions in surface compressors and injection wells. 

Based on our practical experiences in the applieation of AE on pressure equipments since 1979, we started in the year 1994 to apply AE on steam drums in combination with pneumatic tests. Before we are able to do this, we have to perform extensive lab tests with the specific material (grey cast iron and cast steel) from which these drums are produced. 

It has developed a real time method to compare successive non-destructive inspections of the steam generator tubes in nuclear power plants. Each tube provides a safety barrier between the primary and secondary coolant circuits. Each steam generator contains several thousands of tubes whose structural integrity must be ensured through the lifetime of the plant, Therefore, Laborelec performs extensive nondestructive tests after each plant outage. 

Then detach and reverse the condenser, and reconnect it to the flask through a knee-tube for direct distillation, as shown in Fig. 60, p. 101, or Fig. 23(0), p. 45. Distil the mixture, by direct heating over a gauze, until about 8 ml. of distillate have been collected. Acetic acid is volatile in steam and an aqueous solution of the acid, containing, however, some acetaldehyde, is thus obtained. With a very small portion of this solution, perform the tests for acetic acid given on p. 347. 

A modification of the direct process has recentiy been reported usiag a ckculating reactor of the Buss Loop design (11). In addition to employing lower temperatures, this process is claimed to have lower steam and electricity utihty requirements than a more traditional reactor (12) for the direct carbonylation, although cooling water requirements are higher. The reaction can also be performed ia the presence of an amidine catalyst (13). Related processes have been reported that utilize a mixture of methylamines as the feed, but require transition-metal catalysts (14). 

A viable electrocatalyst operating with minimal polarization for the direct electrochemical oxidation of methanol at low temperature would strongly enhance the competitive position of fuel ceU systems for transportation appHcations. Fuel ceUs that directiy oxidize CH OH would eliminate the need for an external reformer in fuel ceU systems resulting in a less complex, more lightweight system occupying less volume and having lower cost. Improvement in the performance of PFFCs for transportation appHcations, which operate close to ambient temperatures and utilize steam-reformed CH OH, would be a more CO-tolerant anode electrocatalyst. Such an electrocatalyst would reduce the need to pretreat the steam-reformed CH OH to lower the CO content in the anode fuel gas. Platinum—mthenium alloys show encouraging performance for the direct oxidation of methanol. 

The gasification is performed usiag oxygen and steam (qv), usually at elevated pressures. The steam—oxygen ratio along with reaction temperature and pressure determine the equiUbrium gas composition. The reaction rates for these reactions are relatively slow and heats of formation are negative. Catalysts maybe necessary for complete reaction (2,3,24,42,43). 

Assessments of control, operabiHty and part load performance of MHD—steam plants are discussed elsewhere (rl44 and rl45). Analyses have shown that relatively high plant efficiency can be maintained at part load, by reduction of fuel input, mass flow, and MHD combustor pressure. In order to achieve efficient part load operation the steam temperature to the turbine must be maintained. This is accompHshed by the use of flue gas recirculation in the heat recovery furnace at load conditions less than about 75% of fiiU load. 

Steam Generator Performance Degradation," Report NP-7524, Flectric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Calif., Sept. 1991. 

Pimento Berry Oil. The pimento or allspice tree, Pimenta dioca L. (syn. P. officinalis, Liadl.), a native of the West Indies and Central America, yields two essential oils of commercial importance pimento berry oil and pimenta leaf oil. The leaf oil finds some use ia perfumery for its resemblance to clove leaf and cinnamon leaf oils as a result of its high content of eugenol. Pimento berry oil is an item of commerce with extensive appHcation by the flavor industry ia food products such as meat sauces, sausages, and pickles, and moderate use ia perfumery, where it is used primarily as a modifier ia the modem spicy types of men s fragrances. The oil is steam-distilled from dried, cmshed, fully grown but unripe fmits. It is a pale yellow Hquid with a warm-spicy, sweet odor with a fresh, clean topnote, a tenacious, sweet-balsamic-spicy body, and a tea-like undertone. A comparative analysis of the headspace volatiles of ripe pimento berries and a commercial oil has been performed and differences are shown ia Table 52 (95). 

Based on the results of the Solar One plant. Southern California Edison formed a consortium that included DOE and EPRI to constmct a Solar Two Project. Solar Two will convert the idle Solar One central receiver plant from a water/steam system to a molten salt system, thereby improving efficiency and operating performance. With the molten salt technology, solar energy can be collected during the day and stored in the salt to produce electricity when needed. The three-year demonstration is scheduled to begin in late 1996. 

Properties of steam can be divided iato thermodynamic, transport, physical, and chemical properties. In addition, the molecular stmcture and chemical composition of steam are of iaterest. It was at the start of iadustrialization, ca 1763, that thermodynamic relationships were first measured by Watt. A century later, ia 1859, Rankiae pubUshed his Manual of the Steam Engine, which gave a practical thermodynamic basis for the design and performance of steam engines. 

Indicators can determine if uniform steam penetration has been achieved during a Bowie Dick-type test. Produced in the form of sheets (23 X 30 cm), chemical indicators are capable of uniform color change over their entire surface when exposed to pure saturated steam under test conditions. Nonuniform color development is an indication of failure of the test. U.S. and international stands for the performance and accuracy of chemical indicators have been pubHshed (13,14). 

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