Steam Flow Kw

Overview

Engineering reference data for Steam Flow Kw in fluid mechanics.

Key Formulas

Reynolds Number

$Re = \frac{\rho v D}{\mu}$

Ratio of inertial to viscous forces — determines flow regime.

Bernoulli's Equation

$P + \frac{1}{2}\rho v^2 + \rho g h = \text{const}$

Conservation of energy for steady, inviscid, incompressible flow.

Continuity Equation

$A_1 v_1 = A_2 v_2$

Conservation of mass for incompressible flow.

Darcy-Weisbach

$\Delta P = f \frac{L}{D} \frac{\rho v^2}{2}$

Pressure drop due to friction in a pipe.

Variables

Symbol	Description	Unit
$Re$	Reynolds number	—
$\rho$	Fluid density	kg/m³
$v$	Flow velocity	m/s
$D$	Characteristic dimension	m
$\mu$	Dynamic viscosity	Pa·s
$P$	Pressure	Pa
$f$	Darcy friction factor	—

Application Example

Given a heating load of 100 kW and steam at 6 bar gauge (where he ≈ 2085 kJ/kg):

$m_s = \frac{3600 \times 100}{2085} = 172.7 \text{ kg/h}$

This means approximately 173 kg/h of steam is required to deliver 100 kW of heating power at the specified pressure.

Important Notes

• The constant *3600 converts kW (kJ/s) to kJ/h
• The specific enthalpy of evaporation (hₑ) decreases as working pressure increases — higher pressure steam carries more energy per kilogram
• This formula assumes 100% thermal efficiency; in practice, apply an efficiency factor to account for losses:

$m_s = \frac{3600 \times P}{h_e \times \eta}$

where η is the system efficiency (typically 0.80–0.95 for well-insulated systems)

References

• Original Source