Focus on Energy Business Programs Deemed Savings Calculation

Tech Code:
4.1000
Group:
HVAC
Category:
Steam Trap
Description:
Repair leaking steam trap, building space conditioning system
Developed by: Andrew Kotila
Submitted by: Andrew Kotila
Quality group release date:
18-Jun-09
Evaluation revisions
Evaluation approval date:
Evaluator:
Brian Dunn, KEMA
Note to evaluator: These savings values are intended to replace the previously deemed savings value for tech code 4.1000
Assumptions:

960.1
952.1
945.3

0%

0.8

50%

Steam traps are used on a system where the steam use is for building space conditioning (space heating).
This measure is not intended for industrial process steam systems.
Steam is produced through the combustion of natural gas.
Latent heat content of steam for 5 psig system (Btu per lb)
Latent heat content of steam for 10 psig system (Btu per lb)
Latent heat content of steam for 15 psig system (Btu per lb)
Steam trap operating hours per year:
2,310 Thermostatic Steam Trap
4,972 Mechanical (F&T) Steam Trap
226 Boiler operating days per year: Assume the boiler is operating any day the high temp is below 65 degrees F
Average of estimated days for EauClaire, LaCrosse, GreenBay, Milwaukee, and Madison based on TMY2 data
10.2
Thermostatic steam trap operating hours per day: Using 7699 heating degree days for Wisconsin (based on Deeming
Boilers Modulating 1May08), effective full load heating hours are 2310 hours (7699 HDD * 24 hours/day / (65 deg (-15
deg)). Operating hours per day for thermostatic steam traps can be estimated as 2310 hours / 226 days = 10.2 hours/day
22 Mechanical (F&T) steam trap operating hours per day: Building heating boilers normally operate 24 hrs/day. In a rare
instance, the boiler is turned off during the night, therefore 24 hour operation is being reduced to 22 hours to remain
conservative.
Percentage of heat lost through steam traps that continues to provide heat to the building
Where the condensate lines run through conditioned space, the heat "wasted" by leaking traps can still add heat to the building.
Where condensate lines run in unconditioned spaces (such as steam tunnels, the "wasted" heat is lost. We assume
the deemed savings that most condensate lines are running in steam tunnels and none of the waste heat provides heating for the building.
Standard boiler efficiency. According to the Natural Gas Boiler Burner Consortium typical boiler efficiency will be in the 75 - 85% range.
80% is the midpoint of the range. This is at the high end for a typical steam boiler without heat recovery,
however, heat recovery systems are installed on many boiler plants increasing the efficiency fo the base system.
http://www.energysolutionscenter.org/boilerburner/Eff_Improve/Primer/Boiler_Introduction.asp
(accessed 18 June 2009)
Assumed equivalent orifice size:
Steam Trap Performance Assessment, Advanced technologies for evaluating the performance of steam traps, Federal Technology Alerts
http://www.plantsupport.com/download/Steam%20Trap%20Performance%20Assessment.pdf
(accessed 18 June 2009)

Leaking Steam Trap Discharge Rate:

Trap Orifice
Diameter
(inches)
7/32
1/4
5/16

Leaking Steam Trap Discharge Rate (lb/hr)

Steam Pressure, psig
5
10
14.3
17.7
18.7
23.2
29.2
36.2
28
35
17
21

Thermostatic Steam Trap:

Trap Orifice
Diameter
(inches)
Market Prevalence
prevalence
7/32
5%
1/4
5%
5/16
90%
100%

Chart Source:
Steam Trap Loss Estimator
15
21.2
27.6
43.2
41
25

Note: these three orifice sizes are most common in building conditioning steam systems,
per Tim Thuemling (steam trap maintenance service provider), July 2009.
32.3 lb/hr (thermostatic)
19.8 lb/hr (F&T)

Energy lost per year through leaks (therms/yr)

Steam Pressure, psig
Source of market prevalence of trap orifice sizes and actual operating
5
10
15
steam pressure: Interview with Tim Thuemling, July 2009.
45%
45%
10% 100%
396
488
578
517
637
755
6
808
995
1,179
773
952
1,128 weighted average therms

Chart Source:
http://uesystems.com/tech_support_charts_steam_loss.asp

(accessed 26-Mar-08)

Annual energy lost, weighted by prevalence of pressure:

Mechanical (F&T) Steam Trap:
Trap Orifice
Diameter
(inches)
Market Prevalence
prevalence
7/32
48%
1/4
47%
5/16
5%
100%

889 therms

Energy lost per year through leaks (therms/yr)

Steam Pressure, psig
5
10
15
Source of market prevalence of trap orifice sizes and actual operating
45%
45%
10% 100%
steam pressure: Interview with Tim Theumling, July 2009.
852
1,049
1,244
1,113
1,371
1,624
1,739
2,142
2,538
1,019
1,255
1,487 weighted average therms

Annual energy lost, weighted by prevalence of pressure:

1,172 therms

Thermostatic steam traps make up about 90% of the population, mechanical (F&T) traps make up 10%
F&T traps are designed to fail closed but can fail open. According to Mr. Thuemling, these traps will fail open 66 % of the time.
For every 100 traps then, we assume 90 are thermostatic and 10 are F&T.

Thermostatic
F&T

Assumed population
Assumed population
percentages that fail
percentages
Fail open rate
open
Weight
90%
90%
81%
92%
10%
66%
7%
8%

Therefore, market weighted energy lost through leaking steam traps in building heating systems:

This is what we seek to deem:

Annual therm savings
per leaking trap
repaired
Tech Code
Measure Description
4.1000.390
910
Repair leaking steam trap, building space conditioning system

910 therms

Percent Condensate Lost

Percent Trap Open
Orifice size
1/32
1/16
3/32
1/8
5/32
3/16
7/32
1/4
9/32
5/16
11/32
3/8
13/32
7/16
15/32
1/2

30 psia
15.304 psig

1000

30 psia

900

15.304 psig
8760 hours/year
945.3 btu/lb
218.82 btu/lb
218.82 btu/lb
60 deg F
28.08 btu/lb
0%
50%
Diameter
1/32
1/16
3/32
1/8
5/32
3/16
7/32
1/4
9/32
5/16
11/32
3/8
13/32
7/16
15/32
1/2

Area
0.00077
0.00307
0.0069
0.01227
0.01917
0.02761
0.03758
0.04909
0.06213
0.0767
0.09281
0.11045
0.12962
0.15033
0.17257
0.19635

800
Energy Loss (MMBTU/yr)

Steam System Absolute

Pressure
Steam System Gauge
Pressure
Condensate System
Absolute Pressure
Condensate System
Gauge Pressure
Operating Hours
Latent heat of steam
Heat of Saturated liquid at
steam pressure
Heat of Saturated liquid at
condensate pressure
Makeup water temp
Heat of Saturated liquid for
makeup water

lb steam/hr MMBTU/year
0.431968 3.577056
1.727874 14.30823
3.887716 32.19351
6.911495 57.2329
10.79921 89.42641
15.55086 128.774
21.16645 175.2758
27.64598 228.9316
34.98944 289.7416
43.19685 357.7056
52.26818 432.8238
62.20346 515.0961
73.00267 604.5225
84.66582 701.1031
97.1929 804.8377
110.5839 915.7265

700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

lb steam/hr equation source:

Grashof's Equation:
Q=0.7 x 0.0165 x 3600 x A x P^0.97
where:
Q = flow rate of steam in lbs/hour
0.7 is the coefficient of discharge for hole
A is the area of hole (in2)
P is the pressure inside the steam line (psia)
http://memagazine.asme.org/articles/2009/February/Technology_Focus.cfm
This equation was used to produce the following graph:

(accessed 18 June 2009)

from
Steam Trap Performance Assessment, Advanced Technologies for evaluating the performance of steam traps, FEMP, DOE/EE
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/FTA_SteamTrap.pdf
This graph is often quoted as the source for energy loss due to steam trap leaks. It assumes any steam
lost through the trap is lost. There is no condensate, all condensate must be replaced by make-up water at
60 deg F (energy and condensate are both lost). For steam traps returning condensate, the will overstate
the energy lost.

18 June 2009)

Steam Trap Energy Loss

Orifice Size

Trap
Orifice
7/32
1/4
5/16

Leaking Steam Trap Discharge

Steam Pressure, psig
5
10
15
14.3
17.7
21.2
18.7
23.2
27.6
29.2
36.2
43.2

e of steam traps, FEMP, DOE/EE-0193

Col. 1
Gauge
Pressure

29.743
29.515
27.886
19.742
9.562
7.536
5.49
3.454
1.418
0
1.3
2.3
5.3
10.3
15.3
20.3
25.3
30.3
40.3
50.3
60.3
70.3
80.3
90.3
100
110.3
120.3
125.3
130.3
140.3
150.3
160.3
180.3
200.3
225.3
250.3

Col. 2
Absolute
Pressure
(psia)
0.08854
0.2
1
5
10
11
12
13
14
14.696
16
17
20
25
30
35
40
45
55
65
75
85
95
105
114.7
125
135
140
145
155
165
175
195
215
240
265
300
400
450
500
600
900
1200
1500
1700
2000

Col. 3
Steam
Temp.
(F)
32
53.14
101.74
162.24
193.21
197.75
201.96
205.88
209.56
212
216.32
219.44
227.96
240.07
250.33
259.28
267.25
274.44
287.07
297.97
307.6
316.25
324.12
331.36
337.9
344.33
350.21
353.02
355.76
360.5
365.99
370.75
379.67
387.89
397.37
406.11
417.33
444.59
456.28
467.01
486.21
531.98
567.22
596.23
613.15
635.82

Col. 4
Heat of
Sat. Liquid
(Btu/lb)
0
21.21
69.7
130.13
161.17
165.73
169.96
173.91
177.61
180.07
184.42
187.56
196.16
208.42
218.82
227.91
236.03
243.36
256.3
267.5
277.43
286.39
294.56
302.1
308.8
315.68
321.85
324.82
327.7
333.24
338.53
343.57
353.1
361.91
372.12
381.6
393.84
424
437.2
449.4
471.6
526.6
571.7
611.6
636.3
671.7

Col. 5
Latent
Heat
(Btu/lb)
1075.8
1063.8
1036.3
1001
982.1
979.3
976.6
974.2
971.9
970.3
967.6
965.5
960.1
952.1
945.3
939.2
933.7
928.6
919.6
911.6
904.5
897.8
891.7
886
880
875.4
870.6
868.2
865.8
861.3
857.1
852.8
844.9
837.4
828.5
820.1
809
780.5
767.4
755
731.6
668.8
611.7
556.3
519.6
463.4

Col. 6
Total Heat
of Steam
(Btu/lb)
1075.8
1085
1106
1131
1143.3
1145
1146.6
1148.1
1149.5
1150.4
1152
1153.1
1156.3
1160.6
1164.1
1167.1
1169.7
1172
1175.9
1179.1
1181.9
1184.2
1186.2
1188.1
1188.8
1191.1
1192.4
1193
1193.5
1194.6
1195.6
1196.5
1198
1199.3
1200.6
1201.7
1202.8
1204.5
1204.6
1204.4
1203.2
1195.4
1183.4
1167.9
1155.9
1135.1

Col. 7
Specific
Volume of
Sat. Liquid
(cu ft/lb)
0.096022
0.016027
0.016136
0.016407
0.01659
0.01662
0.016647
0.016674
0.016699
0.016715
0.016746
0.016768
0.01683
0.016922
0.017004
0.017078
0.017146
0.017209
0.017325
0.017429
0.017524
0.017613
0.017696
0.017775
0.01785
0.017922
0.017991
0.018024
0.018057
0.018121
0.018183
0.018244
0.01836
0.01847
0.018602
0.018728
0.018896
0.01934
0.019547
0.019748
0.02013
0.02123
0.02232
0.02346
0.02428
0.02565

Col. 8
Specific
Volume of
Sat. Steam
(cu ft/lb)
3306
1526
333.6
73.52
38.42
35.14
32.4
30.06
28.04
26.8
24.75
23.39
20.09
16.3
13.75
11.9
10.5
9.4
7.79
6.66
5.82
5.17
4.65
4.23
3.88
3.59
3.33
3.22
3.11
2.92
2.75
2.6
2.34
2.13
1.92
1.74
1.54
1.16
1.03
0.93
0.77
0.5
0.36
0.28
0.24
0.19

2500
2700
3206.2

668.13
679.55
705.4

730.6
756.2
902.7

360.5
312.1
0

1091.1
1068.3
902.7

0.0286
0.03027
0.05053

0.13
0.11
0.05

Sat. Steam