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Steam Tables: Screencasts

Introduces steam tables, explains how to use them, and explains the difference between superheated and saturated steam. Download a spreadsheet that contains complete steam tables. This screencast explains how to use the spreadsheet steam tables, which does interpolation.

We suggest you list the important points in this screencast as a way to increase retention. 

Defines vapor quality and compares mass percent and volume percent of steam.

We suggest you list the important points in this screencast as a way to increase retention.

Here is another screencast on how to interpolate to solve problems using steam tables.

Important Equations:

For a vapor-liquid mixture, 

\[H = xH_v +(1-x)H_L\]

where \(H_v\) is enthalpy of vapor per mass,  \(H_L\) is enthalpy of liquid per mass, and  \(H\) is enthalpy of the vapor-liquid mixture per mass. Analogous equations exist for internal energy, volume, entropy, and Gibbs Free energy.

The quality of steam (\(x\)):

\[x = \frac{vapor \,\,\, mass}{total \,\,\, mass}\]

Gibbs Phase Rule for non-reactive system:

\[F = 2+C-P\]

where \(F\) is the number of degrees of freedom, \(C\) is the number of components and \(P\) is the number of phases.

Important Definitions:

Subcooled water: liquid whose temperature is below its saturated temperature (e.g., liquid water at room temperature and 1-bar pressure)

Saturated steam: vapor at saturation temperature and pressure

Saturated liquid: liquid at saturation temperature and pressure

Saturated steam (dry) or saturated vapor: quality is one

Wet steam: Steam with a quality less than one. The water vapor contains liquid water droplets. For a flow system, the liquid droplets are entrained in the vapor.

Superheated steam: the temperature is above the saturation temperature