With this tool, you can find out how much steam is needed for a heat exchanger, calorifier or tank that heats water or another liquid with steam. There are two ways of working: continuous flow (fluid passing through the heat exchanger) and batch (heating a tank full of liquid in a certain amount of time).
Formula
c: specific heat of the liquid (kJ/kg· K), SG: specific gravity, Q: liquid flow rate (m³/h) or volume (m³), hfg: latent heat at steam pressure (IAPWS-IF97). In batch heating, the total steam is divided by the heating time to find the average flow rate.
Example
An exchanger heating 10 m³/h of water from 15 °C to 60 °C consumes approximately 884 kg/h of steam with 3 bar(g) of steam (thermal power 524 kW). Heating 5 m³ of water from 15 °C to 80 °C in 1 hour requires 638 kg of steam.
Heat losses and heater efficiency are not included in this calculation; in practice, a 5–10% margin is added. You can use the boiler capacity calculation for the required boiler capacity. To evaluate your steam system as a whole, you can take a look at our steam boiler guide and get a free quote for your project.