The Performance of Thermocompressors as Related to

Paper Machine Dryer Drainage Systems

C. G. Blatchley and H. J. Stratton

Schutte and Koerting, Bensalem, Bucks County, PA

Thermocompressors have been successfully applied to dryer drainage systems. With the increase in
machine speeds, and consequent drainage problems, the use of thermocompressors has increased.
Knowledge of drainage system flow characteristics, thermocompressor performance, and control system
to be used is necessary for proper application. The performance of thermocompressors under drainage
system conditions is discussed and performance data given.

An ejector is a jet device which utilizes a fluid at high pressure to entrain a fluid at low pressure and
discharge the mixed streams against an intermediate pressure. A steam jet handling steam is known as a
thermocompressor, whether operating in the sub-atmospheric or in the pressure range. When operating
in a vacuum, this type of unit is also often called a booster, or steam jet booster.

A thermocompressor is comprised of a motive steam nozzle, a mixing chamber, and a diffuser; see Fig. 1.
The nozzle expands the motive steam from inlet to suction pressure and converts the pressure energy to
velocity energy. In the mixing chamber, the jet of
motive steam mixes with the suction stream. This
accelerates the suction steam and decelerates
the motive steam, producing a mixed stream at
an intermediate velocity. At this point, the process
of compressing the steam to discharge pressure
begins. The diffuser is designed to reconvert the
velocity energy into pressure.

The enthalpy-entropy path is shown in Fig. 2. The

nozzle expansion from motive to suction pressure
approaches ientropic, but various friction and
thermal losses exist. The amount of energy
available for compressing the mixed stream is the
change in enthalpy of the motive steam form
motive to suction pressure. The energy available
for compressing the suction stream is reduced by
the energy required to recompress the motive
steam. Mixing of the two streams is shown as a
constant pressure process, although the actual
process has never been completely defined. The
compression approaches an isentropic condition,
but is subject to various Iosses which are
proportionately greater than the nozzle losses.
The overall process is considered adiabatic since
the thermal losses through the walls are
insignificant. The outlet enthalpy is closely
approximated by calculating a straight heat
balance for the unit.

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 TYPES OF PERFORMANCE

Thermocompressor performance can be divided into two types based on compression ratio (discharge
pressure/ suction pressure).

High Compression

When compression ratios exceed

2:1, the diffuser velocity exceeds
the velocity of sound and the
performance becomes critical.
This type of ejector is essentially a
constant flow device. For any set
of motive, suction, and discharge
pressures, the capacity is fixed.
Figure 3 illustrates such
performance.

The three curves show the effect

of three motive steam rates.
Physically, this is achieved by
three different size steam nozzles
with the same diffuser.

A similar set of performances can be obtained by a variable orifice nozzle. With a given constant motive
steam flow, the suction pressure will vary with capacity provided the discharge pressure does not exceed
the pressure shown on the discharge pressure curve. In Fig. 3, at any given motive rate, the suction
capacity is constant and reproducible at any given suction pressure. The back pressure curve must be
obtained by test. At a fixed suction capacity, the back pressure is raised until the suction pressure rises.
This is known as the break point. The back pressure is then decreased until the suction pressure drops to
the original point. This is known as pick-up and is the pressure plotted in Fig. 3. It should be noted that
the capacity is unaffected by reducing the back pressure below the pick-up point. Also note that a
decrease in motive flow increases capacity at higher pressures, provided the back pressure does not
exceed the pick-up pressure. Any decrease in motive flow, or increase in discharge pressure, significantly
beyond the design condition will cause a discontinuity in performance (break) and the unit will revert to
approximately 2:1 compression. For this reason, most critical thermocompressors are supplied with fixed
nozzles, and capacity is varied by turning on and off multiple units.

Low Compression

Units designed to operate with low compression

ratios do not require super-sonic diffuser velocities
and do not exhibit any discontinuities in
performance. Dryer drainage systems utilize non-
critical units. Figure 4 illustrates performance of
such a unit showing variation in capacity with
variation in motive flow.

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Increased motive flow increases suction
capacity at a given discharge pressure.

This type of thermocompressor is usually

furnished with a variable orifice nozzle,
either manually or power operated, as
shown in Fig. 5.

The orifice opening is varied by a spindle.

The tip must be specially shaped to
maintain a proper jet stream from the
nozzle. The stroke versus flow
approaches a linear function rather than
proportional. This must be taken into
account in designing the control system.
The unit illustrated uses a “Fisher” air
piston with positioner to operate the
spindle. A fixed nozzle unit can be
controlled by a motive steam valve, but
this sacrifices some available energy at
reduced flows. Figure 6 shows the losses
in available energy when reducing 200-
p.s.i. steam to 75 per cent and 50 per cent flow for various
dryer pressures. When dryer pressures are high, it is obvious
that the thermocompressor will not operate at reduced flows unless a variable orifice nozzle is used.

DRYER DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

Cascading

Figure 7 is a diagram of a simplified dryer drainage system

without a thermocompressor.

There are many variations, but the basic connections and

components are common to most systems. Steam, in addition
to the amount condensed in heating the dryer, is blown
through the system to remove condensate. A positive pressure
differential across the syphon is required to properly evacuate
condensate from the roll. The flow of blow-through steam
assists in removing the condensated and non-condensables
as they accumulate in the dryer. The large volume of blow-
through, relative to the condensated volume, reduces the fluid
density in the syphon and therefore the pressure drop, as well
as maintaining velocity through the dryer and drainage piping.
The required differential varies with the dimensions of the
dryer and syphon, syphon design as well as the condensing
rate and machine speed. Dryer drainage systems without
thermocompressors rely on blow-through to lower pressure
dryer banks in a cascade system, air heater, other mill
processes, or condenser.

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Recirculating

Figure 8 shows the same system modified for

thermocompressor operation. The use of a
thermocompressor to promote circulation eliminates the
need for cascading, permitting increased flexibility and
reduction in the total steam used by reducing blow-through
to condenser. The first thermocompressor application was
on Yankee dryer machines to recirculate the large quantities
of blow-through steam. Utilization of blow-through of 7000 to
8000 lb. / hr. is difficult in many installations.

In recent years, it has found advantages to apply

recirculation by thermocompressors to newsprint and kraft
machines with dryer sections or banks. As machine speeds
increase, the differential required to remove condensate
increases and cascade systems require too low a condenser
pressure to meet differential requirements causes over-
drying (case hardening).

Differential Pressure

The proper combination of dryer system and thermocompressor requires knowledge of the behavior of
both the systems in question and thermocompressor performance under various operation conditions.
The pressure drop function of a dryer drainage system is rather complicated. The steam supply system
from the control valve (or thermocompressor) into the dryer inlet behaves in accordance with normal
pressure drop functions for gaseous flow. The pressure drop will therefore be a function of pressure,
temperature, and weight of steam flowing. The weight of steam, however, is made up of the amount
required to heat the dryer, plus the blow-through quantity. The pressure drop function through the syphon
to the separating tank (flash tank) is more complicated, since the flow is two- phase. The pressure drop
will be a function of pressure, temperature, weight of condensate flowing, and weight of blow-through. On
dryers with rotating syphons, the dryer diameter and surface speed add another variable. With
thermocompressor systems, the pressure drop from the separator to the thermocompressor is a gaseous
flow function of pressure, temperature, and weight rate of blow-through.

The thermocompressor must compress the blow-through steam across the total pressure differential
consisting of the sum of the three pressure drop functions. Practice has been to determine the required
pressure differential empirically for good drying on the given machine. There also seems to be a
tendency, in the mill, to assume that once determined this pressure differential is a constant for all dryer
pressures and machine speeds where rimming occurs, rather than determining the actual safe differential
over the desired operating range.

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Table I Performance of a 2-in. Thermocompressor. Motive Pressure 200 p.s.i.

Differential Pressure, p.s.i.

4 6 8 10 12
Dryer Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc.
Press., Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow,
p.s.i. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr.
-5 197 228 238 165
5 246 464 346 452 419 419 474 362 507 289
15 274 630 393 659 502 648 592 620 666 579
25 297 763 431 821 559 832 669 852 768 801
35 319 875 464 956 606 986 732 995 848 985
45 339 972 496 1072 650 1118 789 1140 919 1141
55 360 1058 528 1174 694 1233 845 1265 987 1277
65 382 1134 566 1258 737 1333 900 1375 1054 1394
75 405 1202 600 1337 783 1421 957 1470 1122 1494
85 434 1258 637 1407 831 1497 1017 1551 1194 1580
95 461 1311 677 1467 883 1562 1081 1619 1271 1651
105 491 1357 721 1518 941 1615 1152 1674 1355 1707
115 525 1396 770 1558 1006 1656 1232 1714 1448 1747
125 564 1426 828 1587 1080 1682 1322 1738 1553 1767

Table II Performance of a 2-in. Thermocompressor. Motive Pressure 150 p.s.i.

Differential Pressure, p.s.i.

4 6 8 10 12
Dryer Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc.
Press., Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow,
p.s.i. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr.
-5 204 223 247 159
5 260 453 363 439 441 401 499 341 528 273
15 293 614 423 633 532 623 626 592 702 549
25 322 741 469 786 599 797 716 784 820 756
35 350 847 512 912 659 939 794 940 920 920
45 378 936 555 1018 717 1057 868 1068 1009 1061
55 412 1009 600 1106 777 1155 944 1174 1100 1173
65 445 1074 649 1180 842 1235 1024 1258 1195 1262
75 482 1128 704 1239 914 1297 1112 1323 1299 1327
85 526 1169 767 1282 996 1339 1212 1364 1416 1368
95 578 1197 843 1306 1094 1359 1330 1380 1553 1380

Table III Performance of a 2-in. Thermocompressor. Motive Pressure 100 p.s.i.

Differential Pressure, p.s.i.

4 6 8 10 12
Dryer Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc. Motive Recirc.
Press., Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow, Flow,
p.s.i. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr.
-5 215 215 260 150 234 70
5 284 431 391 416 473 375 534 313 563 246
15 329 582 466 596 581 684 543 543 764 496
25 370 696 530 731 674 729 802 707 914 672
35 414 786 595 834 763 843 914 829 1050 802
45 464 855 669 910 859 924 1033 914 1191 890
55 524 901 757 957 971 971 1168 960 1350 935
65 603 921 868 968 1112 975 1336 958 1542 929

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Table IV Sizing Ratio for Thermocompressors.

Size Capacity Ratio

2 1.00
3 2.25
4 4.00
5 6.25
6 9.00
8 16.00
10 25.00
12 36.00

Table V Motive Pressure 200 p.s.i. D&S

Thermocompressor
Differ- Dryer By- Dryer
ential, Press., Recirc. Disch. pass, Load,
Case p.s.i. p.s.i. Motive steam. lb./hr. lb./hr. lb./hr.
A max 9 60 2450 4000 6450 5550 5000
A min 4 15 850 1950 2800 2150 3000

B max 10 75 3800 5850 9650 16200 20000

B min 5 20 1400 2750 4150 2050 3450

Table VI

Motive Superheat, deg. F.

Differ-
Press., Sup. Ht., P2, entail, Press. Ref. Thermocom-
p.s.i. Deg. F. p.s.i. p.s.i. valve pressor
295 30 150 7 46 0
175 323 100 5 360 21

Control Systems

It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss design of dryers or dryer drainage systems. However, proper
application of thermocompressors to such systems requires a knowledge of the behavior of the dryers
and drainage system, thermocompressor behavior, as well as method of control. The performance of a
non-critical thermocompressor has no discontinuities and will therefore seek an equilibrium point in a
closed loop such as a dryer drainage system. The differential can be controlled by the thermocompressor
spindle position. This will occur if the thermocompressor is designed to have a performance curve with a
slope opposite to that of the differential curve. The thermocompressor manufacturer should be advised as
to the type of control system so that proper design criteria can be set up.

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Performance

Data

The performance of a thermocompressor was

determined under varying operating conditions. For
purposes of simplicity, a constant motive steam pressure
of 200 p.s.i. D&S was used for all the curves in Fig. 9
and 10. Detailed data are given in Tables I, II, III, and IV.
The performance is similar at higher or lower motive
pressures, but the pattern changes depending upon the
dryer pressure range. Dryer system differential is a
parameter and performance and capacities are shown
for 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 p.s.i.

Use of Data

To use the data, the known differential requirements of

the system are spotted for maximum and minimum
conditions. For example: For Case “A”, consider a dryer
section. Maximum condition 9 p.s.i. differential with
condensing load of 8000 lb./hr. at a dryer pressure of 60
p.s.i. From Fig. 9, interpolating between 8 and 10 p.s.i.
differential, the motive steam is 790 lb./hr. for a 2-in unit.
The required condensing load is 8000/790 = 10.1 times
2-in. capacity. Table IV shows an 8-in. size is required.
From Fig. 10, the unit would be capable of 1290 x 10.1
=12,100 lb./hr. recirculated steam (blow-through). A
normal dryer section pressure differential function would
require much less blow-through for 9 p.s.i. differential.
Assuming the given dryer section requires about 50
percent blow-through, the thermocompressor should be
designed for 4000 lb./hr. suction flow which would
require 4000 (790/1290) =2450 lb./hr. motive. The size
factor would be 4000/1290 = 3.1, requiring a 4-in.
thermocompressor. The minimum condition was a
condensing load of 3000 lb./hr. at a dryer pressure of 15
p.s.i. and a differential of 4 p.s.i. The thermocompressor
will use 3.1 x 275 = 850 lb./hr. motive steam and
recirculate 3.1 x 630 = 1950 lb./hr. If the differential
pressure requirement of the dryer drainage system
approximates these flows, the thermocompressor will be
satisfactory. If the blow-through requirement at either
point is higher, the thermocompressor should be designed to meet the maximum point. The spindle
control will then permit operation at the desired back pressure.

Case “B” is another sample set of conditions which are summarized in Table V with thermocompressor
data taken from Fig. 9 and 10 for a 4-in. thermocompressor.

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Desuperheating

There is a secondary benefit from the use of a thermocompressor related to the amount of superheat in
the steam to the dryer. This is particularly pertinent to Yankee dryers where the thermocompressor
supplies most of the steam. The recirculated steam from the flash tank is wet. A quality of 97 per cent is
about as dry as can be expected. The mixing of this steam with the thermocompressor motive steam
reduces the superheat to levels which do not affect the dryer operation. Table VI shows two actual
examples.

The first case is not severe since the amount of superheat is low. The second case with 360 Deg. F.
superheat at the dryer would require desuperheating were it not for the effect of the thermocompressor.

CONCLUSION

The wide use of steam jet thermocompressors in dryer drainage systems is proof of its advantages. The
performance characteristics of thermocompressors are suited to the differential characteristics of paper
machine dryers. For small dryer pressure and load ranges, thermocompressors can control to a constant
differential. For wide ranges, dryer operation with differential varying as a function of dryer pressure will
provide the most satisfactory operation.

When accurate and complete data on dryer differential capacity and control system are available,
thermocompressors can be designed which will function well in paper machine dryer drainage systems.

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