DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
Doornfontein Campus

Title: Separating calorimeter and a Throttling calorimeter Lab Report 3

By

Your Names
SHONGWE HERSCHELLE
(219000179)

A Semester Lab Report submitted

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the module

THERMOFLUIDS (THFMIB1)

B. ENG TECH (BENG(TECH))

Engineering: Industrial

LECTURER: …………………………
Date: 21 October 2022
Statement of originality

I claim that this lab report is my own work. All the secondary sources I’ve used, whether from
print or electronic sources, have been recognized and referenced appropriately, in accordance
with the Mechanical and Industrial Technology Department’s referencing style at the university
of Johannesburg. I am aware that plagiarism is a serious offence, and that appropriate
disciplinary measures will be applied. I thoroughly understand all the plagiarism and policies
regarding references described in the Thermodynamics 3A Learner Guide.

Signature: Date: 21/10/2022

Acknowledgments

I am grateful for my module tutors, Mahlake R.M and Chimedza K.T for helping me during the
entire experiment and also assisting me in understanding the theory of the experiment before
having to perform it. Additionally, I am also thankful for the assistance they offered in correcting
some of the errors I made during the experiment.
Table of Contents
Statement of originality .......................................................................................................... 2
Acknowledgments................................................................................................................... 3
Objective ................................................................................................................................ 5
Theory/ Background............................................................................................................... 5
Apparatus ............................................................................................................................... 7
Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 8
Observation ............................................................................................................................ 8
Data and Results ............................................................................................................................... 8
Analysis of results .................................................................................................................. 9
Calculations ........................................................................................................................... 9
Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 11
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 11
References ............................................................................................................................ 12
Objective
The main objective of this experiment is to determine the dry fraction of the wet steam using a
separating and throttling calorimeter (combined calorimeter).

Theory/ Background
Wet steam is composed of dry saturated steam and water particles in suspension. The dryness
fraction of steam is outlined as the quantitative relation of the mass of dry saturated steam to the
full mass of wet steam containing. It is represented by ‘x’

The dryness fraction of steam is used to determine the quality of the steam. A combined
calorimeter consists of a separating calorimeter and a throttling calorimeter which are connected
in series. The steam from the separating calorimeter is passed through to the throttling
calorimeter via pipe that has a throttle orifice at the end of it.
The separating calorimeter is a vessel used initially to separate some of the moisture from the
steam, to ensure superheat conditions after throttling. The steam is made to change direction
suddenly; the moisture droplets, being heavier than the vapor, drop out of suspension and are
collected at the bottom of the vessel.
The throttling calorimeter is a vessel with a needle valve fitted on the inlet side. The steam is
throttled through the needle valve and exhausted to the condenser. Suppose M kg of wet steam
with a dryness fraction of x (state A) enters the separating calorimeter. The vapor part will have
a mass of xM kg and the liquid part will have a mass of (1-x)M kg. In the separating calorimeter
part of the liquid, say M1 kg will be separated from the wet steam. Hence the dryness fraction
of the wet steam will increase to x1 (state B), which will pass through the throttling process
valve. After the throttling process, the steam in the throttling calorimeter will be in a superheated
state (state C).

Figure 1: T-S diagram of the separating and throttling calorimeter.

 Figure 1: T-S diagram of the separating and throttling calorimeter.

From the steady flow energy

equation; Q – W = hC - hB

Since throttling takes place over a very small distance, the heat transfer is negligible, i.e
Q = 0. Then the steady flow energy equation for the throttling process
becomes, hC = hB
Hence, enthalpy after throttling = enthalpy before throttling
hC = hf1 + X1 hfg1

If the pressure of the steam before throttling, the pressure, and temperature of the steam after
throttling is known the value of X1 can be calculated using steam tables.

Dryness Fraction =!"## $% &'( #)*"+

!"## $% &'()*+,

Where :
• !1 is the mass of condensate
• !2 is the mass of the dry steam as condensate in kg.
• X1 is the dryness fraction of the steam

Alternatively, with a combined separating and throttling calorimeter it may so it may

sometimes be necessary to calculate the dryness fractions of each unit separately
The dryness fraction of the steam at the separating calorimeter, abbreviated x1 may be calculated
with the formula:
!2
Therefore, -1 =
!1+!1

While that of the steam entering the throttling calorimeter (x2) may be calculated with the
formula:

-2= h2 -hw
hg-hw

Where:

• h2 is the enthalpy of the vapour entering the throttling calorimeter in kJ/kg

• hw is the enthalpy of the feed water as a saturated liquid in kJ/kg.
• hg is the enthalpy of the wet steam as a saturated vapour in kJ/kg.

Apparatus

Figure 2: Experimental setup of separating and throttling calorimeter unit

Steam bench :
• Steam generator
• Steam boiler plant
• Combined Separating and throttling calorimeter
• Thermometer

Procedure
1. The boiler was started the boiler and steam was supplied to the separating and throttling
calorimeter unit.
2. The cooling water flow through the condenser was started.
3. The steam valve was opened and allow the steam to flow through the calorimeters to warm
through the steam.
4. The throttle valve was opened and adjusted to give a pressure at exhaust of about 5cm
Hg measured on the manometer.
5. The separating calorimeter was then drained.
6. The test was started and readings at 2-3 minutes intervals were taken.
7. The quantity of separated water and the quantity of condensate were measured when a
reasonable quantity of condensate is collected.

Observation
Data and Results
Readings Values
Steam pressure in main P1 (bars) 2.2
Steam pressure after throttling P2 (bars) 5.7
The temperature of main T1 °C 137.7
Temperature after throttling T2 °C 113.5
Quantity of Separated water ml (kg) 232

Quantity of condensate m2 (kg) 500

Atmospheric pressure Patm (bars) 744
Table 1: Table of Observations
Analysis of results
The average difference in mercury level due to water = 744 mmHg
= 744/750.062
= 0.991918 = 1.0 bar
The Barometric pressure = 1.0 bar
SEPARATOR
The steam pressure = 2.2 bar
The steam temperature = 140 °C
The amount of collected water = 232ml= 0.232kg
From Steam table at P = 2.2 bar

Enthalpy of saturated liquid, hf = 517 KJ/Kg

Latent heat of vaporization, hfg =2193 KJ/Kg

!2
!1 =
!2+!1

THROTTLE
Average steam pressure = 5.7 bar
Average steam temperature = 113.5 °C
The average amount of condensed water= 500 ml = 0.5 kg

From Steam table at P=5.7 bar

Enthalpy of saturated vapor, hg = 2753,9 KJ/Kg
Saturated steam temperature, Ts=156.838

Calculations
!2
Calculation for "! !1 =
!2+!1
500
=
500+232

=0,68306
 Calculation for ., 0- + 2,0-. = 0., + 4/(601/ − 6023)

517 + .,<193 = <752.9 + <. A(AA3. 5 – A56.838)

., = E. F78

Actual dryness fraction of the steam entering the combined separating and throttling
calorimeter, X:
" = "! ∗ ""
= $. 68306 "$. %78
= 0,66807
Discussion
The dryness fraction of steam describes how dry steam is, with 1 representing 100% dry steam.
The experiment shows that the dryness fraction for the separating calorimeter is lower than for
the throttling calorimeter because the steam in the separating calorimeter is wetter. Because it is
already superheated, the temperature in the throttling calorimeter is higher than the saturated
steam temperature. The presence of water (10%) in the sample of steam below observation is
frequently attributed to errors that occurred throughout the experiment, resulting in incomplete
water separation. Possible sources measure human errors within various optical phenomena or
reading accuracy once measurements and calculations have been taken. There was also evidence
of steam escaping into the space, which could have caused systematic errors that could have
changed the room temperature and pressure.

Conclusion
The dryness fraction for the separating calorimeter was 0.68306 based on the results, indicating
that the steam was 61% dry and 39% wet at that time. We calculated 0.978 using a throttling
calorimeter, which indicated that the steam was close to being superheated because its value was
close to 1. The dryness fraction of the combined separating and throttling calorimeter was
calculated by multiplying the dryness fraction of the separating calorimeter by the dryness
fraction of the throttling calorimeter, yielding a value of 0.66807. This demonstrates that the
state of the steam remains wet because the value of the dryness fraction of steam is less than one.
Throttling to atmospheric pressure is insufficient to ensure superheated steam at the steam exit,
whose dryness fraction is to be determined as very wet. In this case, the steam must be dried
before throttling. This is accomplished by directing a portion of the steam from the steam main
through a separating measuring system. This experiment accomplished its goal.
References
• Al-Mustaqbal University College. (2020). Experiment No(6): Measurement of dryness
Fraction by separating calorimeter. Uomus. Retrieved September 22, 2022,
from http://www.mustaqbal-college.edu.iq/
• INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GUWAHATI. (2020). Separating and
Throttling Calorimeter. Retrieved October 20, 2022, from https://vmt-
iitg.vlabs.ac.in/Separating_and_Throttling_Calorimeter(theory).html
• Sadiku, M. N. O. (n.d.). Answered: Combined separating and throttling. . . | bartleby.
Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://www.bartleby.com/questions-and-
answers/combined-separating-and-throttling-calorimeter-is-used-to-find-out-dryness-
fraction-of-steam-followi/33bc7abb-ee3f-415e-a275-f2d015446b4a