Moisture Separators

The compressed air coming out from an After Cooler, contains large quantities of water vapour condensed as a result of cooling of the compressed air. If this is not removed, much of it will be carried to the distribution system and cause extensive damage to all the equipment and processes, which use the air.Apart from water vapour, there is also an appreciable quantity of oil vapour that is formed due to heat and pressure carried along with the air stream is also removed by the separator.
Wet steam is steam containing a degree of water, and is one of the main concerns in any steam system. It can reduce plant productivity and product quality, and can cause damage to most items of plant and equipment. Whilst careful drainage and trapping can remove most of the water, it will not deal with the water droplets suspended in the steam. To remove these suspended water droplets, separators are installed in steam pipelines.
The steam produced in a boiler designed to generate saturated steam is inherently wet. Although the dryness fraction will vary according to the type of boiler, most shell type steam boilers will produce steam with a dryness fraction of between 95 and 98%. The water content of the steam produced by the boiler is further increased if priming and carryover occur.
There is always a certain degree of heat loss from the distribution pipe, which causes steam to condense. The condensed water molecules will eventually gravitate towards the bottom of the pipe forming a film of water. Steam flowing over this water can raise ripples that can build up into waves. The tips of the waves tend to break off, throwing droplets of condensate into the steam flow.