Steam jet cooling uses a high-pressure jet of
steam to cool water or other fluid media. Typical uses include industrial sites, where a suitable steam supply already exists for other purposes or, historically, for
air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
on passenger trains which use steam for heating. Steam jet cooling experienced a wave of popularity during the early 1930s for air conditioning large buildings. Steam ejector refrigeration cycles were later supplanted by systems using mechanical compressors.
Principle
Steam is passed through a
vacuum ejector
A vacuum ejector, or simply ejector is a type of vacuum pump, which produces vacuum by means of the Venturi effect.
In an ejector, a working fluid (liquid or gaseous) flows through a jet nozzle into a tube that first narrows and then expands i ...
of high efficiency to exhaust a separate, closed vessel which forms part of a cooling water circuit. The partial vacuum in the vessel causes some of the water to evaporate, thus giving up heat through
evaporative cooling
An evaporative cooler (also known as evaporative air conditioner, swamp cooler, swamp box, desert cooler and wet air cooler) is a device that cools air through the evaporation of water. Evaporative cooling differs from other air conditioning s ...
. The chilled water is pumped through the circuit to air coolers, while the evaporated water from the ejector is recovered in separate
condensers __NOTOC__
Condenser may refer to:
Heat transfer
* Condenser (heat transfer), a device or unit used to condense vapor into liquid. Specific types include:
** HVAC air coils
** Condenser (laboratory), a range of laboratory glassware used to remove ...
and returned to the cooling circuit.
Usage
The
AT&SF
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...
railroad (Santa Fe) used this method, which they called "Steam Ejector Air Conditioning", on both heavyweight and lightweight passenger cars, built until the mid-1950s.
See also
*
Steam generator (railroad)
*
Steam jet ejector
*
Injector
An injector is a system of ducting and nozzles used to direct the flow of a high-pressure fluid in such a way that a lower pressure fluid is entrained in the jet and carried through a duct to a region of higher pressure. It is a fluid-dynamic ...
or
Ejector
References
'' Steam jet refrigeration plant''United States patent 4204410
''The Air Conditioning system preferred by the Santa Fe'', By C. M. Drennan, The Brotherhood Railway Carmen of America
Rail technologies
Passenger rail rolling stock
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
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