Steam Center Blog

Check it on Amazon to look inside The present steam tables are in S.I. units. These steam tables are based on IAPWS-IF97 formulations for the properties of steam. Thermodynamic and Transport Properties of compressed liquid, saturated, superheated and supercritical steam are included. These tables are meant for engineers and students of engineering courses - thermodynamics and other courses requiring the properties of steam and water. These tables are a fresh edition of steam tables published earlier by the author so as to be available at most leading online retailers. They are an ideal accessory for engineering students undergoing a course in classical thermodynamics. Check out the follwing Amazon link for more details and to have a look inside. http://www.amazon.com/Steam-Property-Tables-Thermodynamic-Properties/dp/147923026X As a student of engineering thermodynamics in case you are looking for suggestions of text book and supporting material, check out the fol...

A s the planet runs out of fossil fuels, humans need to find viable alternatives to produce energy and electricity if they are not to return to the dark ages again. Already rising fuel costs are putting a strain on humans. Aside from temporary ups and downs this strain is bound to increase in future since simply put, we reduce the amount of available fossil fuel every day we live while no new such fuel is being produced. It takes millions of years for mother earth to produce these fuels that have driven modern civilization over the past few centuries. Photovoltaic systems that produce electricity with help of sunshine are emerging as a promising alternative. The primary difficulty so far has been cost but their costs have been coming down over the past few years. Already for certain applications they have become competitive with traditional methods. For example the cost of electricity from these solar cells is cheaper than diesel generator sets for stand alone operations s...

The lake at Nainital, a town in the Himalayas W ith a rising population on our planet, particularly in cities, ensuring fresh water supplies of a good quality is an issue facing many cities around the world. Cities derive their water from surface sources such as lakes and rivers or from underground sources. It seems that in India two thirds of fresh water requirements are met by ground water. With an increase in human activity both sources of water are getting depleted besides getting polluted. Surface water is polluted if waste water from cities and industries is dumped directly into natural lakes and rivers without treatment. Such pollution can be reduced if  water is first directed/dumped into artificial canals and lakes instead. From here it purifies slowly by bacterial action and the water that seeps into ground is purified by filtration through soil. However some pollutants such as nitrates from fertilizers that dissolve in water can reach ground reservoirs pollu...

Q. Will our cities become short of water with expansion? As cities expand a greater pressure is being put on water resources required to meet the needs of urban populations in cities around the world. There is a need to maintain adequate water supply as well as the quality of the water supplied so that health of urban dwellers does not deteriorate. It must be remembered that water for the most part is not destroyed by use. With proper recycling and management, urban dwellers need not suffer water shortage. This point needs to be highlighted before we proceed, With proper management and recycling, urban areas can avoid shortages and poor quality of water Q. What is the proper and inexpensive way to recycle water? There is a proper way to recycle water and an improper way. The proper way mimics natural processes through which water has been recycled on land for millions of year, which is collecting it in ponds where an initial purification takes place by aerobic and anaero...

Nainital Lake O ver the last century, human population has grown and along with it there has been a tremendous growth in cities. A direct consequence of this growth is that urban populations in many cities across the world are facing water shortages. Along with sunshine and fresh air, water is a primary requirement for life and any shortage in its supply spells a diminished quality of life. There are primarily three sources of water available to human populations – rain, surface water such as lakes and rivers and lastly ground water. The source of all three is rain that rises from the abundant oceans on the planet. However with increasing use and population growth, both surface and ground water is not only getting depleted but also getting polluted. Whenever water shortages occur there is often a cry to conserve water. One basic point is forgotten in this cry – WATER CANNOT BE DESTROYED – by most natural processes. It requires chemical and other possesses such as electrol...

Small and simple gas turbine power plants to produce electricity for communities isolated from a grid or a community wishing to remain so can be a reliable means of power supply at reasonable rates. Such power plants need to be simple in order to reduce maintenance needs. Research engineers love to play with thermodynamics and will go to any lengths to increase thermal efficiency even if it means that the final constructed plant is complex, expensive and results in frequent maintenance shut downs. For a gas turbine plant this implies using multistage turbines with intermediate heating and several heat exchangers. While the additional complexity may be justified for large gas turbine plants where thermal efficiency has an important bearing on running costs, it is not advisable for small independently managed gas turbine power plants that range from a few kilowatts to a Megawatt capacity. A gas turbine plant involves a compressor stage coupled to a turbine for expansion. Heating o...

Recently I chanced upon a Scientific American Article that quoted my book on supercritical steam in the article “One Hot Island: Iceland's Renewable Geothermal Power” by Christopher Mims at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/iceland-geothermal-power/ Although I was not quoted accurately, the inference of the author was correct in its conclusion that use of supercritical steam remains one of the available methods of increasing thermal efficiency of steam power plants. Increasing such efficiencies also reduces the amount of green house gases produced per unit of power generated. Although the emission of greenhouse gases is not an issue when using geothermal energy, the use of supercritical steam will nevertheless allow the maximum utilisation of geothermal energy.I am delighted that Christopher Mims has found this book useful towards making use of Iceland’s geothermal reserves in an efficient manner. https://www.amazon.com/Thermodynamic-Properties-...