Can Superheated Steam Reach 1000°C?

[Yashbhatt]

Is it possible to heat steam to a 1000°C at sufficiently high pressures?

If yes, what is the best way to do it?

 

[Astronuc]

Is it possible to heat steam to a 1000°C at sufficiently high pressures?

If yes, what is the best way to do it?

Well, of course it is.

One simply needs a mass of water, inject the appropriate amount of thermal energy. The amount of superheat depends specific enthalpy, h.

h = H / m, where H is the enthalpy or thermal energy, and m is the mass.

Superheated steam behaves much like an ideal gas.

One simply needs a pressure vessel strong enough to contain the steam at 1000°C. The pressure will depend on the mass enclosed and the volume - roughly PV = nRT.

 

[SteamKing]

The trick is finding a material which retains a modest amount of strength at 1000 C.

 

[russ_watters]

Is it possible to heat steam to a 1000°C at sufficiently high pressures?

"Sufficiently high pressure" for what?

If yes, what is the best way to do it?

Depends on what you want to do with it.

 

[Nugatory]

The trick is finding a material which retains a modest amount of strength at 1000 C.

I believe that most commercial power plants try to work with steam around 500 C or thereabouts. That hits the economic sweet spot of temperatures high enough for reasonable thermodynamic efficiency, but not so high that wildly expensive and exotic materials are required.

 

[Yashbhatt]

"Sufficiently high pressure" for what?

Depends on what you want to do with it.

I need it to heat biomass.

 

[Astronuc]

I need it to heat biomass.

1000°C seems excessive for process heat.

Economically, one would desire the minimum amount of heat input to achieve the desired goal of producing what you want from biomass.

 

[Yashbhatt]

I believe that most commercial power plants try to work with steam around 500 C or thereabouts. That hits the economic sweet spot of temperatures high enough for reasonable thermodynamic efficiency, but not so high that wildly expensive and exotic materials are required.

I did find a link about boilers where it says that it can be heated to a thousand degrees. It has some sort of blueprint, so I think it should be commercial.

See this : http://feed-the-beast.wikia.com/wiki/Steam_Boiler

 

[SteamKing]

I don't think you are heating biomass in this boiler, you are burning it to provide the heat to turn water into steam. If you were just heating the biomass, the high temperature would drive off any water left in the biomass and you would be left with a hot pile of carbon, if that hasn't already burst into flame.

The website referred to in Post #8 is discussing some sort of computer game or simulation about building a railroad, and the boiler and other equipment discussed is not actually real.

 

[Yashbhatt]

I don't think you are heating biomass in this boiler, you are burning it to provide the heat to turn water into steam. If you were just heating the biomass, the high temperature would drive off any water left in the biomass and you would be left with a hot pile of carbon, if that hasn't already burst into flame.

The website referred to in Post #8 is discussing some sort of computer game or simulation about building a railroad, and the boiler and other equipment discussed is not actually real.

Oh. But it seemed as if it were real.

And yes the purpose is actally ro burn biomass.

I found a technique which uses two honeycomb like ceramic things as heat exchanger.

 

[russ_watters]

Why would you try to burn biomass with steam? Why not just light it on fire? And why are you trying to burn the biomass?

This really doesn't make any sense.

 

[SteamKing]

Oh. But it seemed as if it were real.

That's what makes simulations useful. They seem real.

In any event, the info you linked to was from a simulation game called Railcraft, which itself was an offshoot or development of another game called Minecraft:

http://railcraft.info/wiki/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft