Investigation of flashing de-aeration with and without recirculation

A series of experiments with flashing de-areation has been carried out at the institute of Thermal Energytechnology of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The results of the experiments with flashing de-areation without recirculation of the condensate show very low contents of dissolved oxygen in the de-aerated water. The results indicate that the de-aeration process is independent of the pressure. De-aeration efficiencies over 99 percent were measured. The continued experiments with recirculation of the condensate show a considerably deteriorated de-aeration performance together with a marked pressure dependency. A simple theoretical model has been formulated which explains these results. Comparisons between the experimental data and calculations with this model indicate that a conservative estimation of the oxygen content of the outgoing water can be obtained if the oxygen content of the recirculated condensate is calculated for the partial pressure of noncondensible gases equal to the total pressure in the condensor. It seems also possible to estimate a lower limit for the oxygen content of the outgoing water. The range of oxygen content between those limits is about a factor of 10 for the conditions investigated. Further studies of the uptake of oxygen during condensation seem necessary if a more accurate prediction is desired