Steam is used in many different applications throughout a plant.  The right conditions for steam are crucial in process efficiency. Superheated steam is needed to drive a turbine for the generation of energy whereas for heating processes saturated steam provides the optimum condition.

Gestra offers different desuperheater systems to cool down superheated steam to the temperature which meets your requirements and considers operating parameters in an optimum way. Desuperheating of steam is made easy with Gestra’s injection cooler or water-bath desuperheaters.

Gestra injection coolers are used wherever there is a need for desuperheating without having to reach the saturation temperature. Cooling takes place by the direct injection of water. The desired steam temperature or required quantity of cooling water (condensate) is set by means of a temperature-controlled condensate injection valve, whose temperature sensor is arranged downstream of the cooler and obliquely to the flow. The atomization process is performed by fine nozzles producing very small droplets. Depending on the required volume flow of injection water, the cooler is designed with one or two cooling stages. The special arrangement of the nozzles and internal parts of the cooler allow optimum mixing of the nebulized water in the steam, so that the desired steam temperature is obtained within the subsequent pipe section. An inner protective tube in the pipe section eliminates the danger of thermal shock and the resulting stress cracks in the steam line. Excess water is discharged through special parts at the end of the tube section to a drainage point. This ensures that dry steam is available at the outlet of the injection cooler.

Gestra’s water baths are used wherever hot steam that arises must be reliably converted into saturated steam.The KD 13 desuperheater consists of a tank with an integrated nozzle device for
distributing and cooling hot steam in a water bath. The system is available for various operating loads as the vertical type (KDS 13) or horizontal type (KDL 13). We custom design each system in terms of size and thermodynamics to suit the customer’s requirements. Superheated steam with a maximum temperature of 470 °C is introduced into a control system and injected through a nozzle into a water bath, where it is cooled down to the temperature of the saturated steam. In passing through the water, the thermal energy of the steam is given up to the cooling water, with some of the cooling water being vaporised and drained as saturated steam. The steam content after the cooling process is 98%. The desuperheater features an integral water separator that prevents
the cooling water from being carried along into the steam line during peak loads. The NRG or NRGT level electrode detects the cooling water level and an electronic control unit ensures that the vaporized cooling water is replaced by make-up water. The cooling water at the required upstream pressure is fed into the lower part of the desuperheater by a control valve or solenoid valve. If the
temperature of the steam is very high, the cooling water must be heated up first. The water bath desuperheater is the only steam cooling system that supplies saturated steam over a control range of 0–100%.