Achemical engineering question (may have to refer to saturated or superheated stream tables):
a wet steam* at 100.0 bar with a quality factor of 0.965 leaks through a defective steam trap† and expands to a pressure of 1 atm. the process can be considered to take place in two stages: a rapid adiabatic expansion to 1 atm accompanied by complete evaporation of the liquid droplets in the wet steam, followed by cooling at 1 atm to ambient temperature. δ⁢e⋅k may be neglected in both stages.
*steam produced in a boiler is frequently "wet"—that is, it is a mist composed of saturated water vapor and entrained liquid droplets. the quality of a wet steam is defined as the fraction of the mixture by mass that is vapor.
†a steam trap is a device to purge steam condensate from a system without venting uncondensed steam.
a.) estimate the temperature of the superheated steam immediately following the rapid adiabatic expansion. (in degrees c)
b.) someone looking at the steam trap would see a clear space just outside the leak and a white plume forming a short distance away.
(the same phenomenon can be observed outside the spout of a kettle in which water is boiling.)
what would the temperature be at the point where the opaque plume begins? (in degrees c)