Page 379 - Industrial Ancillaries 2020 Catalogue (Sterling)

STEAM HOSE SAFETY GUIDE
Handling steam can be very hazardous. Using due care and appropriate Health and Safety precautions can minimise or eliminate personal injury or damage to property.
SELECTING AND USING STEAM HOSE
1. Make sure steam hose is identi ed as a steam hose. It should be branded as such, stating working pressure and temperature rating
2. Make sure working pressure and temperature is not exceeded.
3. Do not allow hose to remain under pressure when not in use.
Avoid excess bending or exing of hose near the coupling. Straight line operation is the ideal, but if an application necessitates having bends in the hose during operation, spring guards may help.
5. Be sure to use recommended steam hose couplings and clamps on hose.
MAINTENANCE OF STEAM HOSE
1. Periodic inspection of hose should include looking for cover blisters and lumps.
2. Check for kinked areas that could damage hose.
3. Drain hose after each use to avoid tube damage before hose is put
back in operation, to avoid "popcorning" of the tube.
4. Check tightness of clamps bolts after each use.
5. Check to see if clamps halves are touching. If they are, recouple
hose with smaller clamps to insure proper tightness or grip around
hose.
6. Do not store hose over hooks.
7. Steam hose lying on metal racks or installed around steel piping
will dry out the hose, causing tube and cover cracking.
8. For service in sub-zero application, use only T-331 chlorobuthyl
hose.
TEMPERATURE OF SATURATED STEAM
CORROSIVE STEAM
When the water used to generate steam contains dissolved air, oxygen or carbon dioxide, then these gases end up as contaminants in the steam. At high temperatures of steam both oxygen and carbon dioxide are extremely corrosive.
Carbon dioxide is acidic and therefore attacks metals whereas the oxygen corrodes metals and oxidises rubbers. Corrosion of metals in the presence of both oxygen and acids is forty times faster than with either alone.
Boiler water is therefore normally treated not only to remove the "hardness" which would cause "furring" of the boiler but also to remove dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide and to ensure that the steam is not only not acidic but even slightly alkaline. Boiler water treatment is a specialised subject beyond the scope of this technical sheet but correct steam generation is important.
DETERIORATION OF STEAM HOSE
Like all rubber products steam hoses have a nite life and are subject to gradual deterioration with use. However, it sometimes happens that hoses which have been giving a good life suddenly start failing without apparent reason.
In such cases it is often a change in the steam conditions causing a rapid acceleration of a normal failure mode. It is therefore useful to consider how steam hoses normally last and thus how the condition of the steam affects hose life.
(Abstracted From RMA IP-11-1 Steam Hose)
Industrial Hose 10
Industrial Hose & Tubing
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