What is flash steam and how to recover it?
When hot condensate under pressure is released to a lower pressure, its temperature must drop very quickly to the boiling point for the lower pressure as shown in the steam tables. The surplus heat is utilized by the condensate as enthalpy of evaporation, causing some of it to re-evaporate into steam. This steam is called “flash steam”. The best way to recover and utilize flash steam is to let the steam and condensate mixture pass through what is known as a Flash Vessel. The flash vessel separates the steam from the condensate, so there is some additional steam you can use for your process vessels as well.
