Remember that Mats went to great lengths to ensure that he did not disturb the system. I quizzed him on this looking for the effects you suggest, but he insisted he was thorough.
Dave -----Original Message----- From: Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> To: vortex-l <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, Nov 10, 2011 9:30 pm Subject: Re: [Vo]:Oct 6 Heat Exchanger Manifold Thermocouple Placement. I wrote: Granted it might have been less, too, but I suppose it was more. A few bubbles in the hose or unexpectedly high back pressure from holding up the hose will retard the flow. What I am saying here is that this is complicated little system. I'll bet you can't model it! While 328 g is dribbling out over 6 min., what else is happening? How much other water is backing up into the heat exchanger because the pipe is now full, whereas before it was mostly filled with air? How much extra water is condensing inside the heat exchanger? Lots of interesting and complicated things are happening to the pressure and flow as the steam condenses. If you collected the condensate for an hour while running it through a precision flowmeter you might get a better handle on this, and a more meaningful answer. You have to leave it in a steady state. You will not get a precise answer by lifting the hose, filling it up, and performing this test once for 6 minutes. I am not saying it is a useless or meaningless answer. We know the flow rate over 6 min. wasn't 150 g and it probably wasn't 800 g. But with one test I doubt you can rule out 600 g, which would agree with the flow measurement. In that hose and heat exchanger I'll bet you can hide ~300 g of water over 6 min. Plenty of room in there, and ever-changing circumstances. If you going to measure a flow it is better to have all of the fluid in one phase, not mixed at different points in the system. - Jed
