joemel
Steam heating systems for buildings may also be vulnerable to water hammer. In a steam system, water hammer most often occurs when some of the steam condenses into water in a horizontal section of the steam piping. Subsequently, steam picks up the water, forms a “slug” and hurls it at high velocity into a pipe elbow, creating a loud hammering noise and greatly stressing the pipe. This condition is usually caused by a poor condensate drainage strategy.
Where air filled traps are used, these sometimes become depleted of their trapped air over a long period of time through absorption into the water. This can be cured by shutting off the supply and draining the system by opening taps at the highest and lowest locations, which restores the air to the traps and then closing the taps and opening the supply.
