http://www.harmanstoves.com/btu.asp
I thought this would be interesting with regards to Coal and Wood for all you steam fans.
'“Corn” is 9000 BTUs per pound?
For those of us well out of school, can someone relate the BTUs to the process of raising a gallon (or whatever) of water to and past the boiling point?
BTU: A unit used to measure quantity of heat, defined as the quantity of energy necessary to raise the temperature of 1 lb. of water 1° Fahrenheit.
To answer BR601013’s question completely, Tim Burton’s answer takes you only up to the boiling point of water. It then takes 970 BTUs to vaporize a pound of water. It will then require 42.4 BTU’s to raise that water vapor to 300 degrees Farenheit at atmospheric pressure. Add in pressurization, and these figures can change. e.g.
Your fifteen pound pressure cap on your car’s radiator takes thte boiling point from 212 to 250 degrees, where the vaporization heat is only 945.5 BTUs. . This is why enigineers require heat tables.
Some books you might want to check into on this subject;
“Steam, It’s Generation and Use” published by Babcock and Wilcox.
“Mark’s Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers” published by Magraw Hill.
"Shaum’s Outline on Thermodynamics"published by Magraw Hill too I think.
George
The steam table I used was from an E.I.T (Engineer In Training) review manual. However, Steam tables are standardized, so all references listed here will have the same tables, along with any college textbook on Thermodynamics.