Energy Academy
System Optimization & Economics11 / 12

Capstone: Steam System Diagnostics

Hands-on: work out condensate return, flash, trap loss and more from raw readings, then diagnose and fix eight real call-outs.

25 min read · Jacob Willis, Net Zero Lead


You've learned how steam is generated, distributed, trapped and recovered, and where it wastes energy. This capstone puts you on site as the auditor, but with a twist that matters for steam systems: the panel gives you raw readings, and you have to do the engineering calculation yourself before you can diagnose anything. Nobody hands you "the condensate return is 60%" or "you're losing 13% to flash." You get the meter totals, the temperatures, the pressures and the dimensions, and you work the figure out, exactly as you would standing in a real plant room.

In this lesson

  • 01How the cases work
  • 02The calculations you'll practise
  • 03Differential thinking still applies
  • 04After you finish
  • 05Related lessons