Patent ID: 7857895

Claim:
A hygroscopic moisture separating and heating apparatus for separating a hygroscopic moisture from a steam to be heated and heating the steam to be heated, comprising: a main body container having a cylindrical shape; a partition plate provided, in the main body container, to define a space together with an inner circumferential face of the main body container and configured to divide the internal space of the main body container into a lower temperature area and a higher temperature area; a steam inlet, which is provided to the lower temperature area of the main body container and through which steam to be heated is fed into the main body container; and a steam outlet, which is provided to the higher temperature area of the main body container and through which the steam to be heated is discharged from the main body container; a hygroscopic moisture separator located in the lower temperature area of the main body container and adapted to separate hygroscopic moisture from the steam to be heated, which is fed into the lower temperature area via the steam inlet; and a plurality of U-shaped pipes provided in the main body container, each of the U-shaped pipes including an advancing part, a retracting part and a U-shaped part, wherein the U-shaped part connects the advancing part with the retracting part, such that heated steam for heating the steam to be heated is fed through the U-shaped pipe, wherein either of the advancing part and the retracting part of each of the U-shaped pipes extends through the partition plate across the lower temperature area and the higher temperature area, wherein each U-shaped pipe is attached to a header so that each U-shaped pipe and corresponding header constitute one of a plurality of pipe bundles, each header being provided outside the main body container and adapted to supply and discharge the heated steam, wherein the header of one of the pipe bundles is attached to the main body container, in a position opposed to the header of another one of the pipe bundles located adjacent to the one of the pipe bundles; wherein the plurality of pipe bundles are located in a plurality of independent groups connected in series with one another, and the pipe bundles in each group are connected in parallel to one another, with the number of the pipe bundles in each group being reduced as the heated steam is flowed from the upstream to the downstream, wherein a drain tank is provided, which is adapted for accumulating condensed drain generated due to the heated steam cooled by the steam to be heated, in each U-shaped pipe, and wherein the drain tank is connected with the header of each pipe bundle via a drain pipe.