Balanced pressure traps discharge condensate in sub cooled state which is advantageous in line tracing applications. Here along with latent heat, the sensible heat in condensate is also used to maintain fluid temperatures, leading to fuel savings.

In steam traps condensate is discharged at the temperature of the steam. But in a balanced pressure trap the condensate is held in the line a little longer and discharged at a temperature 20°C less than steam temperature . This provides an extra 20kcal/hr of energy from the sensible heat content for heat transfer. This is advantageous in line tracing applications, where heat is used only to maintain viscosity for fluid flow..

This extracts more energy reducing the total steam consumption and the fuel bill.

Example:

At a pressure of 3 bar g, the condensate at steam temperatures is discharged at an enthalpy of 144kcal/hr. But in a Balanced Pressure trap, the condensate will be discharged at a temperature 20°C less i.e. with an enthalpy of 124 kcal/hr.

Considering a moderate condensate load of 30 kg/hr, total energy saved will be 600kcal/hr. At 3 bar g considering enthalpy of evaporation to be 510kcal/hr, means a saving of 1.18 kg/hr of steam – 8.5 tons of steam annually.