Temperature Expansion of Steam Pipes

Thermal heating and cooling expansion of pipes in cast iron, carbon and carbon molybdenum steel, wrought iron, copper, brass and aluminum

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The table below can be used to estimate thermal expansion of heated or cooled pipes and tubes:

Temperature Expansion of Pipes per 100 Feet (inches)
Saturated Steam Pressure ¹⁾	Temperature (^oF)	Cast Iron	Carbon and carbon Molybdenum	Wrought Iron	4-6% Cr. Alloy Steel	12% Cr. Stainless Steel	18 Cr. -8Ni Stainless Steel	Copper	Brass	Aluminum 2-S
	-200	-1.058	-1.282	-1.289	-1.250	-1.170	-2.030	-1.955	-2.065	-2.69
	-180	-0.982	-1.176	-1.183	-1.150	-1.070	-1.850	-1.782	-1.890	-2.44
	-160	-0.891	-1.066	-1.073	-1.030	-0.970	-1.670	-1.612	-1.705	-2.18
	-140	-0.797	-0.948	-0.955	-0.970	-0.870	-1.480	-1.428	-1.508	-1.93
	-120	-0.697	-0.826	-0.833	-0.800	-0.750	-1.300	-1.235	-1.308	-1.67
	-100	-0.593	-0.698	-0.705	-0.700	-0.630	-0.090	-1.040	-1.098	-1.40
	-80	-0.481	-0.563	-0.570	-0.550	-0.520	-0.880	-0.835	-0.888	-1.12
	-60	-0.368	-0.428	-0.435	-0.430	-0.400	-0.670	-0.630	-0.673	-0.85
	-40	-0.248	-0.288	-0.295	-0.290	-0.270	-0.450	-0.421	-0.452	-0.58
	-20	-0.127	-0.145	-0.152	-0.145	-0.130	-0.225	-0.210	-0.227	-0.28
	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	20	0.128	0.148	0.180	0.140	0.140	0.223	0.238	0.233	0.32
	32	0.209	0.230	0.280	0.234	0.234	0.356	0.366	0.373	0.50
29.39	40	0.270	0.300	0.350	0.280	0.280	0.446	0.451	0.466	0.63
	60	0.410	0.448	0.540	0.430	0.430	0.669	0.684	0.690	0.93
28.89	80	0.550	0.580	0.710	0.500	0.550	0.892	0.896	0.920	1.24
27.99	100	0.680	0.753	0.887	0.650	0.690	1.115	1.134	1.150	1.53
26.48	120	0.830	0.910	1.058	0.800	0.820	1.338	1.366	1.390	1.84
24.04	140	0.970	1.064	1.240	0.950	0.960	1.545	1.590	1.625	2.15
20.27	160	1.110	1.200	1.420	1.100	1.090	1.784	1.804	1.865	2.46
14.63	180	1.240	1.360	1.580	1.250	1.230	2.000	2.051	2.100	2.77
6.45	200	1.390	1.520	1.750	1.400	1.380	2.230	2.296	2.340	3.08
0	212	1.480	1.610	1.870	1.500	1.460	2.361	2.428	2.467	3.28
2.5	220	1.530	1.680	1.940	1.550	1.510	2.460	2.516	2.580	3.41
10.3	240	1.670	1.840	2.120	1.720	1.650	2.680	2.756	2.830	3.73
20.7	260	1.820	2.020	2.300	1.880	1.790	2.920	2.985	3.070	4.07
34.5	280	1.970	2.180	2.470	2.050	1.930	3.150	3.218	3.315	4.40
52.3	300	2.130	2.350	2.670	2.200	2.080	3.390	3.461	3.565	4.74
74.9	320	2.268	2530	2.850	2.370	2.220	3.615	3.696	3.820	5.10
103.3	340	2.430	2.700	3.040	2.530	2.360	3.840	3.941	4.065	5.43
138.3	360	2.590	2.880	3.230	2.700	2.510	4.100	4.176	4.350	5.78
180.9	380	2.750	3.060	3.425	2.860	2.670	4.346	4.424	4.610	6.13
232.4	400	2.910	3.230	3.620	3.010	2.820	4.580	4.666	4.870	6.47
293.7	420	3.090	3.421	3.820	3.180	2.980	4.800	4.914	5.150	6.84
366.1	440	3.250	3.595	4.020	3.350	3.130	5.050	5.154	5.400	7.19
451.3	460	3.410	3.784	4.200	3.530	3.290	5.300	5.408	5.680	7.55
550.3	480	3.570	3.955	4.400	3.700	3.450	5.540	5.651	5.950	7.90
664.3	500	3.730	4.151	4.600	3.860	3.600	5.800	5.906	6.220	8.25
795.3	520	3.900	4.342	4.810	4.040	3.760	6.050	6.148	6.500	8.61
945.3	540	4.080	4.525	5.020	4.200	3.930	6.280	6.410	6.780	8.98

¹⁾ Vacuum in degree below 212^oF, psi gauge above 212^oF

T(^oC) = 5/9[T(^oF) - 32]
1 in (inch) = 25.4 mm
1 ft (foot) = 0.3048 m

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