🔍 Key Concepts

• Pressure drop and how it relates to flow rate through a heater or any piping system • What happens to friction losses when flow rate increases past the design point • Typical symptoms of overloading a feedwater heater vs. symptoms of other faults (like gas in the system or wrong steam conditions)

💭 Think About

• Think about how pressure behaves when a fluid moves faster through a fixed passage. Does the pressure loss from inlet to outlet usually go up or down? • Which of the listed symptoms would be a direct result of increased flow through the tubes, and which ones are more related to steam conditions or venting issues? • If the flow gets too high, what happens to the velocity and turbulence in the tubes, and how would that show up on pressure gauges at the inlet and outlet?

✅ Before You Answer

• Compare the choices and decide which one is a direct indicator of changed flow rate through the heater, not a secondary or unrelated effect • Mentally apply the idea: higher flow → higher velocity → what happens to frictional pressure loss between inlet and outlet? • Eliminate any options that mainly describe steam-side conditions or venting problems, rather than water-side flow indication