Polynomial Representation of Steam Tables

THE mechanization of computation concerning steam plant design has been greatly frustrated by the difficulty of having to use steam tables. An experiment carried out using the University of Manchester Mark I digital computer a year ago showed that while it was quite possible to have the whole contents of the Keenan and Keyes table 1 stored within the machine, calculations of turbine condition lines and cycle efficiencies were slowed down considerably by the business of searching through the table for particular entries. A major advance in the mechanization of steam-cycle calculations has now been accomplished by the derivation at Risley of sets of polynomials which accurately represent the thermo-dynamic properties of steam.