FTS14 ball float steam trap for stainless steel steam duties
Overview
The Spirax Sarco FTS14 is an austenitic stainless steel ball float steam trap with an integral automatic air vent for steam pressures up to 14 bar. Ball float traps are valued because they discharge condensate continuously at steam temperature and also provide strong air venting performance during start-up and normal running. Source information for FTS14 also highlights a rotatable cover arrangement, allowing the same valve body to suit different flow directions and installation orientations. That behaviour is useful where rapid condensate removal and dependable gas clearance support stable heating, especially on sterilisers, autoclaves, process vessels and heat exchanger duties. FTS14 therefore offers a practical route for clean or corrosion-sensitive steam duties that still need the continuous drainage characteristic of a ball float trap.
When a ball float trap is the better fit
FTS14 is typically selected where the process benefits from continuous condensate discharge rather than a cyclic or near-saturation thermostatic drainage pattern. That can be useful on variable-load equipment and on steam services where rapid air removal during start-up shortens the path back to stable operating conditions.
It is also useful where installation flexibility matters. The rotatable cover arrangement makes the trap easier to adapt to real plant layouts without giving up the continuous drainage behaviour that ball float users are usually looking for.
Typical stainless steel steam duties
- Process vessels and jacketed equipment
- Sterilisers and autoclaves
- Heat exchangers with changing condensate loads
- Steam mains and branches that benefit from integral venting
Compare adjacent clean steam routes
- Compare with BTM7 thermostatic clean steam traps when low condensate hold-up and near-saturation discharge are the main priorities.
- Add dedicated AVM7 venting when gas removal needs to be handled separately from the trap station.
- Browse the wider clean steam range to connect trap choice with generation, separation and sanitary control hardware.