A Deaerating Feed Tank (DFT), often found in steam plants that propel ships, is located after the main condensate pump and before the main feed booster pump.

From the theoretical Rankine cycle

Rankine cycle

The Rankine cycle is a cycle that converts heat into work. The heat is supplied externally to a closed loop, which usually uses water. This cycle generates about 90% of all electric power used throughout the world, including virtually all solar thermal, biomass, coal and nuclear power plants. It is...

 diagram, there are four main processes, or steps:

1 to 2 Water is raised from a low pressure to a high pressure (Pump work in) (feedwater pump)

2 to 3 Water is heated to boiling (Heat input) (steam generator

Steam generator

A steam generator is a device used to boil water to create steam. It may refer to:*Boiler , a closed vessel in which water is heated under pressure...

)

3 to 4 Steam

Steam

Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...

 is expanded in a turbine (Work out) (turbine

Turbine

A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...

)

4 to 1 Wet vapor

Vapor

A vapor or vapour is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical point....

 is condensed (condensing) (surface condenser)

In the practical implementation of a Rankine cycle, it is common to break the single pump (process 1 to 2) into three pumps: (in water flow order: condensate pump

Condensate pump

A condensate pump is a specific type of pump used to pump the condensate produced in an HVAC , refrigeration, condensing boiler furnace or steam system...

, feed booster pump and then feedwater pump). The DFT has three purposes:

1. Remove dissolved oxygen (“air”) from the condensate
2. Pre-heat the feedwater
3. Provide a storage/surge volume

Discussion

1. Dissolved oxygen is removed by injecting auxiliary exhaust steam into the upper portion of the tank (above the feed water level) at roughly the same location (elevation) that the condensate enters the tank. The two are put in close physical contact over a large surface area to maximize heat transfer. As the condensate is heated, the steam drives off any dissolved gasses. Since the steam is injected above the feed water level a steam blanket forms above the water to keep the non-condensable gasses from re-entering the feed water. There is a connection to the gland exhaust system on the upper portion of the DFT that withdraws the oxygen and other non-condensable gasses as they are driven from the condensate. Removing oxygen minimizes corrosion
   Corrosion
   Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...
   
    and improves the vacuum quality.
2. The steam
   Steam
   Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
   
   heats the water in the tank
3. The water in the tank serves as a surge volume within the steam plant.

A surge volume allows the plant to change bells (power output level) without running the feed pump dry or flooding the turbines. Consider the plant running in a steady state condition.

The bell is increased, more power output demanded, the rate of feed is increased. This draws more water from the condenser, perhaps to the point of being dry and starving the boiler resulting in a loss of propulsion. This is until the water, converted to steam, provides its energy to the turbine and then is condensed in the condenser.

The bell is decreased, less power output demanded, the rate of feed is decreased. Since less water is drawn from the condenser the condensate level rises, covering more condenser tubes, reducing the ability of the condenser to maintain vacuum and, if the level is allowed to go high enough, vacuum could be lost and/or water could impinge (and damage) the turbine blades as the turbine normally sits directly above the condenser.