How Do I Choose the Right Steam Trap for My Application?

At Colton Industries, steam is what we live and breathe. Since 1988, our family-owned team and our partners at Steam Specialty have helped facilities across North America choose the right steam traps for safer, more efficient systems.

If you’re asking, “Which steam trap should I use here?”, you’re not alone. The good news: with a few key details, the answer gets much clearer.

The short answer

Choose a steam trap by matching your application (drip, process, tracing), operating pressure, condensate load, and pressure differential to the right trap type and size—then confirm materials, connections, and maintenance access.

That’s the same process our engineers and reps use every day.

Start with the application

Before you open a catalog, define where the trap will live in the system. Typical applications:

Drip / mainline
Removing condensate from drip legs and steam mains to prevent water hammer and corrosion.
Process equipment
Heat exchangers, jacketed kettles, unit heaters, coils—anything that transfers heat into a product or space.
Steam tracing
Keeping product lines and instruments warm in colder environments.
Utilities
Condensate removal on compressed air lines or other services.

Each of these calls for a slightly different approach. At Colton, we design and select traps with these use cases in mind.

Match trap type to the job

Here’s how we generally line up trap technologies with real-world applications:

Float & Thermostatic (F&T) steam traps
- Ideal for: Process heat exchangers and jackets
- Why we use them: Continuous condensate removal and excellent air venting make temperature control more stable.
Thermodynamic steam traps
- Ideal for: High-pressure drip and mainline service
- Why we use them: Compact, rugged, and well-suited to higher pressures and superheated steam.
Inverted bucket steam traps
- Ideal for: General industrial steam service where reliability is key
- Why we use them: Dirt-tolerant, robust, and dependable over long service intervals.
Thermostatic traps (bimetallic or balanced pressure)
- Ideal for: Steam tracing and light loads
- Why we use them: Can be set to discharge subcooled condensate and squeeze more BTUs out of the system.

If you’re ever torn between two options, your Colton or Steam Specialty rep can help you weigh the trade-offs.

Know your operating conditions

Proper selection and sizing start with a few numbers:

Steam pressure at the trap inlet
Back pressure on the condensate side
Maximum condensate load (start-up and running)
Available differential pressure (inlet minus outlet)

With those in hand, you can use Colton’s capacity charts to select a trap that will drain condensate under all conditions, not just on paper.

Size the trap correctly (not just by line size)

We see this mistake all the time: a trap is chosen purely because it “matches the pipe size.”

Instead, we recommend:

Find your operating pressure and differential pressure in the Colton trap data.
Identify the maximum condensate load (including start-up).
Apply a safety factor (often 1.5–3x, depending on the application).
Choose the trap size that handles that capacity comfortably.

An undersized trap will flood equipment and create water hammer. An oversized trap may cycle poorly and wear out faster. Proper sizing avoids both.

Confirm materials, connections, and maintenance access

Once you’ve chosen the type and size:

Body material: cast iron, carbon steel, stainless steel—match your pressure, temperature, and fluid.
Connections: threaded, flanged, socket weld, butt weld—match your piping standards and preferences.
Ratings: ensure the trap meets or exceeds your design pressure and temperature.
Maintenance: is there room for a strainer, blowdown valve, and safe access for testing?

At Colton, we design our steam traps to integrate cleanly into the system and to be serviceable for the long haul.

Common steam trap selection mistakes

We help customers troubleshoot these issues every week:

Using one “favorite” trap type for every application
Ignoring back pressure from lift or long return lines
Skipping upstream strainers and blowdown valves
Overlooking air venting needs on large heat exchangers

When in doubt, send us your operating data. Our team and our Steam Specialty partners are here to help.

A simple checklist you can use tomorrow

When you’re choosing a steam trap, make sure you can answer:

What is the application (drip, process, tracing)?
What are the inlet pressure, back pressure, and condensate load?
Which trap technology matches that application?
Is the trap sized from a capacity chart—not just by line size?
Are the materials, ratings, and connections appropriate for my system?

If you have those five pieces, you’re very close to the best answer—and we’re happy to confirm it.