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pressure at any point in the system (or to maintain a required NPSHr at the pump
suction in hot water system). And this can be determined as follows:
a) Find the low pressure point (LPP) in the system when the pump is on (will
usually be the highest point of the return line just after it drops down to the
pump).
Pmin,
b) Determine
the
minimum pressurization
required at the LPP. The
recommended value is 4
psig
for
temperatures
water
less
than
c) Calculate the frictional pressure drop Pf,CPPtank from the CPP to the tank
only in the case of the tank being downstream of the CPP.
d) Calculate the tank maximum gauge pressure as:
Pmax = Pma + Ps,CPPtank - Pf,CPPtank (exclude this term if the tank is
upstream of the CPP)
For elaboration, S0101-S0443 primary CHW system (in Mecca) is a clear example
for the closed expansion tanks selection:
The figure shows the primary CHW loop schematic diagram on which a pressure
analysis were made
LPP
Expansion Tank
CPP
4. The pre-charge (initial) pressure is calculated knowing the LPP in the system (the
point with the lowest pressure in the system) which is the point on the return just
after it drops down to the pump.
From the schematic diagram, the LPP is higher than the tank by 58.5 m (=5.73
bar). Assuming 4 psi (=0.28 bar) a the LPP and neglecting the frictional pressure
difference because the tank lies downstream of the LPP, then the tank pre-charge
pressure is calculated as
Pi = Pmin + Ps,LPPtank + Pf,tankLPP = 0.28 + 5.73 + 0 = 6.01 bar
Followed is the pressure distribution in the loop when the expansion tank
maintain an initial pressure of 6.01 bar while the pump is operating
The LPP pressure reaches 1.57 bar when the pump is on, and this value drops to
0.28 bar (4 psi) when the pump goes off. Here the effect of neglecting the
frictional difference is quite clear (if we include the friction loss, then the
operating pressure at the LPP will be 4 psi and when the pump goes off it drops
down to less than this value which may lead to air leakage or cavitations).
5. The maximum tank pressure is calculated after determining the CPP in the system
and its pressure rating. The loop pressure distribution versus the corresponding
pressure ratings pointed out the first point in the loop to be erupted if the pressure
is increased, and this had showed up to be point 4 in the pump discharge at the
lowest level. Here, the CPP pressure rating is the maximum pressure the piping
and fittings, at this point, can bear. They were rated PN16 in this project but they
can bear up to 17 bar, which means that maximum allowable pressure at the CPP
can be considered 17 bar. As the tank is downstream of the CPP, then we can
consider the frictional pressure difference (4.96 bar). In addition, as the CPP is
lower than the tank by 44.5 m, then the static pressure difference is -4.36 bar.
The tank maximum pressure can be then calculated as
Pmax = Pma + Ps,CPPtank - Pf,CPPtank = 17 4.36 4.96 = 7.68 bar
Then the pressure distribution would be,
6. Now, weve got all the data needed to select an expansion tank, and they are;
Volume of water (m3)
Maximum Temperature (oF)
Minimum Temperature (oF)
Initial pressure (bar)
Maximum pressure (bar)
6106
95
41
6.01
7.7
The design water volume is too large for one tank to obtain and due to height
limitations; the total volume was evenly loaded on 16 Expansion tanks each
bearing 100716 gallons. Using Wesselect electronic catalogue after entering the
above data, we obtained 16 unit of the following tank