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Technical Bulletin

Fundamentals of Building Piping Systems

HVAC By Chuck Baumgarten
The most important factor in understanding how an HVAC system works, is to realize that "cold" does not exist. Cold is merely the absence of heat. Heat is either removed from or added to air in order to "condition" the space in a building. The primary functions of a buildings HVAC system are to: 1. Add or remove heat from the air in the building 2. Control humidity 3. Filter the air in the building 4. Bring fresh air into the building.

Cooling
There are two primary refrigeration methods used in air-conditioning. The first is DX or direct expansion. This is the type of air conditioning system used in residential and light commercial construction. It does not utilize piping and therefore it will not be discussed here. The other is chilled water which is the type of system we see in heavy commercial and institutional construction. The process of removing the heat from a building usually incorporates the use of a refrigerant, such as R-22 (Freon was outlawed in 1995). Due to the laws of physics all liquids absorb heat when vaporized and throw off heat when condensed or compressed. Refrigerants are simply chemicals that dramatically expand and contract when compressed or vaporized. This gives them the ability to carry relatively large amounts of heat into or out of a piece of equipment. In the case of a "chilled water system", which is where NIBCO sells a great number of its products, this process is aided by the use of a piping system, which uses cooled water to carry the heat out of a building (Dia.1). There are many different piping configurations in
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chilled water systems, but for illustration purposes traditional chilled and condenser water systems will be discussed.

The Chilled Water System Water is pumped in a "closed loop" system and is never mixed with the condenser water or exposed to the atmosphere. Heat is absorbed and passed off at three primary points in the chilled water system The first point at which heat is moved out of the building is at a fan coil unit. These units are located throughout the building inside the occupied spaces and work much like a car radiator, only in reverse. The difference is that the cars radiator dissipates heat from the cars engine, via water, and the fan coil absorbs heat into the water within it. Because the coils are cool, heat is absorbed when a fan forces warm air inside the building, over the coils in the fan coil unit. Although the amount of temperature change that occurs in the chilled water is relatively small (+10) this is still a very efficient way of cooling a building. The heated chilled water is then circulated back to the chiller which is the next point where the heat is transferred. The chiller has both chilled and condenser water running through it but the two are never mixed. The chiller uses a refrigerant to cool the chilled water and acts as a heat exchanger to move the heat into the condenser water.

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The Condenser Water System The heat, which is originally taken out of the occupied space to be cooled, is passed to the chilled water and is now in the condenser water. The condenser water system is usually an "open loop" system. This means that the water is exposed to the atmosphere at the cooling tower. It is at the cooling tower that the final transfer of the heat will occur. The heat is moved out of the condenser water into the atmosphere by the cooling tower.

The condenser water pumps push the heated condenser water out of the chiller to the cooling tower. A cooling tower is a large open structure which has two basic components; several large fans and some type of framework that the condenser water is allowed to fall or drain across. The framework is usually ceramic, fiberglass or plastic and is often built like a giant honeycomb. The water in the cooling tower is pumped to the top where it is allowed to fall through the framework. The fans, which are normally located at the top of the cooling tower force air up and through the framework. The heat is dissipated out of the condenser water into the atmosphere at this point, primarily through evaporation. Again, due to certain laws of physics, evaporation is a natural cooling process. When the condenser water comes into contact with the outside air, inside the cooling tower, evaporation occurs thus cooling the condenser water. This evaporation can be seen as mist coming out of the top of most cooling towers. Because some of the condenser water is continually being evaporated, there is a make-up water line which constantly adds fresh water to the system as it is required.

Heating Systems
The HVAC system must also be capable of adding heat to the occupied space in the building. A buildings heating system usually utilizes one of three primary types of heat sources; electricity, steam or hot water. Electrically generated heat is the simplest but least cost effective. It does not require piping and simply incorporates strips of metal to which electricity is applied much like an electric toaster. Air is then forced across the strips to heat the occupied space. Due to its high
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operating cost it is generally used in warmer climates were there are fewer days in the year that the building is heated. The Steam System In a steam system a boiler, which is usually fired by natural gas or fuel oil, is used to produce steam. When water is boiled it expands and therefore builds pressure within the boiler. This pressure is used to force the steam through the piping system to a heat exchanger. A heat exchanger works much like a chiller only in reverse. At that point the steam is allowed to give off its heat thus condensing back into a liquid. Inside the heat exchanger the heat from the steam is transferred into a hot water system and is carried to the occupied space. After the steam has given off its heat and allowed to condense back to a liquid state, a steam trap is used to collect the condensate.

Condensate pumps are then used to pump the condensed water back to the boiler to be processed again. The Hot Water System The hot water system is probably the simplest piping system of the HVAC processes. It too is a closed loop system. The source of heat is normally a heat exchanger as outlined above. The hot water is pumped to the spaces within the building which are to be heated. Again, the hot water passes through coils in the fan coil unit where its heat is given off the air in the building. The water is then piped back to the heat exchanger to start the process over again.
Warm Air Out To Atmosphere Cool Air Out To Building

Diagram 1
Fan Coil Unit

Cool Air In From Atmosphere

Cooling Tower

Warm Air In From Building

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For additional questions regarding this or any other technical issue involving NIBCO products, please contact : NIBCO Technical Services at 1-888-446-4226 02/11/05

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