Actuators for Chilled Water Valve - These chilled water actuators control the flow rate for a chilled water system in a data center. There are various sequences of operations for chilled water systems and the sequence of operations is usually always different from one chiller plant to another chiller plant. (more…)
The dampers straight across are outside air dampers or make-up air coming from an energy recovery unit. According to the mechanical code, commercial buildings require a certain amount of fresh air from the outside to maintain good IAQ for the occupants.
An energy recovery unit allows it to be conditioned before being introduced into the building. Other methods include using enthalpy calculations to open economizer dampers and/or CO2 control of the dampers. (more…)
Economizer Systems and HVAC Control - Direct Digital Controls Systems in HVAC control have taken leaps and bounds in the last few years. Especially so in being user-friendly, ease of designing systems, troubleshooting system problems, and increasing efficiency over the older energy management systems. When discussing the increasing efficiency of systems the idea of economizing always comes up.
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Critical Facilities and Make-up Water. Data Centers a categorized by tier levels and everything in the data centers infrastructure is checked and classified so that any particular data center can achieve a certain tier level based on the infrastructure in the data center. (more…)
Air Management in Hydronic Piping Loops - This is a secondary chilled water pump in a large pump room designated for pumps and piping in a data center. After a few minor tweaks and corrections, these pumps all operated flawlessly. There were very few issues with the secondary pump start-ups.
Unlike the primary pumps where cavitation was encountered on the primary chilled water pumps and the condenser water pumps for the chiller. The diagnosis for the cavitation of the primary pumps and the condenser water pumps was that the loops were not properly purged. This caused those pumps to cavitate.
The secondary pumps, pictured here, did not have that problem. Kudos to the team that purged the loops on this side of the chilled water system.
That was an initial installation issue. It was also a lesson in priming the system to ensure all the air purged from the loop. After all, cavitation in the pumps can cause damage to the pumps. Even after the initial installation purge, it is important to ensure air does not build up in the water piping loop. To do this we need a few devices to help purge the air before it becomes a problem. This will prevent nuisance problems such as hydronic air block in branch circuits of the loop. It will also prevent any damage that may be caused by pump cavitation as a result of too much air in the system.
About Chilled Water Systems HVAC Hydronics - Chilled water systems are mainly used in large commercial HVAC air conditioning systems and industrial cooling applications although there are some residential and light commercial HVAC chilled water systems in use. Chilled water systems are popular because they use water as a refrigerant. Water is far less expensive than refrigerants. This makes them cost-effective, especially in commercial HVAC air conditioning applications. (more…)
Generators Serving Small Data Center | Critical Facilities - These generators serve a small data center giving the data center backup emergency power in the event of a loss of utility. Most data centers have redundant power from the utility and backup generators. In other words, the utility will provide two sources of utility power from two different power stations or sub-stations so if one source station loses power for whatever reason the system automatically transfers to the backup source of power or the other power or substation. (more…)
Chilled Water Pipe Vibration Isolators - Vibration isolators protect the chilled water piping from receiving vibrations transmitted through the piping when the chillers are running. The vibrations can create problems not only for the chilled water piping but also for the building’s structure. The vibration isolators reduce or eliminate the vibrations that can be transmitted by the chillers. (more…)
Hot Water Unit Heater Protecting Mechanical Room - Unit heaters are used in various places to protect equipment and provide comfort to occupants. This hot water unit heater provides protection for a mechanical room where there is a large air handler and other associated equipment in the mechanical room. This system is controlled by DDC. A thermostat on the wall detects the temperature of the mechanical room. (more…)
Enthalpy wheel in a heat recovery unit
Energy Recovery Wheels | HVAC Enthalpy & Heat - As the cost of energy rises engineers are looking for ways to improve and increase energy efficiency. Aside from HVAC equipment with higher energy efficiency rates, improving structures for less heat loss and heat gain, and building automation systems giving the equipment precision control for the
better efficiency of the equipment, there are other ways to increase energy efficiency inside buildings. One of the ways to increase energy efficiency inside buildings is to add energy recovery wheels to the economizer systems. A US Department of Energy study concluded energy recovery wheels can save over 15% of the energy used in commercial HVAC applications.
