Feature of the Month

Modeling Pressure Independent Control Valves with PIPE-FLO

The use of Pressure Independent Control Valves (PICVs) has gained wide acceptance in many HVAC chilled and heating water applications. Quality PICVs with high turndown provide accurate control of flow rate regardless of the differential pressure fluctuations across the valve. This allows for high temperature differentials across the coil. Some manufacturers even guarantee design delta T performance or better. When used in conjunction with a variable flow control system and Variable Speed Drive technology, pressure independent control valves greatly reduce the energy consumed by HVAC chilled water systems, resulting in a lower operating cost.

 

The Pressure Independent Control Valve consists of a differential pressure regulator, a control valve with actuator, and a set of pressure taps allowing for connection to external pressure instrumentation. The purpose of the differential pressure regulator is to maintain a constant differential pressure across the control surface under all flow conditions. The differential pressure is typically set to 5 psid. By maintaining a constant low differential pressure across the flow control section, the valve can regulate the flow rate accurately regardless of differential pressure variations across the entire Pressure Independent Control Valve.

 

PIPE-FLO has a control valve component that can be set up as a pressure independent control valve. The remainder of this knowledge base article describes how to model a system using Pressure Independent Control Valves.

 

Read on to see how to Model a Pressure Independent Control Valve in PIPE-FLO.

Professional Development Opportunities

Special Winter Total Pump Training Class

Total Pump Training

Total Pump Training

Course Outline

What's Included

Worth 20 PDH

 

 

 

We have scheduled a special winter class for our Total Pump Training. The class will be held in Olympia, Washington in early February so reserve your seat soon since that is a little over a month away!

 

Other Fluid Fundamentals training and FLO-Master training is scheduled to begin again in March. We have posted spring training dates for the FLO-Master training and Piping System Training courses and hotel information will soon follow.

 

All of our training qualifies for Professional Development Hours or Continuing Educational Credits, and we will customize or combine classes for your company.

 

For more information on hosting an onsite training or customizing your own classes, call or email today at 1-800-786-8545 or training@fluidfundamentals.com.

TP410 Ships!

Hot Off the Press, TP-410 Officially Ships!

TP410 2009 Edition

Engineered Software, Inc. today announced the official release and shipment of the new 2009 edition of Crane's Technical Paper No. 410 (TP-410).

 

After much anticipation, and nearly 500 pre-orders, the technical guide developed and published by Crane will be distributed via www.flowoffluids.com (an Engineered Software, Inc. business) and starts shipping today.

"We know the anticipation for this release was great, and we really appreciate the patience of our pre-order customers, and are excited to get this endeavor out the door," said Michael Blondin, Chief Operating Officer at Engineered Software, Inc. "This updated edition has significant improvements and we thought free interactive calculators would be appropriate enhancements."


Pricing and Availability

Title: Crane Technical Paper No. 410: Flow of Fluids Through Valves, Fittings and Pipe.

Price: $60 U.S. Dollars

Preview PDF: http://tinyurl.com/tp410preview

Calculators: www.flowoffluids.com/calculators.aspx

 

Notes: Currently the 2009 Updated Edition is only available in U.S. Edition, Metric Edition to be released in the months to come. To order or check for Metric Edition availability, visit www.flowoffluids.com, call (360) 292-4070 or email sales@flowoffluids.com.

Your Questions Answered

Ask an Engineer

Q.  What are pressure independent control valves and how are they used?

 

 

 

A. The Pressure Independent Control Valve (PICV) technology was brought to market 18 years ago. This technology has now matured and is accepted as a proven application for optimizing hydronic system delta T, enhancing system performance and reducing energy cost. A high quality, industrial grade PICV offers precise hydronic flow control for heating and cooling applications. This article describes how PICVs operate resulting in improved system efficiency and control.

 

PICV Operation

In the early 1990's Flow Control Industries of Woodinville WA, (www.flowcontrol.com) patented their Delta P Valve, the first two-way PICV for use in the HVAC industry. Their unique design consists of precisely machined valve components coupled with a self-contained differential pressure regulator installed in the valve body, upstream of the actual control valve, which is also installed in the same valve body.

 

To read the full article about Pressure Independent Control Valves, visit our Knowledge Base article titled, "How Pressure Independent Control Valves Work."

 

If you have a general question about piping systems, pumps, or any theories related, send your question to solutions@eng-software.com with "Ask an Engineer" in the subject line.

ESI Around the Globe

Headed to AHR EXPO in Orlando
esiglobe

ESI attended the POWER-GEN 2009 trade show in Las Vegas, and would like to thank all of those who stopped by the booth.

 

In January we are headed to the AHR EXPO, hosted this year in Orlando, Florida. The show runs from January 26-28 and our booth number is 2072. If you will be attending the show and would like to set up a meeting with one of our representatives, please email marketing@eng-software.com .

 

ESI will be closed December 24 & 25 for the Christmas holiday in order to spend time with our families. We will be open again on the following Monday, December 28th. We will close again on January 1 for the New Year's holiday, and will open again the following Monday, January 4th. We wish you all a Happy New Year!

Sponsor Websites

eng-software.com

pump-flo.com/solutions

flowoffluids.com

fluidfundamentals.com

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