Chilled Water Balancing
Here at ECS, we provide Chilled Water Balancing as part of our complete turnkey of HVAC and Electrical services. Our HVAC engineers are CIBSE water commissioning trained and certified. They apply this training with the most modern digital water flow measurement tools, therefore delivering the latest efficient methods combined with the best equipment for the job out there. Not to mention, here at ECS we have over 30 years of expertise in the field.
Large commercial heating and chilled water circuit systems need regular maintenance. Water as a medium for heat transfer, will need monitoring and treating to stop leaks. Regular maintenance of your system also helps to prevent scale and blockages, as well as the spread of deadly bacteria. At ECS, our engineers have qualified and trained on the entire scope of system components involved in heating and chilled water balancing.
What does having a wider understanding of the full water system mean for YOU as a customer?
You no longer have to organise 2-3 different contractors trained in only certain areas of expertise on the system. As a result, this creates a single solution in providing remedial works and maintenance cover.
Our chilled water balancing engineers are Chiller Maintenance trained and qualified in FULL HVAC. This means ALL the alignment of mechanical plant, Chiller’s, AHU’s, Fan coils, pumps and pressurisation systems, need servicing/maintaining and balancing as one project.
Lower your heating and chilled water system running costs efficiently!
Ensuring water balancing, quality and flow in large commercial buildings will help to maintain the operational efficiency, therefore reduce your plant running costs. Heating and chilled water circuits provide heating and cooling to your main Air Handlers and local space Fan Coils. If the water circuit is not balanced, you will find hot and cold temperature spots start occurring within the building.
Inadequate water flow in these areas will create a continual call for heating and cooling from the main boilers, chillers and pumps, therefore identifying any water pressure and flow rate drop is critical to having an energy-efficient plant. A blocked strainer and scale build-up can be easily identified with pressure readers and our Poddymeter water flow measurement tools.
In commercial environments, heating and cooling are necessary for all year round occupation. The water flow pumps are therefore at the heart of the system. The design flow of these pumps will become impeded if the water flow becomes restricted. The flow of a heating and chilled water system goes through the many reg valves, strainers, heat exchangers and balancing valves. Over time, built up internal rusting and scale in untreated water will create restrictions of the water flow, therefore, resulting in strain on the pumps and reduced water flow within the system heat exchangers. This will affect all the heat exchanging components in the AHU’S (Air Handling Units), fan coils and radiators.
Fan Coil servicing
Fan coils need servicing as part of the chilled water balancing works to ensure design flow compliance. A fan coil contains a local control device called an actuator. An actuator provides localised heating and cooling control. The heating or cooling actuators will open or close the valve body to allow water flow. Although local temperature control may be available, the setting mode and limits will be dependant on an overall BMS system. The BMS controller can control fan coil fan speed, cooling or heating mode, and the operational temperature. To maintain stable room temperatures chilled water fan coils require regular maintenance. Ultimately this ensures all the connected mechanical and electrical devices are functioning correctly.
Chilled Water Balancing
Watch as our engineer demonstrates chilled water balancing using a digital flow rate meter. We filmed this video on a commercial site that was badly neglected through years of lack of maintenance. Whilst investigating the sites HVAC system we identified that the chilled water regs valves and primary pumps were obsolete. In addition, no design flow information was available for the system.
Firstly, we started by creating a new thermal model of the building to achieve the cooling and heating requirements. Secondly, we then digitalised the existing chilled water system in place and ran new design flow data. We based the new design flow data on the existing plant. This enabled us to compare the new thermal model information with the existing. As a result of our investigation, we were able to implement performance and energy efficiency remedial works to the system.