District Cooling Best Practices

Piping Systems
International District Cooling Conference
J anuary 14-17, 2007
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Bryan Kleist
Agenda
Chiller Water Piping Materials
Pipe Insulation
Isolation Valves
Service Pipes
System Pressure Control
Variable Primary vs Primary/Secondary
Chilled Water Distribution
System Piping Materials
Best Practice Materials:
Welded Steel
Ductile Iron
HDPE
Steel Piping Characteristics
Toughness
High pressure rating
High velocity limit
Thrust blocks not required (nor anchor blocks in most
cases)
Pre-insulated steel piping system can last forever
when properly installed and operated
Pre-insulated steel piping is available with integrated
leak detection system
Pre-insulated Steel Piping
For insulated steel piping, a pre-insulated piping
system is recommended
Polyurethane insulation
Polyethylene or fiberglass jacket
Does not require cathodic protection
Double seal or air-tested field joint insulation
system recommended for leak-tight joints
Procure from vendor that certifies a fully bonded
system
Ductile Iron Piping Characteristics
In many areas, soil conditions are not considered
corrosive to ductile iron
Mortar lining is very corrosion resistant
Installed cost is usually lower than for welded steel
piping systems
High pressure ratings available
Velocity limitation with mortar lining
Thrust blocks required for unrestrained (push-on)
jointing system
HDPE Piping Characteristics
Effectively corrosion proof
Considerably tougher than other plastic piping
systems
Flexibility allows piping to route around obstacles
without requiring fittings in many cases
Properly executed butt fusion joint is as strong as the
HDPE pipe itself
Pressure ratings are limited, especially in larger sizes
Steel Piping
Good choice of material:
Value tough and leak-tight piping system
Insulation is required
Expect to be able to maintain clean water in chilled
water distribution system
Want to be able to operate at high velocities
Consider different material:
Speed of installation is a priority
Insulation is not required
Ductile Iron Piping
Good choice of material:
Soil conditions are not corrosive to cast iron
Insulation is not required
Do not expect to be able to maintain clean water in
chilled water distribution system
Minimizing first cost is a priority
Consider different material:
Pipe corridor available does not have adequate
room for thrust blocks
Want to be able to operate at high velocities
HDPE Piping
Good choice of material:
Lower pressure systems HDPE piping gets very
expensive at higher pressure ratings
Lots of small directional changes that can be
accommodated by natural flexibility of pipe
For smaller sizes, where HDPE is more cost effective
For water crossings (channel, river, etc)
Consider different material:
Want the flexibility to increase system design
pressure in future
For pipelines requiring a large number of fittings
In a region where labor costs are low
Pipe Materials for Seawater
Intake & Outfall Piping
HDPE
Ideally suited for submarine deployments
J oint fusion on shore and then pipe deployed by
controlled submergence with pipe weights
Pipe can be laid directly on sea floor
Toughness
GRP
More cost-effective than HDPE for large sized
terrestrial buried seawater pipes
Larger sizes available
Pipe Insulation
1) Estimate ground temperature at pipe
bury depth through the year
2) Prepare heat gain calculations to
determine if energy & capacity loss
economically justify insulation
3) Consider supply temperature rise against
customer supply temperature requirements
Example of Ground
Temperature Calculations
Estimated Average Ground Temperatures
(at depths by month)
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
J
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A
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M
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A
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O
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N
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Month of Year
T
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(
F
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Surface 2 Ft of Bury Depth
5 Ft of Bury Depth 10 Ft of Bury Depth
Example of Supply
Temperature Rise Calculations
Distribution System Supply Temperature Increase
For Example System at Part Load
0.00
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
1.25
1.50
1.75
2.00
2.25
2.50
0 1100 1600 1800 3900 4400 7000
Piping Distance from District Cooling Plant (ft)
S
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T
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I
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No Insulation
Insulation on all
pipes
Insulation on pipes
less than 18"
Pipes 18" and larger
Pipes less than 18"
Steel Pipe Insulation
Pre-insulated piping system offers best chance of
long-term leak-free service
Field-applied insulation has greater risk of leaks
Considerations re field-applied insulation
Groundwater
Insulation method
Contractor skill, quality, experience
Installation monitoring by owner
Isolation Valves Direct Buried
Direct buried valves eliminate valve
chambers and flanges a potential
leakage point
Weld-end ball valves best solution
for direct buried valves for most
sizes
Available pre-insulated only
standard pre-insulated field joint
kits are required
Downside must dig up street to
get to valve but should not be
required
Isolation Valves Direct Buried
Ball valves expensive in large sizes
Metal seated, weld-end butterfly
valves used in Europe for pipes
over 600mm (24)
Downsides to metal-seated
butterfly:
Shut-off is not as tight as for ball
valves
Risk of debris collection at seat
impeding shut-off
Isolation Valves Direct Buried
Mechanical actuation
via shaft to surface
above valve
Hydraulic actuation
system available
gets access to valve
actuator out of the
street
Direct Buried vs Valve Chambers
Regions of the world with cheaper labor costs
valve chambers with butterfly valve are more
cost-competitive
In Middle East, for example, valve chambers are
generally:
More cost-effective for shallow-buried
installations, especially for large pipe sizes
Less cost-effective for deeper-buried
installations, especially for smaller pipe sizes
Direct Buried vs Valve Chambers
Middle East Cost Comparison
Cost Comparison Between Direct Buried Ball Valves and
Valve Chambers with Butterfly Balves
For SHALLOW Pipe Bury Depth
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550
Valve size (DN)
C
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Direct buried, preinsulated, weld-end ball valves
Valve chamber with flanged butterfly valves
Direct Buried vs Valve Chambers
Middle East Cost Comparison
Cost Comparison Between Direct Buried Ball Valves and
Valve Chambers with Butterfly Balves
For DEEP Pipe Bury Depth
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950
Valve size (DN)
C
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Direct buried, preinsulated, weld-end ball valves
Valve chamber with flanged butterfly valves
Service Pipes
With high level of confidence in securing future
customer install service stubs when main
pipeline is installed
Moratorium on work in streets may require
installation of branch or service stubs so that
customer opportunities are not missed
Moratoriums common for greenfield developments
which are especially typical for systems in the
Middle East
Service Pipes Hot Tapping
Hot tapping of chilled water piping is possible
offers following benefits:
No interruption of service to existing customers
Eliminates costly and time-consuming draining of
the main pipe
Defers capital outlay until customer contract is
secured
Cost effective enough in small sizes to plan for
hot tapping even if customer connection is highly
probable.
Service Pipes Hot Tapping
For all-welded steel system, hot tapping with
branch welded to main is preferable to
mechanical clamp fitting.
Welded hot tap methods:
With weld-end ball valve
Sluice plate method
Sluice plate method
helpful when space is
limited
System Pressure Control
Open thermal storage tank as
accumulator good practice for
system pressure control
Optimal only if can be:
Constructed tall enough to meet
static pressure requirements
Constructed at a hydraulically
desirable location
Another benefit open storage tanks offer ability to
accommodate large system fillings while maintaining system
pressure requirements.
Variable Primary vs Primary/Secondary
Variable primary flow through chiller evaporators
Offer first cost and operating cost savings over
primary/secondary arrangement
Special considerations for large district cooling
plants:
Plants with a large number of chillers in parallel
operating cost savings, on percentage basis, will
not be as high as for typical building plants
Impact to available distribution system dP must be
considered against potential first cost savings
Thanks for your attention!
Bryan Kleist
Phone: 612-607-4551
Email: bkleist@fvbenergy.com