Plumbing System in High Rise Building
Plumbing System in High Rise Building
Plumbing System in High Rise Building
Abstract
Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of
waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is
someone who installs or repairs piping systems, plumbing fixtures and equipment such as water heaters. The plumbing industry is
a basic and substantial part of every developed economy due to the need for clean water, and proper collection and transport of
wastes. The word "plumbing" comes from the Latin plumbum for lead, as pipes were once made from lead.Plumbing was extremely
rare until the growth of modern cities in the 19th centuries. During the same time public health authorities began pressing for better
waste disposal systems to be installed. Earlier, the waste disposal system merely consisted of collecting waste and dumping it on
ground or into a river.Supplying adequate water pressure at all levels of the building is critical for building occupants, although
economics, basic building functions, and overall heights have significant impact on methods of water supply distribution.
Numerous intermediate-height and even very tall high-rise buildings use various pumping schemes. One early method used
elevated storage tanks at the top of the building with fill pumps at the bottom of the building, a classic gravity down feed
arrangement. This method evolved into direct pumping systems using multiple pump packages with constant-speed, constant-
pressure controls. Both of these methods proved to be reliable and affordable through the years, and many such designs are still
active today or still are used in current design practices. Continuing improvements and development of variable-frequency electric
drives and an ever-increasing emphasis on reducing energy consumption and costs make the variable-speed, direct-pumped
package a modern workhorse of the industry. The critical need to provide adequate flow and pressure gives the high-rise plumbing
engineer ample opportunity to practice their craft. A thorough understanding of pumping basics is critical to start with, and one of
the most widely recognized sources is the Fluid Handling.
Keywords: NFPA, PVDF, HVAC
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I. INTRODUCTION
The re-emergence of our core cities as more active and vibrant communities brings pressure and Challenges to those who design
buildings and their systems. The density of buildings, traffic, the scarcity of land, and a competitive spirit among developers are
all factors that work together to push modern buildings higher.Sometimes, we envision high-rise buildings as towering sky-
scrapers. While this is not always incorrect vision, a high rise can be as short as eight to 10 floor levels. The National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) defines a high-rise building as a building with an occupied floor that is 75 feet above the level
where the fire fighting apparatus would stage fire fighting operations. That low threshold requires several specific features to be
designed into buildings to promote life safety and allow foremergency responders to safely and quickly access the higher levels of
the building, thereby saving lives and considerable invested resources. With that fairly simple definition, all high-rise design
challenges should be the same, right? Perhaps some additional discussion is warranted before we make that determination.
Drainage
Pressure control on the drainage side presents other challenges. True, water is essentially the same in either system; however,
drainage theory holds that considerable air travels downward with the water flow. This theory asserts that water flowing in a
vertical pipe tends to adhere to the pipes walls, acting very much like a sleeve of water with a hollow core of air, all sliding down
the pipes walls until it reaches a ratio of approximately 6/24 full of the pipe cross-sectional area . This watery sleeve travels at
almost 15 feet per second (fps), propelled by gravity but restricted by friction. When the piping remains vertical, the entrained air
is relatively simple to control, but when piping offsets from the vertical, the fluid flow velocity drops considerably, filling the
entire pipe diameter. Horizontal, sloped drainage piping should flow in the 48 fps range, so it is easy to see that a large slug of
water can quickly develop. This can lead to compressing air in the path of the fluid and/or lowering air pressure on the leaving side
of the fluid flow. The impact of these fluid and air fluctuations can be controlled by effective use of yoke vents, relief vents, and
vent connections at the bases of stacks. Here again, the solutions are largely not unique and have been used successfully on many
intermediate-height and even extremely tall high-rise buildings. (For those who are just beginning in this type of plumbing design,
a recommended reference is High-rise Plumbing Design, by Dr. Alfred Steele.)
A related concern is the impact of the hydraulic jump on the piping itself. The mass of water and the rapid change of velocity
from vertical to horizontal cause this jump. While the pressure associated with this jump is significant, it does not destroy the
fitting at the base of the stack. Rather, the movement of the pipe stresses the frictional forces that hold the joint to the pipe, leading
to eventual coupling failure. Good design must compensate for the strong thrust that occurs at this change of direction. Successful
methods include increasing the horizontal drain size and/or slope, using thrust blocks, or using restraining joints with threaded rod
or similar arrangements that mechanically anchor the fitting to the entering and leaving piping.
Venting
Once the water is raised and used, it is discharged to a drainage system that includes an attendant venting system, which is
responsible for the flow of air in the drainage piping network. Air is critical to the drainage process because drainage flow is caused
by sloping pipes, and the motive force is gravity. Absent air, the drainage would range from erratic to nonexistent. When the water
in a pipe flows to a lower area, air must be added to replace the water, or a negative pressure zone will occur. If this zone is near a
fixture, air will be drawn into the drainage system through the fixture trap with an easily identified gulping sound and very slow
drain performance. This condition leads to poor performance throughout the drainage system and trap seal loss due to siphoning
or blowout. The remedy for this condition is venting. At the individual fixture level, this consists of a fixture vent. As the number
of fixtures increases, venting needs do as well, and a venting system evolves, with branch, circuit, and loop vents at the appropriate
locations.
When dealing with high-rise drainage stacks, a vent stack should be attendant, allowing for pressure equalization and relief
along the height and breadth of the system. Aside from relieving pressure in the drainage system, the vent system allows air to
circulate in both directions in response to the fluctuating flow in the drainage system. In many high-rise vent designs, where stacks
need to offset horizontally on a given floor, a relief vent is required.
Although not often highlighted, the building venting system also serves to supplement the vent for the municipal sewer, relieving
noxious or even hazardous gases and allowing the sewer to drain without pressure limitation.
Vertical Piping
Plumbing engineers must consider the impact of plumbing systems on general construction practices. Most experienced engineers
and contractors agree that vertical piping systems are generally more effective than horizontal piping systems in multilevel projects.
Vertical piping uses fewer supports, hangers, and inserts and requires less horizontal space in ceiling plenums for sloping to achieve
drainage.
Altogether, vertical piping is a pretty good bargain; however, it is not without penalty. The penalty of vertical piping is multiple
penetrations through structural slabs. Each of these penetrations must be sealed or protected to prevent vertical migration of fire
and smoke (i.e., turning the tall building into a tall chimney). Not only is the sealing of penetrations an issue, but the sheer number
of penetrations also can be equally difficult. The location of these multiple penetrations is critical to the integrity of the structure
and the function of the fixtures even more than the aesthetics of the built environment. Tall buildings require more robust structures,
further limiting the allowable space for penetrations. Other structural practices, such as post-tensioned beams and slabs, which
serve to lighten the overall building structure, can limit even further the available locations for slab penetrations. One method that
sometimes helps with pipe size can be to place wet columns at various locations on the floor plate.
This sometimes reduces the main stack and supply riser sizes, can potentially minimize conflicts with the horizontal branch in
ceiling plenums, and certainly can help make the plumbing system more accessible for subsequent tenant connections. Successful
high-rise design requires the entire design team to take extra effort to read, understand, and interpret the impact of building systems
on one another, as well as be open to discuss, coordinate, and adjust each individual system to suit the needs of the building. A
well-executedhigh-rise design is an integrated and complex assembly, and each component should be treated as a part of that
integrated whole.
Fire Protection
One area that should not be overlooked in any high-rise design is the fire protection systems. As a minimum, all high-rise buildings
should have sprinkler systems on each floor and Stand pipe systems in each stairwell. These systems have proven themselves
throughout the years to significantly save both life and property. The specific type, coverage density, and outlet placement all vary
based on the building type, height, and location and local fire authorities. All high-rise buildings containing fire protection systems
have large, dedicated fire pumps to provide the flows and pressures required for the individual system.
penetrations. This is not only for the supply side, such as cold water distribution, but also for the circulating hot water piping.
Usually each water temperature must circulate independently, but occasionally multiple risers or multiple-temperature circulating
piping can be combined to return to the heater or mixing valve. Finally, there are the medical gases. Code requires distribution for
patient uses to be horizontal, on each floor, with zone valve boxes and area alarm panels. These distribution systems must be fed
from sources that are usually remote, thus requiring another set of supply risers.
Illustration
A particular new hospital has a number of additional plumbing design opportunities beyond those associated with high-rise
construction. First, this project is an infill project, constructed between two wings of an existing high-rise hospital, one of which
is also involved in a vertical expansion and facility upgrade to the ICU floors. A second interesting task was the relocation of
several active drainage systems serving the hospital and exiting through this projects site, which include primary and secondary
storm drainage, sanitary drainage, relocation of the grease waste drainage from a significant food preparation area, installation of
a new passive-type interceptor, relocation of acid-resistant drainage from a major laboratory function, and installation of a new
acid neutralization basin. The new interceptor and neutralization basin and outfalls are located in the private perimeter roadway
that surrounds the building.
Another area of coordination with the underground systems is the addition of a new branch from the central utilities on campus,
designed and installed as a separate contract by a separate engineering and contracting team. This included high-pressure steam
and condensate, chilled water supply and return, emergency power duct bank, primary high-voltage power supply, telephone, and
fibre optic. All of these modifications were required to be completed before the first-floor slab was poured.
Even after the underground adventures were covered, the building continued to present creative opportunities to the design team.
The slab spacings were determined to copy those in the existing hospital, which were very short intervals. This led to an approach
that is commonly used for hotel-type construction, using multiple vertical risers placed in the toilet chases to serve multiple floors.
Of course, this approach was required to be modified because of the irregular stacking of like fixture groups from floor to floor
and the relatively large floor plates (varying between 22,000 and 24,000 square feet per floor). Additional complexity was provided
by the modern HVAC requirements for medical facilities and the impact of ceiling plenums, high-density communication and data
systems, and high ceiling elevations for more spacious aesthetics on typical patient care floors. Interspersed throughout the building
are specialty areas, such as isolation rooms, patient preparation, patient step-down recovery, and ADA-accessible patient rooms.
he ultimate solution for the project was a combined system using large, centrally spaced main waste and main vent stacks that
allowed each smaller fixture riser to extend to the main stacks individually or as a building drain. The riser diagram that resulted
has a distinctive fan- or brush-shaped outline where all piping funnels together into the main stack. In the final configuration, this
building ended with three main soil, waste, and vent stacks, two main rainwater stacks, one main water supply riser, and one main
medical gas riser.
Description
As this discussion illustrates, modern high-rise design is often a series of design concepts that must be tested through analysis and
coordination and then adjusted during the coordination period to maximize flexibility and constructability. This exercise is critical
for all building trades but especially so for plumbing systems, for which piping must be accurately placed or accounted for in the
early construction phases, while the fixture mounting and finishing connections are made much later after the piping systems are
concealed. It also highlights the need for designers and engineers to be familiar with the work of their peers in other trades. This
allows for a certain amount of anticipation between trades, which should be beneficial to the overall project.
In summary, It has quickly reviewed the process of high-rise plumbing design, particularly focusing on pressure control and the
impact of piping systems on the general construction of the building. One can see that although many solutions are routine and
similar in application, each approach has trade-offs that must be identified, evaluated, and committed to on each unique project.
This understanding supports the notion that good engineering is thoughtful and proactive and that good engineers are open to frank
discussion and understanding pertaining to their own trade work, as well as that of other trades that are involved in the building.
VI. CONCLUSION
In design and construction, all high-rise buildings are significant undertakings for everyone involved. All buildings are unique in
form and specific design solutions. It takes a collaborative effort and a determined outlook to achieve success in high-rise design
and construction. Good high-rise plumbing design makes even the tallest of structures more comfortable and safer for all building
occupants, and good engineering and design practices and experiences turn the most daunting high rise design into a matter of
scale.
In the final analysis, I believe the answer to the question is yes. It is all the sameall high-rise buildings are such complex
organisms that they require close scrutiny and evaluation to maximize the projects potential for the owner and to create a design
that is robust enough to serve the needs of the building for years to come and still provide for affordable construction.
REFERENCE
[1] WSD(2000) Installation Notes of Different of Corrosion Resistance Pipe Materials as Inside Service in Buildings,WSD,Honkong.
[2] WSD(2001,[revised edition in 2006]Hand book for Plumbing Installation in Buildings,WSD,Hong Kong.
[3] WSD(2004)Hong Kong Waterworks Standard Requirements for Plumbinginstallation in Buildings,WSD Hong Kong.
[4] WSD(2005)Fresher Water Plumbing Maintenance Guide WSD.Hong Kong.