CRANE BS&U supporting the

Building Services
Industry

Andy Lucas 1
Technical Development Manager CRANE BS&U
Crane Co founded in 1855 by Richard Teller Crane
who made the following resolution -

“I am resolved to conduct my business in

the strictest honesty and fairness; to avoid
all deception and trickery; to deal fairly with
both customers and competitors; to be
liberal and just towards employees; and to
put my whole mind upon the business”

Crane Limited founded in Ipswich in 1919

Crane Building Services & Utilities created 2009

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 Building Services

Water Utilities
Gas Utilities

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CRANE BS&U 2010 sales £110m

Gas Utilities Building Services

Water Utilities

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industry organisations
• CIBSE
• SoHPE
• BSRIA
• CSA

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VARIABLE FLOW SYSTEMS
incorporating
DPCVsD
d C P
ro v e
a p p
IB SE
C

Andy Lucas
6
Technical Development Manager CRANE BS&U
Title VARIABLE FLOW SYSTEMS

Objective To give an overview of Variable Flow

System design and commissioning using
Differential Pressure Control Valves

this applies to both heating and chilled water systems

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Drivers of Change

• driven by Government legislation

• energy conservation
• subsequent CO 2 emissions

The move from constant to variable flow design can give up to 80%
pump energy savings; about 6 - 8% total energy saving

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Constant volume flow systems

• fixed speed pumps – no energy saving for part load

• constant volume of water is pumped around the system
• 3 or 4 port control valve diverts water through by-pass
• commissioned by proportional balancing or by the use of
constant flow regulators – ABV (Automatic Balancing Valves)

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Constant flow

constant amount of water

pumped around a system
controlled by 3 or 4 port control
valves and would be
• through terminal

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Constant flow

constant amount of water

pumped around a system
controlled by 3 or 4 port control
valves and would be
• through terminal
• split between terminal and
by-pass

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Constant flow

constant amount of water

pumped around a system
controlled by 3 or 4 port control
valves and would be
• through terminal
• split between terminal and
by-pass
• diverted back if not required

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Variable volume flow systems

• variable speed pumps – energy saving for part load

• variable volume of water to match demand
• diversity factor
• 2 port control valve
• commissioned by combination of;
 proportional balancing
 DPCV – Differential Pressure Control Valves

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Variable flow

open

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Variable flow

open modulating between

open and closed

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Variable flow

open modulating between closed

open and closed

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 Pump energy saving
Maximum load
operating point

100% as system demand change, flow rate is

changed by varying speed of pump
Pressure P (KPa)

direct relationship between pump speed and

flow rate:
50% pump speed = 50% flow rate
50% flow rate = over 85% energy saving
minimum flow rate approx 20%
4%
20% 100%
Flow Rate Q (kg/s)

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DPCVs to protect 2 port control valves
to enable modulating 2 port control valves to operate with an acceptable
authority, a DPCV is installed to limit the pressure differential against
which the 2 port valves have to close. The installation of DPCVs on sub-
branches with 2 port control valves is therefore essential to achieve good
control, as well as to avoid noise or cavitation.

DPCV holds pressure constant between points A and B

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Installation of 2 port control valves
due to fluctuating system pressures created by the 2 port control valves
opening & closing, consideration needs to be given to valve authority.

valve authority is;

• is ability of the control valve to control flow
• is calculated by dividing the pressure drop across the 2 port at
design flow by the pressure drop at no flow
• should not be below 0.3
• higher authority gives better flow control

the installation of Differential Pressure Control Valves (DPCV)

protects the 2 ports from the fluctuating/rising pressures

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 Installation of 2 port control valves
example without DPCV

Δp across 2 port
valve authority ß =
Δp across circuit
20 kPa
ß= 80kPa
80 kPa
20kPa
ß = 0.25 always given
as a decimal

too low - unacceptable

at design flow rate

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 Installation of 2 port control valves
example with DPCV fitted
controlled by
DPCV
Δp across 2 port
valve authority ß =
Δp across circuit
20 kPa
ß= 80kPa 40kPa
40 kPa
20kPa
ß = 0.5

acceptable
at design flow rate

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 Installation of 2 port control valves
position of DPCV?

Δp across 2 port
valve authority ß =
Δp across circuit
20 kPa
ß=
25 kPa 80kPa
25kPa 20kPa
ß = 0.8

position can influence authority

on single terminal circuits – as closes as possible
to control valves gives higher authority at design flow rate

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 Installation of 2 port control valves
for good modulating control the control valve needs to achieve
equal percentage characteristic i.e. a characteristic that mirrors
the characteristic of the coil.

Coil

Percentage flow rate

characteristic

Valve
characteristic

Percentage open

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 Installation of 2 port control valves

% heat output
Coil output characteristic

equal percentage control valves will

only operate with near to an equal
percentage characteristic where output
increases
authority, β, is greater than 0.3

with β = 1 50% output

mirror image of coil characteristic

50% valve opening = 50% heat output 1
=
β
flow rate reduces to 20% 20% flow
% open

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 Installation of 2 port control valves

% heat output
Coil output characteristic

equal percentage control valves will

only operate with near to an equal
percentage characteristic where
authority, β, is greater than 0.3

with β = 1

5
0.
mirror image of coil characteristic

=
3

β
0.
= 1
authority is reduced as pressure drop β =
β
increases

% open

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 Installation of 2 port control valves

% heat output
Coil output characteristic

equal percentage control valves will

only operate with near to an equal
percentage characteristic where output
increases
authority, β, is greater than 0.3

with β = 1 50% output

mirror image of coil characteristic 3

0.
=
effect of reduction in β to 0.3 β

% open

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DPCV – operating principle
rising pressure closes DPCV

Upper chamber
Lower chamber
2 Port

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DPCV – operating principle

for any flow rate there is only one possible pressure drop between any
2 points
the DPCV identifies the 2 points by the connecting impulse tube
setting the DPCV to control Δp (pressure drop) between A & B at
100% DFR controls flow rate between these 2 points

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System layout – position of DPCV

Branches are broken down into sub-circuits,

each controlled by a DPCV

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System layout – position of DPCV

Branches are broken down into sub-circuits,

each controlled by a DPCV

Note: each circuit must only flow through a single DPCV

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 Commissioning features around DPCVs

a ‘Companion Valve’ (FODRV) should be

installed so that the DPCV can be adjusted until
the required design flow rate is achieved.

if required, pressure test points could be

installed so that the pressure controlled by
the DPCV can be measured and recorded.

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 Differential pressure sensors
to control pump speed, differential pressure sensor should be located across the
most remote DPCV controlled sub-branch with additional sensors on branches
that might become the index circuit under part load conditions.

test points to
check sensor by-pass with isolating valve
should be included to allow the
differential pressure to be
P checked and zeroed
sensor

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Differential pressure sensors
to control pump speed, the differential pressure sensor
sends signal to BMS which varies pump speed

P BMS

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Minimum flow

at maximum pump turndown, typically 10 - 20%,

consideration needs to be given to branches to ensure
 pump flow at minimum load
 circulation of water treatment
 ready supply of heating/chilled water

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Minimum flow
possible solution

end terminal could have a 3 or 4 port control valve

 on larger circuits additional 3 or 4 ports could be added

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Minimum flow
possible solution

a constant flow regulator (ABV) could be used

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Minimum flow
possible solution

a pressure relief valve could be installed

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Minimum flow
possible solution

a RADPCV (Reverse Acting DPCV) could be used

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 Commissioning Variable Flow Systems

because each sub-circuit is

separated by a DPCV from
fluctuating system pressure
& therefore holds a constant
pressure within the sub-
circuit, commissioning sub-
circuits can be carried out
totally independently

sub-circuits are independent of each other

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 Commissioning Variable Flow Systems

reference

commissioning within the

sub-circuits is carried out by
‘proportional balancing’ in
the conventional manner

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 Commissioning Variable Flow Systems

each sub-circuit is balanced

by measuring flow thro the
‘Companion Valve’ and
adjusting DPCV to regulate
flow

commissioning valve normally fully open

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 Commissioning Variable Flow Systems

for circuits nearer the pump

the regulating function of the
commissioning valve may
be used to reduce the
pressure drop across the
DPCV to bring it into a better
operating position, ie splits
residual pressure

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To summarise
• change in system design to variable flow controlled by 2 port
control valve resulting in pump energy saving
• fluctuation in system pressure undermines control valve
authority
• DPCV installed into sub-circuits to ‘protect’ control valves from
fluctuating pressure to maintain control valve authority
• provision for pump turndown, typically 10 – 20%
• terminal units commissioned by conventional proportional method
• branches commissioned by use of ‘Companion’ Valve & DPCV
• branches commissioned independently of each other
• pressure sensors used to set pump speed

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VARIABLE FLOW SYSTEMS
incorporating
DPCVs

Written by
Andy Lucas
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Technical Development Manager CRANE BS&U