DETERMINE TOTAL

DYNAMIC HEAD
In order to properly select a type of pump, the engineer must know which type is
most applicable to the situation. Sizing a pump depends on two criteria, (1) the
flow rate and the (2) total dynamic head. The flow rate is determined by the needs
of the HVAC and Refrigeration system. The pump may be a chilled water pump
serving several air handlers, so the flow rate (GPM) can be found by adding up
the design flow rates to the air handlers and any diversity required. The (2)
second criteria is the total dynamic head. Determining total head is a must-have
skill for the aspiring professional engineer.
Pump Selection:(1)GPM and (2)TDH [total dynamic head]
Total head or total dynamic head is the total equivalent height of water that a fluid
must be pumped against.
Head is a unit of pressure and has the units of feet of head, which is the total
pressure exerted by a certain amount of feet of a water column.

Total head can be broken up into the following components, (1) Static head or
Elevation Difference between the inlet and the outlet of a piping system (2)
Friction loss. In a closed system, both static (elevation) head and friction loss are
present. However, in a closed system there is no elevation difference, the
beginning and the end of the piping system are the same, therefore there is no
elevation difference. Refer to the following figures, which describe the different
pressure losses in a open and closed system.

The typical example of an open system in the HVAC and Refrigeration field is the
condenser water system serving a cooling tower. The pump moves the
condenser water from the cooling tower basin through piping, then the chiller and
back to the top of the cooling tower. The pump must provide a total dynamic head
to account for the (1) Static [Elevation] head and (2) the Friction Head through the
piping, chiller, fittings, other equipment and appurtenances.
(1) The static head is the difference between the inlet and the outlet. The elevation
difference between the inlet and the pump, on the suction side of the pump is
called the suction static head and the elevation difference between the outlet and
pump, on the discharge side is called the discharge static head. The difference
between discharge and suction static head is the static/elevation head that the

pump must pump against.

(2) Friction head. Friction head consists of pressure losses due to equipment like
chillers, cooling towers, filters, strainers, heat exchangers, air handlers, etc. The
amount of friction head from these pieces of equipment are provided by the
manufacturer and are typically provided in a table format with total friction head
or pressure loss for the equipment versus the flow rate. Friction head also
consists of pressure losses due to the piping and the various fittings like elbows,
tees, valves, etc. Calculating friction had due to piping will be discussed later in
this section.

The typical example of a closed system in the HVAC and Refrigeration field is the
chilled water system serving the air handlers and chillers. The pump moves
chilled water to and from the chiller and through the air handlers. The pump must
provide a total dynamic head to account for only the Friction Head through the
piping, chiller, fittings, other equipment and appurtenances. There is no
static/elevation head because the system is closed.
Friction Loss: Friction loss is found through the use of either the Darcy Weisbach
equation or the Hazen-Williams equation. The Darcy Weisbach equation is slightly
more involved and will be explained below, starting with the equation.h

During the exam, in order to quickly complete a friction loss question using the
Darcy Weisbach, the aspiring professional engineer must have the necessary
tools readily available to find the values necessary to complete the equation.
These include the following, 1) Inner Diameter tables of common pipe materials
and sizes, 2) Flow unit conversions, 3) Inner Area table of common pipe materials
and sizes, 4) Kinematic viscosity tables of common fluids at various temperatures
and 5) the Moody Diagram. 1) Inner Diameter Table of Common Pipe Materials
Collect inner diameter [ft] tables of schedule 40/80 steel [Pipe sizes to 30"], type
K, L, and M copper tubing [Pipe sizes to 6"] and schedule 40/80 PVC [Pipe sizes
to 30"]. Provide inner diameters in feet for ease in using the Darcy Weisbach
Equation.
2) GPM to FT^3/sec Conversion Factor
Multiply GPM by 1/448.83 to get (FT^3)/sec.
3) Inner Area Table of Common Pipe Materials
Collect inner area [ft^2] tables of schedule 40/80 steel [Pipe sizes to 30"], type K,
L, and M copper tubing [Pipe sizes to 6"] and schedule 40/80 PVC [Pipe sizes to
30"]. Provide inner areas in feet^2 for ease in finding the velocities through the
pipes.
4) Kinematic Viscosity Tables [used to get Reynolds number which leads to the
friction factor]

5) Pipe Roughness
Collect pipe roughness factors for common pipe materials, steel, PVC, copper,
etc.

6) Moody Diagram: The Moody diagram uses the Reynold's number and the
relative roughness factor to determine the friction factor. The relative roughness
factor is found by first finding the roughness value corresponding to the pipe
material. Then dividing the roughness factor by the inner diameter of the pipe.
Ensure that the roughness factor and the diameter are in the same units. The
Reynold's number is found by multiplying the velocity of the fluid through the
pipe by the diameter of the pipe and dividing by the kinematic viscosity of the
fluid. Once these two values are found (a) Relative Roughness and (b) Reynold's
Number, then the friction factor can be found by finding the intersection of the
vertical Reynold's number line shown in black and the Relative Roughness factor
curves shown in red.

Step 1: Find relative roughness factor, step 2: find intersection of reynold's

number and relative roughness factor. step 3: read corresponding friction factor.