How to select a closed Expansion Tank for a CHW system?

The purpose of an expansion tank is to:

1. Accept changes in water volume due to changes in system temperatures.
2. Maintain sufficient gauge pressures in all parts of the system in order to:
a) Prevent air from leaking into the system.
b) Prevent boiling, including cavitations at system constrictions.
c) Maintain required net positive suction head NPSHr at pump suction
(applicable only in hot water systems).

Location of the tank in the system:

Ideally, the best location is at the point in the system that has the lowest gauge
pressure when the pump is on (near the highest point in the system). Actually, the
closed type tanks can be located at any point in the system that can be the most
convenient (in a mechanical room where space is available and the tank is readily
accessible for service typically at the pump suction).

To select the tank, five system parameters should be known:

1. The minimum temperature the system will see. This would be the design chilled
water temperature for cooling systems (the initial fill temperature for heating
system).
2. The maximum temperature the system will see. This would be the temperature the
system may rise to when it is off for cooling systems, which would probably be
the piping surrounding temperature, or the outdoor temperature (the design hot
water temperature for heating systems).
3. The total volume of water in the system, including all piping and vessels.
4. The pre-charge (initial) pressure Pi that must be equal to or larger than the
minimum pressure required to prevent boiling and to maintain a positive gauge

pressure at any point in the system (or to maintain a required NPSHr at the pump
suction in hot water system). And this can be determined as follows:
a) Find the low pressure point (LPP) in the system when the pump is on (will
usually be the highest point of the return line just after it drops down to the
pump).
Pmin,

b) Determine

the

minimum pressurization
required at the LPP. The
recommended value is 4
psig

for

temperatures

water
less

than

200oF (higher in higher

temperature water).
c) Calculate the static pressure rise Ps,LPPtank from the LPP to the point of
connection of the tank to the system.
d) Calculate the frictional pressure drop Pf,tankLPP from the connection
point to the LPP, only in the case of the tank being upstream of the LPP.
e) Calculate the tank initial or pre-charge gauge pressure as:
Pi = Pmin + Ps,LPPtank + Pf,tankLPP (exclude this term if the tank is
downstream of the LPP)
5. The maximum pressure Pmax is determined as follows:
a) Determine the critical pressure point CPP, which is the weakest link in the
system, and its maximum allowable pressure Pma (typically near to the
pump discharge). Put in table the pressure at each point in the system
versus the pressure ratings of the equipments or fittings at these points, the
weakest link is the first point at which the system pressure reaches the
point pressure rating (the first point at which the equipment or fittings will
erupt as increasing system pressure).
b) Calculate the static pressure difference, Ps,CPPtank, between the tank and
the CPP. This value is put negative if the CPP is below the tank.

c) Calculate the frictional pressure drop Pf,CPPtank from the CPP to the tank
only in the case of the tank being downstream of the CPP.
d) Calculate the tank maximum gauge pressure as:
Pmax = Pma + Ps,CPPtank - Pf,CPPtank (exclude this term if the tank is
upstream of the CPP)

For elaboration, S0101-S0443 primary CHW system (in Mecca) is a clear example
for the closed expansion tanks selection:
The figure shows the primary CHW loop schematic diagram on which a pressure
analysis were made
LPP

Expansion Tank

CPP

The system parameters are:

1. The minimum temperature would be the design CHW temperature, which is 41oF
in this project.
2. The maximum temperature is the system temperature when the pump is off under
the effect of the ambient and it was considered 95oF average (design outdoor
temperature in Mecca is 115oF).
3. The total volume of water for this system was calculated as 6106 m3.

4. The pre-charge (initial) pressure is calculated knowing the LPP in the system (the
point with the lowest pressure in the system) which is the point on the return just
after it drops down to the pump.
From the schematic diagram, the LPP is higher than the tank by 58.5 m (=5.73
bar). Assuming 4 psi (=0.28 bar) a the LPP and neglecting the frictional pressure
difference because the tank lies downstream of the LPP, then the tank pre-charge
pressure is calculated as
Pi = Pmin + Ps,LPPtank + Pf,tankLPP = 0.28 + 5.73 + 0 = 6.01 bar
Followed is the pressure distribution in the loop when the expansion tank
maintain an initial pressure of 6.01 bar while the pump is operating

The LPP pressure reaches 1.57 bar when the pump is on, and this value drops to
0.28 bar (4 psi) when the pump goes off. Here the effect of neglecting the
frictional difference is quite clear (if we include the friction loss, then the
operating pressure at the LPP will be 4 psi and when the pump goes off it drops
down to less than this value which may lead to air leakage or cavitations).
5. The maximum tank pressure is calculated after determining the CPP in the system
and its pressure rating. The loop pressure distribution versus the corresponding
pressure ratings pointed out the first point in the loop to be erupted if the pressure
is increased, and this had showed up to be point 4 in the pump discharge at the
lowest level. Here, the CPP pressure rating is the maximum pressure the piping
and fittings, at this point, can bear. They were rated PN16 in this project but they
can bear up to 17 bar, which means that maximum allowable pressure at the CPP
can be considered 17 bar. As the tank is downstream of the CPP, then we can
consider the frictional pressure difference (4.96 bar). In addition, as the CPP is
lower than the tank by 44.5 m, then the static pressure difference is -4.36 bar.
The tank maximum pressure can be then calculated as
Pmax = Pma + Ps,CPPtank - Pf,CPPtank = 17 4.36 4.96 = 7.68 bar
Then the pressure distribution would be,

6. Now, weve got all the data needed to select an expansion tank, and they are;
Volume of water (m3)
Maximum Temperature (oF)
Minimum Temperature (oF)
Initial pressure (bar)
Maximum pressure (bar)

6106
95
41
6.01
7.7

The design water volume is too large for one tank to obtain and due to height
limitations; the total volume was evenly loaded on 16 Expansion tanks each
bearing 100716 gallons. Using Wesselect electronic catalogue after entering the
above data, we obtained 16 unit of the following tank