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2.19. Water/Glycol Cooled Unit Piping
Water/Glycol-cooled units are factory-charged and tested. Field-supplied and field-installed
piping is required from the unit to building water or tower water sources or the fluid cooler (i.e.,
dry cooler) and pump package. Pipe size will depend on length of run and the maximum water
flow required.
The required field installed fluid cooler pipe sizes may or may not be the same as the connection
sizes on the fluid cooler (refer to the Fluid Cooler Operation, Installation and Maintenance
manual for connection sizing). This will depend on the length of pipe and the calculated pressure
drop of peripheral components.
Shutoff valves (field provided) should be installed within a few feet of the inlet and outlet
connections of the evaporator to allow the unit to be isolated for service. Drain/fill valves (field
provided) should be located at the lowest point on the connected piping.
Water/glycol cooled units are shipped with plate/fin heat exchangers as standard equipment. A
strainer (Data Aire provided) is shipped loose and is to be field installed in the supply line with
shut-off valves (field provided) before and after the strainer. The strainers and water/glycol
piping must be cleaned on a periodic basis. If the unit is shipped with optional shell and tube
condensers, strainers are not required and not shipped with the unit.
All water pipes have a cap installed on the end of the pipe prior to shipment from the factory for
pressure testing the system. to be removed before installing the piping to the units. Use a tube
cutter for smaller pipes and a reciprocating saw with a metal cutting blade for larger pipe sizes
or if there is a clearance problem. All connections need to be cleaned before connections are
brazed together.
NOTE:
One of the most common problems in a water/glycol system is
the presence of air in the condenser water loop. Air vents must be
installed in various locations the piping system to purge the air.
The water/glycol system may include a centrifugal pump (or pumps, for redundancy) available
from Data Aire as an option, along with field provided union(s), shutoff valves, check valve(s)
and a flow switch (Data Aire option). Pumps must be primed before operating per the pump
manufacture
r’s guide- lines.