Calculating expansion volume in open, closed and diaphragm
expansion tanks An expansion tank is required in a heating, cooling or air condition system to avoid an unacceptable increase of the system pressure during heat-up.
Expansion tanks are in general designed as
open tanks closed compression tanks diaphragm tanks
The net expansion of water can be expressed as
Vnet = (v1 / v0) - 1 (1) Vnet = necessary expansion volume of water (gallon, liter) v0 = specific volume of water at initial (cold) temperature (ft3/lb, m3/kg) v1 = specific volume of water at operating (hot) temperature (ft3/lb, m3/kg)
Open Expansion Tanks
Required volume of open expansion tanks can be expressed as
Vet = k Vw [(v1 / v0) - 1] (1) Vet = required expansion tank volume (gallon, liter) k = safety factor (approximately 2 is common) Vw = water volume in the system (gallon, liter) v0 = specific volume of water at initial (cold) temperature (ft3/lb, m3/kg) v1 = specific volume of water at operating (hot) temperature (ft3/lb, m3/kg) An open expansion tank has the disadvantage of allowing air to enter the system via absorption in the water. In general it must be located in the top of the building where it also may be exposed to freezing.
Closed Compression Expansion Tanks
Closed compression tanks can be designed as
adjustable expansion tank - air is evacuated or injected by an
automatic valve to the tank to control the system pressure when the temperature and expansion of the water rise or falls pump-pressured cushion tank - water is evacuated or injected to compensate temperature rice or fall compression tank with a closed gas volume - the tank contains a specific volume of gas which is compressed when the temperature and system volume increase.
The required volume of closed expansion tanks can be expressed as
Vet = k Vw [ ( v1 / v0 ) - 1 ] / [ ( pa / p0 ) - ( pa / p1 ) ] (2) pa = atmospheric pressure - 14.7 (psia) p0 = system initial pressure - cold pressure (psia) p1 = system operating pressure - hot pressure (psia)
initial temperature 50oF
initial pressure 10 psig maximum operating pressure 30 psig
Diaphragm Expansion Tanks
The required tank volume of diaphragm expansion tank can be calculated as
The minimum volume of an open expansion tank for a system with 1000 gallons of water heated from 68oF to 176oF can be calculated as Vet = 2 (safety factor) 1000 (Gallons) [(0.01651 (ft3/lb) / 0.01605 (ft3/lb) ) - 1] = 57 (gallons)