Chapter 6 Pipe Network

6.0 Pipe Network

Air conditioning implies piping system to circulate fluids in all rooms that require cooling.
Before a pipe network is established within the building structure some important factors to be
considered are as follows:

Properties of the fluid being carried

Temperature of the fluid
Pressure of the fluid
Exposure of the piping to corrosion and oxidation
Cost and availability of the material used for the pipe.

The most widely used piping in the context of air conditioning are copper mild steel and uPVC.
Copper was chosen due to availability and resistance to corrosion and oxidation.
6.1 Pipe installation
After selection of the proper cooling system and having calculated the cooling capacity of each
room requiring cooling the next step is to design the pipe network and pipe sizes. The pipework
drawing is illustrated on scale drawing number xx of Fort-George building.
The piping installation should be carried out according to certain considerations which are as
follows:

The piping should generally be parallel to the building walls

The direction changes should be minimized in order to reduce the number of fittings.
The installation should provide simple access to and maintenance to the equipment
The piping should avoid penetrations to the beams and other structural elements of the

building
The piping location should not affect the building location.

The procedure for the installation of the piping is as follows

A sketch of the piping layout showing the pipe routing from the chiller to the individual fan coil
unit is shown in Appendix 1

The flow rate in each section of the pipe is found by adding by adding the flow rate of each
terminal to the main from the pump.
P=Q .CP . Dt equation 6.1
Where P is the power of the fan coil unit
Q is the flow rate of the chilled water
Cp is Specific heat capacity at constant pressure.
Dt Difference of water entering and leaving the terminal unit.
Calculations are tabulated in Appendix 2

A velocity is chosen is chosen between 1 m/s to 3m/s. For the purpose of this calculation a mean
velocity of 2 m/s is used.
The next step is used to find the pipe dimension by using the continuity equation

Q = AV equation 6.2
Where Q is the flow rate of the chilled water
A is the cross sectional area of the piping
V is the Velocity of the chilled water

From the cross sectional area of the pipe the diameter of the pipe is calculated as per following
equation.
D =( 4 .A/ )0.5 equation 6.3
Where D is the diameter of the pipe
A is the cross sectional area of the piping

The value of the diameter cannot be used thus a values nearest to the available pipe diameter in
the market should be used.(See Appendix 3 for closest diameter of piping available)

The next step is to calculate the friction factor.

For calculation of friction factor the Reynolds number and the relative roughness of the pipe.
The Reynolds number can be calculated as follows.
Re= VD / equation 6.4
Where is the density of water at 50c
V Velocity of the chilled water
D is the diameter of the pipe
is the dynamic viscosity of the water at 5 oc
and the relative roughness of the pipe =/D
Where is the relative roughness of the pipe
D is the internal diameter of the pipe

The friction factor (f) is obtained from moody chart

(http://www.advdelphisys.com/michael_maley/Moody_chart/)

The pressure loss from the piping is calculated using the equation below.
hp = f L V2/ (2gD) equation 6.5
Where hp is the head loss due to piping.
f is the friction factor
L Equivalent Length of the pipe
V is the velocity of the pipe
g is the acceleration of free fall due to gravity.
D is the internal pipe diameter.
The pressure drop caused by the fittings (elbows, tees, valves) is calculated by the equation
below.Common values of k factor are tabulated in Appendix 6
hf = k(V2/ 2g )
Where hf is the head loss due to the fittings
k is the constant of proportionality
V is the velocity of the pipe
g is the acceleration of free fall due to gravity.
Common k factors for valves and fittings are as follows. The pressure drop due to the fan units is
also added and is available in manufacturers manual.
The pressure loss due to piping is 21.90 m for a total flow rate of 15.4 L/s.(Calculation are
tabulated in Appendix 7). A suitable pump is chosen as per above flow rate and head.

Appendix 1 Sketch of Piping layout from chiller to fan coil unit

Appendix 2: Power calculations for fan coil unit.

Room

Power of fan

Available size

Specific heat

DT /OC

Q l/s

number

coil unit

in market

capacity of Water

8.9

Cp(KJ/Kg.k)
4.182

8.9

0.239120038

7.71

4.182

8.9

0.207147808

3.5

3.48

4.182

8.9

0.093498622

2.79

4.182

8.9

0.074960102

1.5

2.79

4.182

8.9

0.074960102

11

10.95

4.182

8.9

0.294198249

3.5

3.48

4.182

8.9

0.093498622

11

10.95

4.182

8.9

0.294198249

11

10.95

4.182

8.9

0.294198249

10

3.8

4.182

8.9

0.102096196

11

11

10.95

4.182

8.9

0.294198249

12

6.68

4.182

8.9

0.179474366

13

3.48

4.182

8.9

0.093498622

14

3.48

4.182

8.9

0.093498622

15

3.48

4.182

8.9

0.093498622

Appendix 3 Pipe sizing calculation

Room
number
1

Q m3/s
0.00023912

Added Flow
rate
0.000333

Mean values
velocity/m/s
2

A/m2
0.000166309

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

0.000207148
9.34986E-05
7.49601E-05
7.49601E-05
0.000294198
9.34986E-05
0.000294198
0.000294198
0.000102096
0.000294198
0.000179474
9.34986E-05
9.34986E-05
9.34986E-05

0.000207
0.000093
0.000408
0.000483
0.000777
0.000870
0.001164
0.001459
0.000469
0.001753
0.000366
0.000187
0.000301
0.000562

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

0.000103574
4.67493E-05
0.000203789
0.000241269
0.000388369
0.000435118
0.000582217
0.000729316
0.000234284
0.000876415
0.000183236
9.34986E-05
0.000150323
0.000281033

Appendix 3 Pipe Size Calculation(Continued)

Room number
1

D
0.000211752

D/m
0.014551688

D/mm
14.55169

Available Pipe
size in Market
16.56

0.000131874

0.011483658

11.48366

5.95231E-05

0.00771512

7.71512

0.000259473

0.016108156

16.10816

0.000307194

0.017526944

17.52694

0.000494486

0.022237046

22.23705

0.000554009

0.023537402

23.5374

0.000741302

0.027226856

27.22686

0.000928594

0.030472842

30.47284

10

0.0002983

0.01727135

17.27135

11

0.001115887

0.033404888

33.40489

12

0.000233303

0.015274262

15.27426

13

0.000119046

0.010910827

10.91083

14

0.000191397

0.013834647

13.83465

15

0.000357823

0.018916199

18.9162

13.39
7.55
18.92
18.92
25.27
25.27
31.62
31.62
18.92
37.62
16.56
13.39
16.56
18.92

Appendix 4: Dimensions of copper tube

Outer Diameter/mm
9.53
12.70
15.88

Inner Diameter/mm
7.55
10.21
13.39

Thickness/mm
1.78
2.49
2.49

19.05
22.23
28.58
34.93
41.28
53.98
66.98
79.38
92.08
104.80
130.20
155.60
206.40
257.20
308.00

16.56
18.92
25.27
31.62
37.62
49.76
66.85
73.84
85.98
97.97
122.10
145.80
192.60
240.0
287.40

2.49
3.31
3.31
3.31
3.66
4.22
4.83
5.54
6.10
6.83
8.10
9.80
13.8
17.2
20.6

Appendix 5 .Calculation of friction factor

Node
1
2
3
4
5

Q m3/s
0.000430
416
0.000334
768
0.000167
384
9.5648E05
7.1736E05

V/ m/s
1.9983
79
1.5542
95
2.0444
32
2.0276
02
1.5207
01

D available
copper Type A
18.92
16.56
10.21
25.27
25.27

Rey
number
24387.5102
6
16602.0682
9
13463.7733
1
33048.8476
4
24786.6357
3

Roughn friction
ess
factor
7.9281E05
0.025
9.058E05
0.027
0.00014
691
0.0289
5.9359E05
0.0231
5.9359E05
0.025

6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

0.000526
064
0.000167
384
0.000526
064
0.000526
064
0.000191
296
0.000526
064
0.000286
944
0.000143
472
0.000143
472
0.000143
472

1.8711
41
2.0444
32
1.8711
41
1.8711
41
1.3584
85
1.8711
41
2.0377
28
1.7523
7
1.7523
7
1.7523
7

31.62
31.62
37.62
49.76
25.27
49.76
25.27
13.39
18.92
25.27

Appendix 6 : K factors of common valves and fittings

38162.4962
9
41696.8180
2
45403.9566
8
60055.8448
8
22142.5976
60055.8448
8
33213.8964
15134.7355
2
21385.3021
7
28562.7159
5

4.7438E05
4.7438E05
3.9872E05
3.0145E05
5.9359E05
3.0145E05
5.9359E05
0.00011
202
7.9281E05
5.9359E05

0.022
0.021
0.021
0.02
0.025
0.021
0.0231
0.027
0.025
0.023

Valve or fitting

K factor

Globe valve : wide open

10.0

Globe valve:1/2 open

12.5

Gate valve : wide open

0.19

Gate valve : 3/4 open

0.90

Gate valve :1/2 open

4.5

Gate valve : 1/4 open

24.0

Return bend

2.2

Standard Tee

1.8

Standard elbow

0.9

45o elbow

0.42

90 o elbow

0.75

Ball check valve

4.0

Appendix 7 Calculation of Equivalent Length of Pipe

Node
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Length of
Pipe
16.7
4.1
9.5
0.3
4.3
4.3
4.3
4.3
4.3
4.3
5
4.3
4.3
4.3
14.4

Head loss Tees

0.22
0.22
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.04
0.00
0.02
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.03
0.10
0.02
0.01

Tees
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1

Head loss Elbow

0.00043
0.00033
0.00017
0.00010
0.00007
0.00053
0.00017
0.00053
0.00053
0.00019
0.00053
0.00029
0.00014
0.00014
0.00014

Elbow
1
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
2

Head loss
valve
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.15
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.17

Valve
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1

Head loss
FCU
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03

Fan coil
unit
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Equivalent Length
17.04
4.35
9.85
0.33
4.33
4.37
4.34
4.35
4.34
4.34
5.20
4.36
4.43
4.35
14.61