Fundamentals to frontiers

Air in hydronic systems

By WILLIAM J . COAD

Problems resulting from air in hydronic systems have plagued de-

Law cann
will leave

excess of the
by Henry's
n solution; it
and return to

the partial pressure of the various

constituents of the air, the ratio between maximum solubility and the
solubility state of the wateriair solu-

is the
a term
nry's
comr dif-

condition. In a reservoir with a 60 F

temperature a t standard atmosphere, each cubic foot of water will
absorb approximately 0.02 cu ft of
air from the standard atmosphere
(this could be called a 2 percent so-

air binding of mains

vices, to water-logged

been known an
many years.

adjacent parts of the system with an

air-water interface at some point;
the air can be in the gaseous phase
and "mixed" with the water in the
form of small or large bubbles; and
the air can exist in solution. In the
last form (solution), there is a chemical limit as to how much air the

by volume at standard temperature

and pressure (STP) at various pressures on the abscissa and temperatures on the ordinate. The state
point given above for the reservoir
condition is shown as Point A.
Referring to Fig. 2, it can be seen
e is to decrease the temperature;
other is to increase the pressure.

soluble gas and a liquid. the

be described a s t h e ma
amount of gas that the wa

On this page each month,

sl7ure.s his engineering philosop
ing a
of topi
,fundarnenials io newj.konti
t~ building enl~irotitnentul~ ? . s t f . t ? i 1211.
~.
Goad
vice
of Chrrrles J . .'
,Mc.Clurr & Associare.r und r$filiare profesof mechanical engi,,eei.ir7K at Waahhgton Universitv, S t . Louis, W O .
HeatingIPipingiAir Conditioning. July 1980

stability is a function of the time

required for stability to be achieved.

from approximately 2
10 percent. Thus, if an
were available a t the
, each 100 gal of

at the interface
gas phase stability is reached. For a given mass of
water, the time is a complex function relating to Henry's constant,

C), ~ i h j ~would
h
still be 3 percent
above the initial condition in the
reservoir. If the temperature were
reduced to 50 F, the saturationpoint
53

would be approximately 1 1.5 percent (Point D), or 9.5 percent above

the initial reservoir condition.
In a closed hydronic system,
there are generally two areas of
interface between the water and air.
The known or design interface is the
expansion tank. Other interfaces
that could exist are those created by
large or small air bubbles throughout the system.
The typical situation is where the
initial water source is a municipal
reservoir in which the water is at 60
F, at atmospheric pressure, and at
equilibrium with the air (saturated).
The water is pressurized by mechanical means or fluid head t o
some pressure above 60 psig and is
then introduced into a chilled water
system where the "constant pressure" condition at the expansion
tank is 60 psig and 50 F. This process is shown by the line A-B-D in
Fig. 2. If there is an airlwater interface in the expansion tank, equilibrium in the system will eventually
be reached at Point D. Since there is
fluid communication between the
water in the expansion tank and that
54

in the rest of the system, and since

the expansion tank by design is the
known airlwater interface, the expansion tank establishes the known
solubility point of the system. The
additional air, the difference between 11.5 percent and the initial 2
percent, must come from the air
volume in the tank. For every 100
gal of water in the system. the tank
must provide 9.5 gal of air at STP, or
approximately 2 gal at the 60 psig
pressure.
This loss of air to the water was
not taken into consideration in the
expansion tank formulas presented
in our May 1980 column since the
dynamic nature of the mass transfer
is a complex function of system design. Some examples of system design and mass transfer between
water and air are:
In the initial air charge, approximately 21 percent of the air is oxygen and 79 percent is nitrogen. In its
absorbed state, however, approximately 35 percent is oxygen. In
most systems, this oxygen will
leave the water through a chemical
process and combine with the met-

als of the system ( e . g . , Fe,rO,),

creating a steady flow process between the oxygen in the tank and the
metal until all the oxygen has been
removed from the tank.
If the pressure at any point in
the system is lower than at the tank
connection, a process represented
by Line D-E in Fig. 2 reveals that
some of the dissolved gases will return to the gaseous phase. If this is a
high point in the system (which it
often-is) and the gas is purged, the
effect is to continue to transfer the
gas from the tank to the purge point
until the tank is water-logged (regardless of the size of the tank).
The concepts presented here can
be used in conjunction with Fig. 2
by the engineer to further his understanding of how to design air-free
hydronic systems. A future column
will discuss specific examples and
solutions.
SZ
Author's note: Much of the information
used to develop these materials is from previously unpublished w,ork o f Professor
Ferdinand Votru o f t h e University of Rhode
Island und Mr. Francesco Pornpei of Wayland, Mass.
HeatingIPipinglAir Conditioning, July 1980