emco Klima: Detailed verification of balanced air flows in the round pipe system

Lingen (Ems), 26.09.2016. emco Klima is the first manufacturer on the market to verify in detail how air flows are balanced in its round pipe system.

The company has developed design software to this end that defines the type and position of the fixed resistances that are needed to balance out the system. The software further establishes the specific output volume flows for each individual outlet and determines such additional technical data as pressure losses and sound power levels. The balanced round pipe system, including all the relevant data and quantities, is documented in a schematic which the Lingen-based company provides to customers free of charge. The documentation already allows customers to build on robust information about balanced air flows during a construction project’s planning stages and thus benefit from high levels of planning reliability and consequently create comfortable and healthy indoor climates. The defined air-regulating elements are already installed in the piping system’s corresponding components at the factory before delivery so that the round-pipe system may be installed in a time- and cost-saving manner. Subsequent fine-tuning is not necessary.

Round pipe systems are preferably used in visible areas to satisfy architectural requirements. Defined fixed resistances may also be employed when it is necessary to meet such demands and it is not desirable for aesthetic reasons to fit reducers or varying numbers of slits in pipe outlets to control pressures within pipe systems. The special design software uses the resistance coefficients from all components – for example branches, elbows and bends – as well as the actual flow velocities to first calculate the pressure conditions required for optimum balancing. The program then uses the results from these calculations to determine which type of fixed resistances – such as slotted or ring air-regulating elements – need to be positioned at which points in the piping system in order to ensure a balanced flow of air throughout the entire system. The fact that this process means that it is no longer necessary to employ mechanically adjustable air-regulating elements also has a positive effect on the acoustic properties of the respective air outlets.

A schematic of the balanced system of round pipes, including a detailed break down of quantities that includes a list of all the required components, is then drawn up on the basis of the results from the calculations. Fundamental technical data for the pipe system, aerodynamic data for individual pipe openings, with information about the defined fixed resistances, where necessary, and specific output volume flows for each outlet – as nominal and as actual expected volume flows that are also depicted as bar diagrams – round off the overview. The resulting system representation is then provided as a PDF document to the technical partners for planning the installation layouts at the site.

The schematic already provides robust data for balanced volume flows in the round pipe system during the planning phases. It is in this way that technical details are provided to the technical planners during the early stages of the project, which enable them to verify that the air quantities are output in a clearly defined manner at those points where they are needed and that they penetrate as far into the room as planned and calculated. The fact that they are able to draw on reliable information about, among other things, maintaining specific outflow velocities for demand-led heating or for preventing draughts during the process of cooling means that they are able to benefit from high levels of planning reliability and so deliver a maximum of thermal comfort. This verification further ensures that air is exchanged evenly throughout the room during the process of ventilation and that the minimum volume of air required for reasons of hygiene is exchanged. Where round pipe systems that extend across several rooms are concerned, the documentation thus provided will help determine the pressure conditions that are required over the system’s entire length and therefore also show the demand-led and efficient use of air quantities.