Cooling Tower Pump Suction Piping

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Cooling tower pump suction piping.

Always try to elevate the tower high enough to have a positive pressure at the pump suction when the pump runs at full flow. The pipe velocity should not be greater than the pump suction velocity. Pump suction water will reach this level without pump energy. Some fairly catastrophic events can occur if either is improperly installed.

Problems on the suction side however can be the source. Correctly piping the suction and discharge of your cooling tower condenser water pump is critical. The following guidelines are a sample of some industry standards and good piping layout practices. Piping engineers must look at numerous factors when designing the pump s suction piping and discharge piping.

Piping condenser cooling tower losses and valves. It must also provide the energy head necessary to raise water from a low to a higher static head level. It must also provide the energy head necessary to raise water from a low to a higher static head level. Click here to request a copy of the xylem bell and gossett cooling tower piping technical bulletin teh 1209.

Properly engineered condenser chiller and cooling tower piping and controls will improve heat transfer and avoid problems such as air slugging and pumps losing prime. Tower manufacturers the hydraulic institute hi and bell and gossett all suggest lower velocity for pipe selection in cooling tower pump suction piping. Piping condenser cooling tower losses and. Most discussions concerning tower and or open piping.

Rotate or exercise condenser water pumps if there is a long horizontal run between pumps or a dead leg in the suction line. Pitch suction pipe up to cooling tower when possible and provide a means to vent excessive air. Typical open tower piping for the tower piping circuit the pump must overcome the piping flow friction loss. Open piping circuit for the tower piping circuit the pump must overcome the piping flow friction loss.

Next week we look continue to look at cooling tower pump suction velocity. Keep in mind that increasing the performance of the pump will help to make up for piping mistakes made on the discharge side of a pump. Bell and gossett has several pipe sizing suggestions in their manual teh 1209. Starting with the suction piping it is important to take precaution to avoid air pockets which can destroy a pump in pretty short order.

Suction piping is usually one or two line sizes larger than the pump nozzle. Multi cell cooling tower configurations that have 100 percent independent systems have limited redundancy.