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Calculating Expansion Tank

An expansion tank is needed in heating, cooling, and air conditioning systems to prevent excessive pressure increases when the water is heated. There are three main types of expansion tanks: open tanks, closed compression tanks, and diaphragm tanks. The necessary expansion volume can be calculated based on the initial and operating water temperatures and volumes. Open tank volume is calculated using a safety factor and the change in specific water volume. Closed tank volume uses atmospheric and system pressure ratios. Diaphragm tank volume uses an acceptance factor instead of pressure ratios. An example calculates the minimum volume of an open tank for a 1000 gallon system heated from 68°F to 176°F as 57 gallons.

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Mohammad J Haddad
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259 views

Calculating Expansion Tank

An expansion tank is needed in heating, cooling, and air conditioning systems to prevent excessive pressure increases when the water is heated. There are three main types of expansion tanks: open tanks, closed compression tanks, and diaphragm tanks. The necessary expansion volume can be calculated based on the initial and operating water temperatures and volumes. Open tank volume is calculated using a safety factor and the change in specific water volume. Closed tank volume uses atmospheric and system pressure ratios. Diaphragm tank volume uses an acceptance factor instead of pressure ratios. An example calculates the minimum volume of an open tank for a 1000 gallon system heated from 68°F to 176°F as 57 gallons.

Uploaded by

Mohammad J Haddad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Calculating Expansion Tanks

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

Vet = k Vw [ ( v1 / v0 ) - 1 ] / [ 1 - ( p0 / p1 ) ] (3)

initial temperature 50oF


initial pressure 10 psig
maximum operating pressure 30 psig
safety factor aprox. 2
acceptance factor aprox. 0.5

Example - Volume Open Expansion Tank


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)

Eng. Nawwar Ahmad


Email:[email protected]

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