Design and Application of Water Based

HVAC Systems Seminar

Primary – Secondary Pumping
Two-Pipe, Direct Return, Variable Flow System

Pump is selected for:

Sum of all terminal flow requirements
Highest head loss branch
Two Pipe Variable Flow Reverse Return System

Pump is selected for:

Sum of all terminal flow requirements
Highest head loss branch
Worst Case Situation

Very
high
head
loss

Pump is selected for:

Sum of all terminal flow requirements
Highest head loss branch
How can we separate a large
system into
“flow independent”
sub-systems?
Another problem:

If all the control valves close, flow

through the source becomes
too low.
Variable Flow System With Bypass

“A” “B”
Which is better?
“A” or “B”?
Classic Primary-Secondary System
 What Is Primary Secondary?

• Method of breaking systems into smaller more

manageable sub-systems

• Hydraulically isolates one system from the other

• Can also provide thermal isolation.

• Instead of one large pump, uses two smaller pumps

 Multiple Sources, Multiple Loads

Primary Secondary

Constant flow through the source, variable flow through the loads.
Easy to prevent flow through idle boilers/chillers.
Provides good information for staging decisions.
Loops are “hydraulically isolated”.
 The Fundamental Rule:

When two piping circuits are

interconnected, flow in one circuit
will not create flow in the other
if the pressure drop in the piping common
to both is eliminated.
 So What...?
• Primary secondary pumping re-organizes
a large system into a set of smaller,
simpler, independent sub-systems.
• Many applications where independence is
important:
– Multiple boiler systems
– Radiant panel systems
– Large chiller plants
 Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Tertiary

Primary

Secondary
 The Law Of The Tee

The flow rate (gpm) entering

a tee…
Must equal the flow rate
leaving the tee!
 Flow In = Flow Out

5 GPM

10 GPM 5 GPM
Conservation of Energy

Heat in = Heat out

 Primary Flow > Secondary Flow

What’s The
Temperature
Here?

5 GPM
5 GPM 200°F 180°F
____°F

200°F

10 10
GPM 5 GPM GPM
 Primary Flow < Secondary Flow
What’s The
Temperature
Here?

10 GPM
10 GPM ____°F 60°F
60°F

40°F

5 5
GPM 5 GPM GPM
 How do we control temperature
in a primary/secondary system?
Secondary
Stop/Start

Secondary

Primary
Constant primary
flow,
Variable secondary
flow

Secondary

Primary
Variable Flow
Primary &
Secondary

Secondary

Primary
Three-way valve in secondary

Secondary SupplyMain

Tertiary

Primary

Return Main
Three-way valve in tertiary

Secondary Supply Main

Tertiary

Return Main
Injection Pumping

Injection
Pump
 One Pipe Primary-Secondary System
Secondary

Common
Pipe
Primary
 One Pipe P/S System

• Convert a large, complicated system into several

smaller, independent systems.
• Primary system is like a series loop.
• Air management equipment in the primary only.
• Reduces balancing requirements.
• Easy to expand the system.
• Better in heating applications.
• Supply temperature to each secondary depends on
upstream conditions
 One Pipe Primary-Secondary System
• Determine the total load.
• Draw the primary piping plan.
• Calculate primary flow rate based upon total load and
design temperature difference. Insure that the last
load can be satisfied.
• Size the primary piping and calculate head loss.
• Select the primary pump.
• Select major equipment.
• Design secondary zones.
 Two Pipe Primaries
Secondary
Circuit

Direct Return
Secondary Crossover
Circuit Bridges

Reverse Return
 Two-Pipe Primary-Secondary Systems
Common Pipe
Secondary
Circuit

Secondary
Pump
Balance
Valve

Primary Direct Return

Pump Secondary Crossover
Circuit Bridges

Reverse Return
 Secondary
Supply
Secondary Secondary
Pump Return
Flo-Controls*

Crossover
Bridge

Service
Valve
Common Balance
Piping Valve
Primary
Supply

Primary
Return
*Required in small heating systems only
 Hydronic System Design
• Calculate heat loss/gain
• Select major components
• Layout the system piping
• Determine required water flow rate
• Size the pipe
• Identify the pump
• Select the compression tank and other
hydronic specialties.
Primary-Secondary Alternative

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3

B C D
A
G F E
H
Central Need four pumps instead of one
Heating Plant How can that save energy?
Typical P/S Piping Layout
Primary Circuit Design
• Determine total load.
• Layout piping
• Determine flow based on total load and
design temperature drop in the primary .
• Size the primary mains and bridges.
• Select the pump.
• Select the boiler and specialties.
Secondary Zones
• Determine zone load.
• Layout piping in the zone.
• Determine flow based on zone load and
zone design temperature drop.
• Size the pipe.
• Select the zone pump.
• Select specialties required in the zone.
No compression tank.
Primary-Secondary Alternative
1. The primary circuit will be designed for a deep
temperature drop, about 40ºF.

2. The secondary zones are already designed for a

20ºF temperature drop.

3. How can these independent pumping circuits

work together?
 Zone 1
300
_______MBH
___20__t
___30_GPM
__170__AWT 30 GPM
30 GPM
180F 160F

? GPM
160F
? GPM
190F
? GPM
Primary t = 30F 160F
Scale #1
Zone 1
300 MBH 180F 160F
30 GPM 160F 30 GPM
10 GPM

190F 160F
20 GPM 20 GPM

∆T=30
 Now you do it.
Three Zone, Central Plant
Project
Zone Heat Load AWT t ts h Flow
(MBH) (ºF) (ºF) (ft) (gpm)
1 300 170 20 180 12 30
2 350 160 20 170 16 35
3 350 150 20 160 16 35
Total 1000 100
Primary supply temperature for all zones is 190F
Key is to determine ∆T across the cross over bridge
Zone 2
350 MBH 170F 150F
35 GPM 150F 35 GPM
17.5 GPM

190F 150F
17.5 GPM 17.5
GPM

∆T=40
Zone 3
350 MBH 160F 140F
35 GPM 140F 35 GPM
21 GPM

190F 140F
14 GPM 14 GPM

∆T=50
Primary-Secondary Alternative
Primary pump
Flow required: Z1 20 gpm
Z2 17.5 gpm
Z3 14 gpm
Total 51.5 gpm
Head required
Central plant 9’ 2.25’
Distribution piping 9’ 2.25’
Zone head loss 16’
Bridge head loss 2.00’
Total 34’ 6.5’
Primary pump, 51.5 GPM @ 6.5’
Secondary pumps
1-30 GPM @ 12’
2-35 GPM @ 16’
 Comparison
• Direct pumped alternative
– One Series 1510 2BC 1 1/2hp, 1150 rpm
– Uses 1.29 hp
• Primary-Secondary alternative
– One LD3 Booster, 1/4 hp NOL
– Three Series 60, 1 1/2 AA
– Total horsepower = 0.98 hp*
• Savings of >23% in energy costs.
• All in-line pumps, lower installation costs.
• Each zone gets it’s design supply temperature.
 Common Pipe Design
for high t primary
Primary flow = 10 gpm
Secondary flow = 40 gpm
Maybe it’s not so unusual after all!

Heat
Exchanger
 Actual Primary t
Heat transferred = 500 x t x Flow

t = Heat transferred
500 x Flow

t = 1,000,000
500 x 51.5

t = 38.8ºF

Ts =190ºF
Tr=151.2ºF
 Is that a problem for the
boiler?
• Low return temperatures (<140F) can
cause condensation of flue gas and
rapid deterioration of the boiler.
• Low flow can cause certain boilers to
shut down.
• Large delta tee across some boilers can
cause shut down.
Boiler Bypass

Primary circuit

Primary pump
Compression tank

Bypass Pump:
•Increases boiler flow
•Increases return temperature
•Decreases boiler delta tee
•Can it protect the boiler from
flue gas condensation?
Boiler Bypass
Primary circuit

Primary pump
Compression tank

V/S Bypass Pump:

•Increases boiler flow
•Increases return temperature
•Decreases boiler delta tee
•As the load and temperatures change
 Condensing Boilers
On the other hand:
• In order to achieve the high efficiency
they can provide, you must have low
return temperatures.
• Primary-secondary pumping is the way
to achieve it.
Power
Plant

Primary-Secondary Systems Can be Easily Expanded

Power
Plant

Primary-Secondary Systems Can be Easily Expanded

Primary-secondary pumping can:

Insure that every zone gets its share of the

flow.
Reduce the pump horsepower.
Simplify complicated systems and retrofits.
Make it easy to use multiple boilers.
Multiple boilers
Match the number of boilers to the load.
Improve economy.
Allow for having a boiler out of service
for repair.
Use primary-secondary pumping to avoid
heat loss through the idle boiler.
System Common
Pump Pipe
Variety of Systems

Heat
Exchanger
 Chilled Water System

Secondary
Constant Speed
Pumps
Supply
Chiller 3

Chiller 2

Chiller 1

Pump
Controller

Common
Return
 Comments?
Questions?
Observations?