Solutions
Valves and Actuators
Hydronic circuits are the core infrastructure of any HVAC installation. For efficient systems, the mechanical designs of these circuits should be correctly calculated and interconnected to produce a flexible network with the ability to respond and adapt to the surrounding requirements.
Smart age offers a wide range of High Quality 2-way and 3-way vales for mixing and diverting applications. These products are a great tool for us and all design engineers to realize the optimal network connections and controls.
The valves can simply be opened or closed as per the manual settings specified by the designer, or by automatic actuators that in turn take their command from PLC logic. Moreover, the sizes available can start from 1/2 inch diameter ending up with extremely large diameters as much as 10 inch!
Balancing Valves
If we analyze the overall energy-split graphs of most occupied sites, we can easily notice that the larger proportion of consumption is always related to HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning). Having an efficient HVAC system does not merely depend on installing efficient chillers and boilers. Balancing the Hydronic networks and circuits that connect these boilers or chillers to the occupied areas is the master parameter for having HVAC efficiency really put in practice.
Usually, these hydronic circuit loops are initially set to an average optimal pressure and flow level. The cold/hot fluid exit the chiller/boiler to the radiators/fan-coil units in occupied rooms. The actuators and room thermostats within the room open and close the heating & cooling units as per the user's requirements. This unpredictable and random opening and closing of the fan-coil units and radiators creates severe energy inefficiencies due to fluctuations in the set pressure and flow levels in the closed-loop circuits. Even if some HVAC systems embed traditional balancing valves for pressure and flow control, it is always a dilemma to control the flow without affecting the pressure. The maximum authority of valves in traditional systems is 50%.
To overcome this problem, Smart Age offers combined PIBCV Pressure Independent Balancing and flow Control Valves giving the designer 100% authority hence maximum efficiency. With these valves, exhaustive flow and pressure calculations are not needed anymore, since no matter when and how the flows are changed, the differential pressure among the valves remains constant.