Overview
The circulation of hot water or chilled water to provide heat or to cool spaces is known as a “Hydronic” system. It is a closed system where cold or hot water/steam runs through a heat exchanger and air is then blown over the heat exchanger to achieve the desired room conditions. Traditionally, HVAC systems are designed as All-Air Systems, which means that air is cooled at one location and is than distributed to the required space through ducts. All-Air Systems achieve the task of cooling a building by convection only.
Hydronic systems provide an alternative to cool/heat through a combination of radiation and convection inside the building. Hydronic heating has three advantages over other types of heating systems. These advantages are comfort, efficiency, and versatile installation. With hydronics, you can move 40,000 Btu’s through a 3/4" copper pipe through walls and between floors - or anywhere you need the heat - quietly and efficiently. A forced air system requires a lot of duct space, about an 8" by 14" duct, to move that much air with that many Btu’s into a room.
It is important to design and lay out the hydronic system components professionally, so that the system operates economically, with minimum energy and with proper distribution. If the system is out of balance, more heat must be added or removed depending on heating or cooling, which will lower the efficiency of the system and generate additional costs.
This 4-hr course covers the basics of hydronic system operation. It will familiarize the reader with piping system layout and operation, as well as provide an awareness of common circuiting arrangements. Topics that are discussed include auxiliary hydronic system components such as pumps, expansion tanks, terminal units, distribution piping and fittings.
This course material is based entirely on US Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (USACERL) technical report 99/20, May 1999, Appendix E - Hydronic Systems
The student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of twenty (20) questions at the end of this course to obtain PDH credits.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Understand the basics of hydronic systems in heating and cooling applications
- Understand the components of hydronic systems such as air separators, air vents, circulators, relief valves, expansion tanks, flow control devices, miscellaneous valves and fittings
- Learn about the various piping circuits, including one pipe, two pipe, three pipe and four pipe systems for various applications
- Understand the difference between once through, recirculation, open and closed systems
- Understand water system piping classification for main and branch feeders
- Understand different types of heating and cooling terminal units such as unitary equipment, air handling units, baseboard heaters, convectors and radiators
- Understand pump cavitation and pump installation considerations; parallel or series arrangement
- Learn different types of hydronic pumps including circulators, closed coupled centrifugal pumps and horizontal split casing pumps
- Learn basic hydronic system testing, adjusting and balancing (TAB) procedures
Course
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