What Is Meant By A “Bank” Of Chilled Water Coils

For those that work with HVAC installations on a regular basis, you have run across the problem of needing to install new chilled water coils in very tight, confined areas. The coil is too big to fit in the elevator, and/or the HVAC room is so small that you are likely to damage the coil simply by moving it. As a solution to this challenge, chilled water coils are often installed in “banks” of coils. You are most likely to see this configuration in Air Handler Units, as well as “built-up” systems. Due to face velocity limitations across the coil, you will need larger coils in order to meet your required face area. With this in mind, there are a few specific reasons why you want to avoid having a single, large coil in one of your units. Starting with the obvious: larger coils are much more difficult to transfer and install. This is especially true for older buildings, where the rooms were essentially built around the HVAC system.

As you’ve probably experienced, some of these areas can barely fit a single person, so installation – if even possible – is a logistical nightmare. Also, the larger the coil, the easier it is to damage during transport to the jobsite. To avoid these issues, simply break down the single, larger coil into smaller coils. When piped together, those smaller coils are stacked into “banks” of coils in the system. If installed correctly, this “bank” should have the same performance as the larger, single coil.

Casing

There are many different casing options available, but “stackable” flanges are required for heavy chilled water coils that are “banked”. The flanges are often inverted inward and down to give added strength to the casing, which is needed due to the fact that another coil of equal weight will be stacked on top of it. When ordering coils in a “bank” configuration, be sure to let the manufacturer know that they will be “stacked”.

Many engineers also use stainless steel casings on chilled water coils. While more expensive than traditional galvanized steel, stainless steel protects against excessively wet coils and/or corrosive elements in the airstream. Keep in mind that the majority of coils fail because of old age and its casing, as opposed to failure with the coil’s core. With that in mind, doesn’t it make sense to select heavy-duty stainless steel casings that are more durable and meant for stackable installations?

Drain Pans & Water Carryover

All chilled water coils must be sized so that the face velocity across the coil does not exceed 550 ft/minute. Water on the outside of the coil is carried away from the coil’s leaving air side in an arc, while water in the highest point of the coil is carried further down the unit or ductwork. “Stackable” coils often require intermediate drain pans under each coil to catch the excess water carryover. Each coil in a bank requires its own drain pan, as a single, large pan under the bottom coil is not enough.

Circuiting/GPM

If all of the coils in a “bank” are of equal size and handling the same CFM, then the GPM of each coil will also be the same.

Always feed the bottom connection on the supply header on the leaving air side of the coil. This ensures counter air and water flow. This also prevents the coil from short circuiting because the header fills first and circuits all of the tubes equally.

Designing Banks Of Coils

Almost all coil “banks” perform more efficiently if you design something more square in shape, as opposed to long and/or high. In a “bank” of coils, you may find that one coil has points of 300 ft/minute, with other points at 800 ft/minute. Scenarios such as this will cause water-carryover! You generally want to be as close to 550 ft/minute as possible in order to allow equal airflow distribution across the face area of the coil.

Anytime you are designing and/or building coils, work closely with the manufacturer as an added resource to ensure that you are getting the ideal solution for your HVAC system. Capital Coil & Air works on similar jobs such as these daily, and we welcome the opportunity to work with you in whatever capacity is needed.

Top 5 Reasons HVAC Coils Prematurely Fail

Coils and Counter-flow: 5 Common Questions

Chilled Water Coil Circuiting Made Easy

Chilled Water Coils – Circuiting Made Easy

Circuiting chilled water coils is one of life’s great challenges in the coil business. You’re bound to run across folks with years of experience in the industry that can not effectively explain this concept. While not the most exciting of subjects, the necessity of circuiting chilled water coils can not be overstated. Capital Coil & Air has attempted to simplify the idea of circuiting as much as possible.

For starters, circuiting chilled water coils is ultimately up to the performance of those coils. Circuiting is really a balancing act of tube velocity and pressure drop. In other words, think of a coil as a matrix. Each coil has a specific number of rows, and a specific number of tubes within each row. For example, a chilled water coil might be 36 inch fin height and 8 rows deep. The coil has 24 tubes in each row, and multiplied by 8 rows, there is a total of 192 tubes within the coil. While you can try to feed any number of tubes, there are only a few combinations that will work.

- Feeding 1 tube – you will be making 192 passes through the coil, which will essentially require a pump the size of your car to make that process work.

- Feeding 2 tubes – equates to 96 passes, and your pressure drop will still be enormous.

- Feeding 3 tubes – 64 passes, which is still too many.

- Feeding 4 tubes – See above.

- Feeding 5 tubes – Impossible as 5 does not divide evenly into 192 (passes).

- Feeding 6 tubes – Still constitutes far too many passes, which again leads to additional pressure drop.

- Feeding 7 tubes – Same rule for feeding 5 tubes.

- Feeding 8 tubes – Same rule for feeding 6 tubes.

- Feeding 24 tubes – This feed consists of 8 passes, which is in the ballpark, and with a pressure drop you can live with.

- Feeding 32 tubes – 32 tubes will see 6 passes. You might see a slight decrease in performance, but it’s off-set by a continuously better pressure drop.
- Feeding 48 tubes – The magic combination, as 4 passes typically elicits the best performance and pressure drop simultaneously.

Rule #1: The number of tubes that you feed must divide evenly into the number of tubes in the chilled water coil.

Rule #2: The chilled water coil must give you an even number of passes so that the connections end up on the same end.

Rule #3: Based on the number of passes, you must be able to live with the resulting pressure drop. Acceptable tube velocity with water is between 2 and 6 ft. per second.

You’re bound to run into different terminologies depending on the manufacturer. More times than not, the different verbiage confuses more than it clarifies. However, understanding the basic tenets of chilled water coil circuiting will remove much of the perceived difficulty.

Coils and Counter-flow: 5 Common Questions

Chilled Water Coils & Moisture Carryover

Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Chilled Water Coils

What Does “Splitting” A DX (Evaporator) Coil Mean?

“Splitting” a DX (Evaporator) coil is one of the toughest concepts to understand in the coil business. “Splitting” the coil simply means that (2) compressors can operate off of the same coil. One obvious advantage, or reason that you might “split” a DX (Evaporator) coil is that you can shut down (1) of the compressors when the cooling load does not require it. This in turn saves energy, which saves $ when the cooling load is not operating at maximum design conditions. For example, let’s use a coil that is designed to give you (40) tons, but the coil is split so that (2) 20-ton compressors are feeding the same coil. If you only require ½ of the maximum load on any given day, you can shut down (1) compressor completely and operate the other one at 100%. This is a money-saving feature that you need to be aware of if you deal with DX coils on a regular basis. This requires special circuiting arrangements, and this is where the confusion starts with most folks. There are three primary ways to deal with this:

FACE SPLIT

Splitting the coil is nothing more than putting (2) completely separate fin/tube packs (coils) into one common casing. When you hear the term “face-splitting” a coil, you are drawing a horizontal line from left to right across the face of the coil and dividing the coil into a top and bottom half. It is like having two separate coils in one casing in that each half is circuited by itself. You hook up (1) compressor for the top half, and (1) compressor for the bottom.

In practice, this configuration is no longer used with much frequency because this arrangement leads to air being directed across the entire face of the coil. This disadvantage is especially apparent when only one half of the coil is in use because you’ll need a complicated damper/duct system to ensure that air is only directed to that portion of the coil in operation.

Row Split

“Row splitting” a coil is dividing the coil by drawing a line vertically and putting some portion of the total rows in (1) circuit, while putting the remaining rows in the other circuit. With this configuration, the air passes across the entire face of the coil, and will always pass across the rows that are in operation.

Please be aware that this configuration also comes with certain issues in that this kind of split makes it very hard to achieve a true 50/50 split. Let’s use an (8) row coil as an example. You would like to “row split” this coil with (4) rows/circuit, which would appear to be a perfect 50/50 split. The problem here is that the first (4) rows, located closest to the entering air, pick up a much higher portion of the load than the last (4) rows. In actuality, this coil’s split is closer to 66% / 34%, which will not match the 50/50 compressors. Another option is try to split the coil between (3) & (5) rows. While not 50/50 either, this configuration is closer. However, a new challenge arises because you have now created a coil that is very difficult to build and correctly circuit. In short, you need almost perfect conditions along with a degree of luck to achieve a true 50/50 split using this method.

Intertwined Circuiting

The most common to split coils today is to “intertwine” the circuiting. This means that every alternate tube in the coil is included in (1) circuit, while the other tubes are included in the (2^nd) circuit. For example, tubes 1, 3,5,7,9, etc. in the first row are combined with tubes 2, 4, 6,8,10, etc. in the second row. The same tubes in succeeding rows form (1) circuit. You are essentially including every alternate tube in the entire coil into (1) circuit, which (1) compressor will operate. All of the remaining tubes not included in the first circuit will now encompass the second circuit.

The advantage of this configuration is that the air passes across the entire face of the coil, and, if one of the compressors is on, there are always tubes in operation. Every split is now exactly 50/50 because it cannot be any other way. Most DX coils are now configured in this manner due to these advantages.

Capital Coil & Air has years of experience measuring, designing and building almost every OEM DX coil that you’ll come across, so please let us help you on your next project. We want to be your replacement coil experts and look forward to the opportunity.

CHILLED WATER, DX (EXPANSION) COILS & MOISTURE CARRYOVER

Different Types of Steam Coils?

DX & Chilled Water Cabinet Coils

Condenser Coils Failing? Here’s probably why….

Did you recently turn on your DX systems only to find your Condenser Coils are not working? Simple fix right? Unfortunately, no. If you get lucky, you can send us the model number of the unit, and there’s a great chance we’ve already built it. In the case that we do not have that model number on file, you have two options. You can go back to the OEM, wait (5) months for a part and pay through the roof. Or you call Capital Coil, and we’ll walk you through the engineering it takes to replace a condenser coil.

Very rarely do condenser coils ever freeze so the first thing you’re going to want to know is if your coil died of corrosion, old age, or possibly vibration. Old age is obviously preferable because with a few easy dimensions, we’ll have enough to price up your duplicate coil. Condenser coils are usually outside and are easily accessible for measurements and digital pictures. With just the size, the rows, and fins/inch, you can get a price. And digital pictures of the headers and return bends will give us a good idea of the circuiting and sub-cooler circuits.

If the coil has been eaten away by corrosion, it was an improper design to begin with. Most people don’t know that salt in the air will ruin aluminum fins within a year or two. There are two ways to combat this. The first option is to make the switch to copper fins and stainless steel casings. While this will extend the life of your coil considerably, most people are not too happy about the additional cost over aluminum fins. The second option is to use a coating. Coatings are the much more popular choice. They are a fraction of the cost as copper fins and only add (1 – 2) weeks to your lead time.

When your HVAC coils are installed near a moving piece of equipment, vibration can occur and cause leaks. The area where these leaks occur is very important and will clue you in to if the problem is vibration. If they are near the tube sheet and look like they are slicing through the tube, the coils should be isolated from the rest of the system to prevent vibration from causing damage. One way to combat this is by oversizing the tubesheet holes, but many manufacturers will not do this. Condenser coils are usually the most common victims of vibration.

The last concern is with cleaning condenser coils. Since condenser coils see outside air almost exclusively, they need to be cleaned more than other coils. The reason for this is most condenser coils have fin spacing of 12-20 fins/inch. With fins that tight together, the coil can and will act like a filter. And when the coil is clogged up, the performance suffers greatly. Recently, we’ve been getting more and more calls about using a heavier fin thickness. This is to help with high pressure cleaning and corrosive cleaning agents.

When dealing with an HVAC coil manufacturer, partner up with one who will walk you through the engineering and explain it along the way. Capital Coil & Air has well over a decade of experience and has seen every issue to make sure your everything from the quote to the installation go smoothly! Give us a try on your next project!

Top 5 Reasons HVAC Coils Prematurely Fail

You should never have to worry about performance on replacement coils. Well… almost never!

Repair or Replacement HVAC Coils?

10 Things To Know About Chilled Water Coils

1. Hot or chilled water coils are still water coils. There is really no difference between hot water coils and a chilled water coils in construction. Hot water coils are usually 1 or 2 rows and chilled water coils are usually 3 to 12 rows deep.

2. The vast majority of chilled water coils are constructed from either 1/2″ OD tubes or 5/8″ OD tubes. A lot of that depends on the tooling of the original equipment manufacturer and what is more economical. Either size can be used and substituted for each other, which makes replacing your coil that much easier.

3. 1/2″ Tubes are on 1.25″ center to center distance. 5/8″ tubes are on 1.5″ center to center distance. For example, if a chilled water coil has a 30″ fin height, there will be (24) 1/2″ tubes per row or (20) 5/8″ tubes per row. The tube area of the coil is remarkably the same. They are almost interchangeable.

4. The quality of the coil often times is directly tied to the tube thickness. Many installations have water not treated properly or tube velocities that are too high. There are few perfect installations in real life. Increasing the tube wall thickness on a chilled water coil is a great way to ensure longer life.

5. Fins make great filters! Of course, they are not designed to be filters, but it happens. You can make any coil cheaper by making them 14 fins/inch with less rows rather than 8 or 10 fins/inch. Just remember that deep coils are very difficult to clean. Cheap is not the way to go most of the time!

6. Fins are designed for maximum heat transfer. They are much more complicated in design than they appear to be when looking at the chilled water coil. They are rippled on the edge to break up the air. They are corrugated throughout the depth of the fin. The tubes are staggered from row to row and the fin collars are extended. All of this to maximize heat transfer. Unfortunately, the byproduct of this is the fins can end up being great filters. Be careful in the design of any chilled water coil.

7. Fins are aluminum for a reason! They give you great heat transfer at an economical cost. You need a compelling reason to switch to copper fins as copper is very expensive, and you’re likely to double (or maybe triple) the cost of the coil. Coatings are popular for this very reason.

8. Many chilled water coils are built with 304 stainless steel casings. The casings are stronger, they last longer, they are stackable, and it’s fairly inexpensive. After all, what is the point of building the best coil possible and have the casing disintegrate over time around the coil? Sometimes, it’s money well spent!

9. Circuiting the coil is the tricky part of any coil. Circuiting is nothing more than the number of tubes that you want to feed from a header. There are two rules. You must keep the water velocity over 1 foot/second and below 6 feet/second. 3-4 feet/second is optimum. The second is the number of tubes that you feed must divide evenly into the number of tubes in the coil.

10. Replacing your chilled water coil is easy. Rarely do you have to worry about the performance. When you replace a 20 year old coil, it is dirty and the fin/tube bond is not good. The coil is probably operating at 1/2 of its capacity at best. When you put a new coil on the job, your performance will automatically be terrific. Your main concern is now making the sure the coil physically fits in the space allowed. And always have this in the back of your mind: Smaller is always better than too large. Smaller you can always work with, whereas too large makes for a very ugly and expensive coffee table.

There you have it – everything you need to know about chilled water coils. Interested in learning more, please reach out to Capital Coil & Air! We look forward to the opportunity to be your coil replacement specialists!

DX & Chilled Water Cabinet Coils

Coils and Counter-flow: 5 Common Questions

Top 5 Reasons HVAC Coils Prematurely Fail

Case Study: We Need These Coils on a (5) Day Quick-ship

In late June, Capital Coil received a call from a Trane office in Ohio regarding quick-ship availability. One of Trane’s top customers had an urgent need for (12) large chilled water coils with stainless steel casing. The problem/hurdle that they were encountering was that they needed all (12) coils to be built and ship out of the factory in (5) business days. Completion of the whole project was 100% contingent on them receiving the coils in their specified time-frame. An additional complication was the fact that July 4^th was the following week, and they needed to have the coils ship prior to the holiday.

Trane shopped the project around to different manufacturers, but not one could guarantee to ship in (5) days. Some manufacturers waffled and claimed that they could have them built in (6) or (7) days, but not one could guarantee to ship in (5) days. A sales rep in that same Trane office, who had worked with Capital Coil previously, suggested that his co-worker reach out to us to see what we could do. After speaking with Trane’s project manager, we immediately contacted our head of production to make sure that we had the capacity to complete all (12) coils in the required (5) days. She assured us that we had the materials and manpower on-hand to get them all built and ship on time. We agreed to accept the project and began work on the coils immediately.

Due to the size of the project, as well as it’s time-sensitivity, we had multiple calls daily with our factory to ensure that everything was proceeding on schedule. We then gave Trane daily status updates, so they were constantly informed of everything from the brazing of the coils to entering the final testing phase.

As promised, all (12) coils were built correctly and shipped out in the required (5) days. Our logistics team was then in constant communication with the freight company to make sure that the delivery was on schedule. And just like during the production phase, we passed daily tracking updates along to Trane, so they knew where their coils were at all times and when they could expect delivery. All (12) chilled water coils arrived on July 3^rd with zero freight damage, and the project was completed on time!

A company as large and influential as Trane can have their coils built by anyone, but Capital Coil was the only manufacturer that could guarantee to have their coils built and shipped by a required date. Additionally, in working so closely with Trane throughout the whole process, they were kept up-to-date in real time from the start of production to final delivery.

Capital Coil offers a level of service that you won’t get with other manufacturers. When we guarantee to ship by a certain date, we stand by that guarantee, or you do not pay!

Trane’s project manager’s comments to Capital Coil upon completion/delivery:

“This will help us get a jump on this project prior to the big event taking place next week!

I will make sure to share your information with others across our great lakes region about our experience with your company, so that they know we have THIS option to go to for our coil needs. THANK YOU ALL!!”

Steam Distributing Coils (Non-Freeze)

Frozen Steam Coils: How Do You Prevent This?

Commercial Steam Coils: Lengths & Controls

Steam Distributing Coils

Frozen Steam Coils: How Do You Prevent This?

Regardless if you have steam coils or steam distributing (non-freeze) coil, you can freeze ANY coil. When freezes happen, everyone immediately looks to the steam coil as the cause. When in fact, there are numerous reasons that must be looked at well before the coil.

Freezes generally happen in older systems, however if your new system is not maintained properly or correctly installed, your steam coil can and will freeze. For instance, you’d be surprised at how many times dampers are left open, controls fail, freezestats don’t work, etc.

In a Standard Steam or Steam Distributing Coil, a freeze-up can occur when condensate freezes within the tubes of the steam coil. The two most common reasons for freezing steam coils are the steam trap and the vacuum breaker. The function of steam trap is to remove the condensate as soon as it forms. Condensate usually collects in the lowest part of the coil. If your steam trap isn’t installed properly, that condensate will lay in the coil and it will inevitably freeze as soon as it sees outside air. The vacuum breaker also helps clear the condensate, minimizes water hammers, and helps with uneven temperatures. This must be installed on the control valve and always above the steam trap.

Unfortunately, there are no ways to determine exactly where your steam coil will freeze. And a common misnomer is that the condensate turns to ice and the expansion is what causes the tubes of the coil to pop. In reality, it’s the pressure that builds up between freeze points.

Here’s couple tips in your coil design that can help prevent your standard steam and steam distributing coils from freezing:

Standard steam coils should NEVER see any outside air below 40 degrees. If it does, steam distributing is the only way to go!
5/8” OD Steam distributing coils over 72” long are recommended to have a dual supply
1” OD Steam distributing coils over 120” long are recommended to have a dual supply
Make sure your steam coil is pitched if possible. This slopes the condensate to the return connection making it easier to remove the condensate

Give Capital Coil & Air a try on your next project. Our engineering, pricing and service is the best in the industry!

Heating Season Will Soon Be Upon Us

Commercial Steam Coils; Lengths & Controls

Types of Steam Coils

How Should Steam Coils Be Designed??

Of all of the various types of coils, steam coils operate in the most complicated ways. They are, in effect, a product of the system and controls around the coil. If not installed correctly, steam coils simply won’t work properly.

Overview:

The object of any steam coil is to have steam enter the coil as steam and exit as condensate. In a perfect scenario, the BTU load on the coil turns steam into condensate just before it’s ready to exit the coil. Under real world conditions however, condensate usually begins to form inside the tubes almost immediately. Especially when dealing with low-pressure systems, you have to find a way to evacuate the condensate from the steam coil.

Coil Pitch:

A good coil manufacturer will internally pitch the steam coil within the coil casing to force the condensate toward the outlet connection. This pitch is usually 1/8 “ per lineal foot of coil.

Coil Length:

If you require steam to travel 144” and make multiple passes through the coil, then, simply put, your system will not work properly. Condensate forms too early, and it cannot escape the coil. Because of this, coils cannot be too long. A better strategy is to break one long coil into two smaller coils side by side, while feeding from both sides.

Tube Diameter:

Steam Distributing coils often have to be 1 1/8 ” diameter tubes. If the BTU load on a coil is really large, then as a result, you will generate many more Lbs./hour of condensate. If the tube diameter is too small, then the condensate, which needs to evacuate, has no place to go.

Traps:

Traps are required on steam coil systems. The traps should be “float & thermostatic” type traps and be located 18 “ below the condensate connection on the steam coil. Without this, the condensate just sits in the system without any place to go.

Vacuum Breakers:

Vacuum Breakers are often installed in coil systems to remove any excess condensate that may remain within the coil.

Insulated Piping:

There is no such thing as a “Condensate” Heating coil, built as a steam coil. IT DOESN’T WORK. However, and this happens an astounding amount of times, due to the long distances the steam has to travel from the boiler to the coil, many times, the steam will enter the coil as condensate due to the piping not being insulated.

Anything that makes condensate lay in a coil is harmful to both the steam coil and the system. You will get a “water hammer” when the system is turned on and the incoming steam just blasts against the condensate. Worse than the loud and annoying sound that produces is the fact that it just destroys the steam coil. The brazing was never designed for “water hammer”. Also, the coils do not heat properly. Have you ever seen a long coil and run your hand down its length only to feel that the entering steam end of the coil is hot but the far end is cold? More times than not, this means that condensate is laying in the coil and not allowing the steam to properly travel the length of the coil.

Steam Coils require a real expertise to design & build. We at Capital Coil have a long history in solving coil problems and building steam coils so that they work correctly the first time. Give us a call for your next job – you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

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Different Types of Steam Coils?

Frozen Steam Coils: How Do You Prevent This?

Steam Distributing (Non-Freeze) Coils: The Accidental Coils

Different Types of Steam Coils

There are two types of steam coils: standard steam coils, which are used in most reheat applications, and steam distributing coils, which are used in applications where the entering air temperature is below 40 F degrees. Many times, this type of coil is also known as a “non-freeze” coil, but that name is misleading because in reality, there is no such thing as “non-freeze”.

Standard Steam

Standard steam coils operate a lot like hot water coils, but the construction is very different even if the coils appear to be constructed the same. The supply and return connections are often on the same end like a hot water coil. But, steam is very different than hot water, and the coil must be built for and circuited for steam. Keep in mind that steam is always more erosive than hot water. The brazing and tube wall thickness must account for steam. ALWAYS remember that even low pressure steam is more erosive than hot water, and a steam coil needs to be built accordingly.

Steam Distributing (Non-Freeze)

Steam distributing coils are a completely different type of coil because they are constructed as a tube within a tube. Every place that you see an outside tube or header, there is an inside tube and header that you can’t see. The steam on the inner tube keeps the condensate in the outer tube from freezing. The purpose of the original coil design was to distribute the steam evenly along the length of the coil and to eliminate any dead spots on the coil. A byproduct of this coil was also found. The coils didn’t freeze nearly as easily as the standard steam coil, so the coils became known as “non-freeze”, which as mentioned, is not completely accurate. Any coil can freeze under the right conditions, but, this design is what needs to be used when the entering air is under 40F degrees!!!

Steam Coil Design

Steam coil designs can be very tricky. Steam coils are totally a function of the system and installation, while other coils operate more independently of the system. There needs to be correctly designed traps, and they need to be installed in the correct place and depth in the system. Often, vacuum breakers are also needed in the system. The piping must also be installed correctly to make sure the steam is entering the coil and not the condensate. Even with all of those factors, you’ll need a correctly designed steam coil that matches the steam pressure, length of the coil, and the entering air temperature. Coils can freeze easily. Coils can be too long in length and the steam cannot travel the length of the coil and distribute evenly. Condensate can easily be trapped somewhere in the coil, and the result is water hammer.

Capital Coil & Air has years of experience designing steam coils, and is here to answer any questions and help to design the right coil for your project!

Quick Ship Program

Coil Selection Software

Casing

Drain Pans & Water Carryover

Circuiting/GPM

Designing Banks Of Coils

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