We are installing a 125 psig steam main through the basement of a building. The amount of ceiling space is quite limited and the run through the building is several hundred feet, so we'll have to trap at every steam main low point where it rises up before sloping to the next low point. My...
We're working on a large apartment complex project that will need to comply with 2015 International Mechanical Code. One of our concerns is whether or not we need to exhaust air from each apartment unit's kitchen. In Table 403.3.1.1, 25 CFM constant or 100 CFM intermittent is required for...
I've been a mechanical project engineer for two years for a large electrical power supplier, working under contract rather than directly. Most of my work deals with planning, scheduling, estimating, equipment selection, project documentation, design, etc. for small capital projects. (Before...
I've been a mechanical project engineer for two years for a large electrical power supplier, working under contract rather than directly. Most of my work deals with planning, scheduling, estimating, equipment selection, project documentation, design, etc. for small capital projects. (Before...
I'm an ME currently working as a contractor for a major power company leading small capital projects, doing both project management and design work at power plants. I love it, but next year will see a big drop off in mechanical projects in our group, which has me worried that I won't be needed...
I'm confused as to how to interpret the BPVC Section VIII for my heat exchanger. UG-140 of the code, about overpressure protection by system design, would seem to apply, given that pressure reliefs in the steam distribution system serving my HX are set to relieve at a lower pressure than my...
I have in the design for my project a 4" line of superheated steam (450-500 F, 80-100 psig) connecting to the top of a 10" header. The line goes up about two feet and elbows horizontally to a manual gate valve. Just beyond the gate valve, I would put in a drip leg with a 1" drain line with...
On my heat exchanger project, I will have some length of condensate piping that should not be insulated in order to prevent subcooling of condensate before steam trap. However, I want to install a personnel safety shield around the pipe to prevent personnel from burning themselves on very hot...
I am looking to run a small fraction of a flow (say, 10% of 200 gpm) through a heat exchanger. The HX would be selected with calculated venturi D/P in mind. The HX would be for cooling condensate from a steam-to-water HX, which will operate at about 50 psig and therefore have condensate coming...
I am installing a steam-to-water HX with 450 F, 40-60 psig superheated steam. (Our plant has no saturated steam distribution system, so we're stuck with using superheated steam. Our HX is selected and sized for this at our design conditions.) I'm wondering about what components I need on the...
In a system I'm working on, we will have a 4" superheated steam line for approx. 6000 pph at 500 F and 100 psig going from a header to the point-of-use (a heat exchanger---the plant has no saturated steam distribution system). Near the connection to the header, there will be a manual gate...
Hello. I've got a project where I'm going to take steam from 80-100 psig (the header pressure varies somewhat) and deliver it to a shell-and-tube HX. Earlier in the design process, I assumed that I would put in a PRV to reduce pressure to 50 psig, and with the HX I have quoted for the project...
I'm working on the design of a fuel oil piping system with multiple emergency generators and multiple tanks. I'm wondering about valves in the return and overflow lines back to the tanks. I understand that there should be no valves in the return and overflow paths. However, if no valves are...
Hi all. Hopefully some other LEEP AP can answer this---
We are seeking LEED certification for a certain building, which is primarily a data center although it is part of a hospital campus. One floor of the building (which is four stories) is going to be shell space, and will remain so...
Suppose you're calculating head loss within a piping system for radiative or reheat piping, for which the water flowing through it will be 150-180 F. When you refer to a flow of 1 gpm, does that generally mean 1 gallon (i.e., 0.1337 cubic feet) of volume at 150-180 F or does it mean 1 gallon at...
My company doesn't have ASSE 1010, the ASSE standard relating to water hammer arresters. Anyway, I was wondering if either in ASSE 1010 or through some other standard there was a way to know when a water hammer arrester must be installed in a domestic water line. PDI WH-201, which I have and...
