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Process Chill Water Loop for Multiple Machines with varying requirement.

Kakit

Mechanical
Joined
Jun 27, 2025
Messages
1
Hi,

I have a process chill water loop that has been serving 1 machine very well. We recently added a 2nd machine to the loop but having issue with getting flow through it without throttle return side of the header.

Header is 2" pipe
Machine 1, 2" pipe, 150GPM
Machine 2, 1" pipe, 50GPM
Pump runs at constant speed, no VFD

Take a look at the diagram, in order to get flow through 2nd machine, I have to throttle the "Return line shut-off valve" and "Machine 1 Return Line Shut-off valve".

We will be adding a 3rd machine soon and like have better understanding of how to setup chill water loop for multiple machines with varying requirements. I think the 2nd machine doesn't have enough pressure to overcome the header pressure, hence having to throttle the return header valve. What is the best option to resolve this without manually adjusting return header. Will adding a booster pump at machine 2 work?
 

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  • Chill water loop.png
    Chill water loop.png
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Although I think a booster pump could be made to work, if your existing pump(s) have the head capacity for the added machines, then you could just add a balancing valve to the return side of both machine 1 and machine 2 upstream of the "Return Line Shut-off Valve" . The balancing valves can be manual or automatic, and they simply add a pressure drop to the loop to help get the flow you want through each loop - like what you're doing now with the hand valves. If you plan to keep adding machines, then automatic balancing valves may be best.
 

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