PLUMBING e Continued from p 24


radiant heating systems, with all kinds of boilers in all types of system configurations,” says McMullen, who estimates he used Alpha circulators in up to 15 projects over the past year and a half. “We have a fair amount of heating experience, but I have never come across a circulator that works so easily and efficiently with so little power.” Which brings our story back to the


specifying engineering firm that developed the original plans and specifications. As McMullen graciously notes, “Morrison-Maierle was very progressive and very open to our alternative ideas. We understood that we not only had to save the project money, but also to make sure it performed to the level that the engineer, the general contractor and the owner all expected.” Mark Maierle of Morrison-Maierle


26


characterizes the mechanical aspects of the Gallatin job as unusual, if only because “it’s not that often that our firm will redesign a project at the installer’s request.” On the other hand, Maierle is savvy enough to acknowledge the downside of compelling experienced professional installers like McMullen and his team in a direction they don’t really want to go. “There are many different ways to skin a cat, so we were responsive to Pat’s comments and suggestions,” Maierle continues. “We believed —


| VARIABLE-SPEED CIRCULATORS |


and still believe — that our original primary-secondary loop system would have served the airport authority well for many years. But the airport now has a system that will work equally well, and, in the end, that’s the most important consideration.” Morrison-Maierle’s Weiel has


But in our injection-piping scheme, only one circulator would’ve run the majority of the time, because the injection pump operates only when the system demands additional heating.” Weiel does not doubt the ability of


“Engineering parameters don’t always coincide with the actual conditions a system must run under. The boiler and piping specifications may call for 50 gpm, but conditions may dictate only 10 or 25 gpm.”


serious reservations about the projected energy savings from the 11 variable-speed circulators, at least when comparing them to the pumps they replaced from the original piping design. He comments, “We chose the injection piping scheme for several reasons, including greater boiler redundancy so that the system could function close to its intended capacity with one boiler completely out of service and to handle multiple water temperatures on the same system. Each loop had two circulators, which is why the reconfigured system was able to reduce the number of pumps by half.


AUTOADAPT to cut power costs from the injection-piping scenario: “But by 50% or more? That does not seem feasible to me, given the thorough consideration we gave to energy conservation with the original design. In addition, the original pumps were not greatly oversized. In fact, they were closely tailored to the head losses calculated for the loops they served. That is why a wide number of different


model number circulators were originally specified.” Nonetheless, Maierle and Weiel


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Patent Pending Components    We do not export labor. e Circle 17 on reader reply card Made in the USA.


could readily see and appreciate the strong convictions that McMullen and this crew had for their alternative, variable-speed pumping solution. Weiel notes that Morrison-Maierle came to regard this alternative and the design changes it necessitated as net positives for the project. “When the contractor is more familiar with the design, as was the case here with PJ’s and the variable- speed circulators they recommended, he is usually more comfortable doing the installation as well as any servicing that may follow the commissioning. A contractor taking ownership for what he is installing becomes a win- win situation for everyone, most especially the owner. As long as the alternative approach does not compromise the quality, performance or longevity of the project, we are willing to work with the contractor on pursuing that alternative. In the end, we’re all here to help our clients achieve the best possible finished product.”;


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phc january 2011 www.phcnews.com


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