Heating systems
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Boiler & heat pump accessories: a make-or-break situation
For a successful commercial heating installation, the boiler or heat pump are, of course, fundamentally important, but
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n this article we look at the four most important accessories to a successful commercial heating installation. We provide advice on the different types available and their suitability for your project, along with recommendations on key features to look for to ensure the best possible cost and efficiency.
Frame & header kits for boiler cascades
When you have a site that requires a high output, you have the option to install a single large commercial condensing boiler or several smaller boilers in a cascade. The cascade option offers several benefits, including a high turn-down, easier access to challenging install areas (as the parts are smaller and more manageable to handle) and, overall, the cascade can be space saving compared to an equivalent single boiler of the same capacity. For ease and speed of installation, most manufacturers supply prefabricated frame and header kits, removing the need to build (including welding in the case of steel frames) the support frame to mount the boilers and the pipework that all your individual boilers are connected to, including the connection pipework between the main headers and the boilers. All that is required onsite is to bolt the prefabricated sections together. In the case of Ideal Heating’s own frame and header kits, this can save the installer several hours compared to traditional site based fabrication, as they are already largely complete when received onsite. The types of frame and header kits vary depending on the manufacturer, with inline headers being the most prevalent. Back-to-back versions are also available, along with standard and low height versions of the mounting frames for the boilers, so be sure to check your boiler manufacturer supplies frame and header kits that suit the plantroom you are working on.
Hydraulic separation
By their very nature, heating systems can become contaminated with debris and dirt over the years. When installing new boilers onto an old system, the
18 June 2024
they don’t operate alone. Key components essential for quick, cost- effective, simple and safe installation, and a well-designed heating system that performs to the standard expected, are the accessory parts. These should never be an after-thought, but should be
considered from the very outset. That’s the view of Charlie Mowbray, senior product manager, Ideal Heating - Commercial
using a magnetic low loss header which combines the benefits of a low loss header with the addition of a magnet inside it, capturing the magnetite particles as well. Low loss headers have a further benefit in that
very last thing you want is for that ‘dirty’ water to circulate through your new boiler as it may impact its efficiency, lead to boiler breakdowns and reduce its working life. System separation will prevent this. This can be achieved through using low loss
headers and plate heat exchangers with filters or strainers, or air and dirt separators to assist with removal of harmful debris in the system. A low loss header is essentially a large chamber
through which the system water flows at a low velocity. As the flow rate through the header is very slow, dirt and debris fall to the bottom, where they are removed via a drain valve. To prevent any of the debris that settles out being carried back through the boiler, low loss headers are normally mounted vertically. This also allows any air in the system flow to migrate up to a point where it can be vented. If you are using a horizontal low loss header, it’s important to employ additional dirt separation on the return to the main plant. In systems based on ferrous metals, such as iron and steel, consider
they enable the boiler to operate independently to a system where the load is likely to be variable and the operating range for the system may not be ideally suited to the boiler. For the boiler, if it was installed directly to the system pipework, a variable flow rate may lead to minimum flow rates for the boiler not being maintained. By keeping both systems hydraulically separate, each side of the system can operate without disturbing the other. The boiler can provide as little or as much heat input as is required, and the system load can vary over a very wide range without affecting the boiler. When specifying a low loss header, talk to the manufacturer or the supplier to confirm that it’s suitable for the type of product you’re going to use it with and your expected flow rates. If the flow velocity in the body of the header isn’t low enough, you won’t get effective separation between the two systems. Moving on to Plate Heat Exchangers, which are
becoming the more popular choice, this method of separation works by transferring heat from the boiler circuit to the system circuit without the two circuits coming in direct contact; they are hydraulically separated by a pressure break with no mixing of the fluids in the different systems. The heat is transferred through a series of parallel plates with channels between them which the water can flow through independently of the other system. The advantage of installing a plate heat
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