Selecting The Proper Pump Tank for a Chiller or Tower System

• 
• It is important to select the proper pump tank for your central cooling system whether it is a chiller or cooling tower system.
• Considerations when selecting a pump tank for a cooling tower or chiller system:
• OPERATING. Have enough water in the tank.
• TO PREVENT PUMP CAVITATION (air pulled into the pump along with water). Be sure that about 18” of water is above the pump suction.
• TO ALLOW FOR WATER / AIR SEPARATION (air is induced into the water in the cooling tower to promote evaporation, not as critical with a chiller system).
• TO HAVE THERMAL STORAGE to smooth out demand spikes.
• START-UP. Have enough water in the tank.
• TO FILL THE SYSTEM... and have enough operating volume remaining.
• SHUT DOWN... Have enough water in the tank.
• TO CONTAIN DRAIN BACK... from the tower or chiller without overflowing.
• TO HANDLE DRAIN BACK... from the process piping (generally the water in the process piping is trapped so that most of the process water remains in the piping).

• Which Tank is the right size for your application?
• From our experience, in most applications and installations, use the following guideline for selecting the proper tank.
• COOLING TONS x 6 = MINIMUM TANK VOLUME
• Or, for high flow systems (greater than 3 gpm/ton) select a tank size so that the water will reside in the tank for at least 1 minute.
• Watch for these special circumstances that may require special tank sizing:
• Towers that hold a lot of water.
• Towers that are located a long way from the tank.
• Systems that don’t keep the piping full at shutdown.
• High flow systems.
• Don’t forget future expansion needs.

For more information about selecting the proper pump tank system call the Advantage Sales Department at 317-887-0729.

Would you like to Download FYI #260 to your browser?