Cooling Water Piping Systems

Reference data and engineering information about cooling water piping systems for hvac systems applications.

coolingwaterpipingsystems

Overview

Engineering reference data for Cooling Water Piping Systems in HVAC systems.

Key Formulas

Sensible Heat

$Q = \dot{m} c_p \Delta T$

Heat causing temperature change.

Latent Heat

$Q = \dot{m} h_{fg} \Delta\omega$

Heat causing moisture change.

COP (Cooling)

$COP = Q_c / W$

Coefficient of performance.

Variables

Symbol	Description	Unit
$Q$	Heat transfer	W
$\dot{m}$	Mass flow rate	kg/s
$c_p$	Specific heat of air	J/(kg·K)
$\Delta T$	Temperature difference	K

Pipe Performance Data

Below are reference tables for cooling water piping systems, showing maximum allowable flow, velocity, and pressure drop for different pipe sizes.

12 rows

Cooling Water - Main Pipes: Maximum allowable flow, velocity, and pressure drop.
Pipe Size(in)	Flow(US gpm)	Flow(liter/s)	Velocity(ft/s)	Velocity(m/s)	Pressure Drop(ftH₂O/100 ft)	Pressure Drop(Pa/100 m)
4	140	9	3.5	1.1	2.2	21827
6	380	24	4.2	1.3	1.9	18877
8	650	41	4.2	1.3	1.4	13371
10	1100	69	4.2	1.3	1.2	11700
12	1800	114	4.5	1.4	1.2	12093
14	2200	139	5.1	1.6	1.1	11208
16	3300	208	5.9	1.8	1.2	11405
18	4500	284	6.2	1.9	1.2	11503
20	6000	379	6.7	2	1.2	11503
24	11000	694	7.8	2.4	1.2	11700
30	19000	1199	8.7	2.6	1.1	10913
3	70	4	3	0.9	2.3	22712

Source: engineeringtoolbox.com

9 rows

Cooling Water - Lateral Pipes: Maximum allowable flow, velocity, and pressure drop.
Pipe Size(in)	Flow(US gpm)	Flow(liter/s)	Velocity(ft/s)	Velocity(m/s)	Pressure Drop(ftH₂O/100 ft)	Pressure Drop(Pa/100 m)
4	200	13	5.1	1.5	4.3	42179
6	500	32	5.6	1.7	3.2	31364
8	900	57	5.8	1.8	2.5	24383
10	1500	95	6.1	1.9	2.1	20745
12	2400	151	6.8	2.1	2.1	20647
14	3100	196	7.2	2.2	2.1	20647
16	4500	284	7.9	2.4	2.1	20549
18	6000	379	8.3	2.5	2	19565
3	100	6	4.3	1.3	4.5	43949

Source: engineeringtoolbox.com

Interactive Charts

Cooling Tower Efficiency

Water - Absolute (Dynamic) Viscosity vs. Temperature and Pressure

References

Original Source

Source: engineeringtoolbox.com