Multiple Cooling Towers equalizer piping

[capaula]

What is the correct way to size an equalizer pipe for 5 cooling towers working in parallel?
I am not able to find this anywhere.
Thanks

 

[CarolinaPE]

Check with BAC or Bell and Gossett's "Cooling Tower Pumping and Piping" tech manual.

 

[AWloo]

What kind of tolerance are you looking for equal flows?

Effectively you will be trying to equalize the pressure in each of the branches. If you have a fixed flow you can introduce orifices to reduce flow in the higher flow branches. If it is more variable you may want to explore using a flow control valve and a flow meter on each branch.

 

[ChasBean1]

The bigger the better. Running towers in parallel will prevent problems with shrink and swell with starting and stopping of condenser water pumps. Keep velocity below 3 fps, max conditions. It's not like piping that gets distributed throughout a building; you might be talking about a 30' run. Go for the 14" vs. the 10" (as an example) to avoid problems.

 

[RossABQ]

Just to clarify, is this equalizer connecting sumps together or supply lines? If sumps, the "bigger is better" theory is definitely the way to go.

 

[bctarala]

You can use GESTRA sizing of header in a specific pipe branches