Resevoir Sizing

[shagooo]

I have a small 1/2 hp centrifugal pump feeding a heat exchanger and heat load with a flow of 15 gpm. The heat load is fairly constant (no big cycling). I am curious if there is a general rule of thumb for sizing a resevoir tank.

Thanks

 

[Montemayor]

shagooo:

A reservoir tank is analogous to an electrical capacitor; it's meant as a temporary storage of fluid for a specific purpose. If flow fluctuation is your concern, then enough residence time is built in to smooth out the flow. If there are lapses of flow during operation, then those time periods are taken care of by building in enough capacitance capacity in the reservoir to take up the slack in fluid flow.

So it all depends on what you are trying to do or the nature of your fluid application. Normally a centrifugal pump is used in a steady-state process, so there is no need for a reservoir tank - either before the pump or after the pump.

Perhaps if you explain your reasons for trying to apply a reservoir, we may get a better handle on the problem - if there is one.

 

[CRG]

Do you mean a thermal expansion tank?
If so you will need to calculate the total volume of the system.
What is the minimum and maximum temperature the system will see?
What is the heat transfer fluid?