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Understandingboilerbypasslines
KeyconceptsBoilerbypasslinesmustbeinstalledwithcaretopreventseriousdifficultiesfromdevelopinginthesystem.
ByMarkHegberg,ITTIndustries,MortonGrove,IL
08/01/2000
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Keyconcepts

Boilerbypasslinesmustbeinstalledwithcaretopreventseriousdifficultiesfromdevelopinginthesystem.

Acirculatorontheboilersideofthebypassraisesthereturnwatertemperature.

Acirculatoronthesystemsideofthebypasslowersthesupplywater
temperature.

Boilermanufacturersemphasizebypasslinestodayandwithgoodreason.
Boilersarerelativelysmallnow.Theirheatexchangersaremuchmoreefficient
thanarethoseinolderboilers.Andbecausetheyaresmaller,modernboilers
havespecificflowratesandtemperatureneeds.Consequently,manyrequirea
flowbypassline.

Flowbypasslinesmustbeinstalledwithcare.Itpaystoreadtheinstructions
thoroughly.Locatingabypassinthewrongplacecaninvitetrouble.Hereare
somepointersforplacingthesedevicesproperlyandforpumpingaboiler
bypasslineinthecorrectway.

First,decidewhatyouwantthebypasstodo.Itcaneitherraisethetemperature
ofwaterreturningtotheboiler,orlowerthetemperatureofwaterheadingoutto
thesystem.Differentsystemshavedifferentneeds.

Next,makeasketchofthepipingaroundtheboiler.Usethetipofyourpenciltotracethewater'spathasitflowsthroughthe
boilerandbypass.Remember,whenwaterentersatee,itcanmoveoutintwoways.Thewatercanfloweitherwaythrough
thebypass,dependingonwherethecirculatorisplaced.Andwhenitcomestosystemperformance,thatplacementmakesa
worldofdifference.

Placingthecirculator

Figure1showsfourpossiblelocationsforthecirculator.Twolocationsaremarkedwithan"A"andtwowitha"B."Naturally,
eitherthe"A"locationorthe"B"locationwillbeused,butnotboth.Inotherwords,yourcirculatormaybelocatedonthesupply
sideofthesystem(alwaysourfirstchoice),oronthereturnside.Thedecisionisyours.

Inthe"A"position(Fig.2),thecirculatortakeshotwateroutoftheboilerandusesittoraisethetemperatureofthewater
returningfromthesystem.Thewaterflowsfromthetopofthebypasstothebottom.

However,whetherthecirculatorislocatedonthesupplysideorthereturnsideoftheboiler,itisalwaysontheboilersideofthe
bypass(Fig.3).Notethisfact:Acirculatorontheboilersideofthebypassraisesthereturnwatertemperature.
Whywouldyouwanttoraisethetemperatureofthewaterreturningtotheboiler?Consideranoldgravityinstallation.Ithasa
highvolumesystemandalowvolumeboiler.Ifthereturningwateriscool(lessthan140Fforacastironboiler),fluegases
condenseinsidetheboilerandcausecorrosion.Thepossibilityofthermalshockalsoexists,althoughthisconditionisusually
lessofconcernthancondensation.

Withoutthebypass,fuelbillsaretypicallymuchhigherthantheyneedtobe,becausethelowvolumeboilerfindsitdifficultto
reachitshighlimitandshutoff.Pipedthisway,abypasspreventsthesecommonproblems.

Lookingattheotherside

Inthe"B"positionforthecirculator(Fig.4),itmixescoolerreturnwaterwithhotboilerwater.Inotherwords,itlowersthe
temperatureofthehotwaterheadingouttothesystem.Thistime,thecirculatorisonthesystemsideofthebypass.Addthis
facttoourpreviousnote:Acirculatoronthesystemsideofthebypasslowersthesupplytemperature.

Whylowerthetemperatureofwaterleavingtheboiler?Althoughatfirstglanceitseemstobeawaste,itisreallyan
inexpensivewaytorunradiantheating(Fig.5).

Thesystemoperatesat,forexample,120F,while180Fismaintainedintheboilertosatisfyatanklessdomestichotwatercoil.
However,thistypeofbypassisnotrecommendedasacontrol,becauseitdoesn'trespondtotemperature.Forexample,ifthe
configurationhadmorethanonezone,thesystemsimplywouldn'tworkwell.

Nevertheless,thistypeofarrangementisfoundinmostboilermanufacturers'operatingmanuals.Itisimportanttounderstand
clearlythedifferencebetweenthetwobypasspipingarrangements.Ifyouweretryingtoprotectaboilerfromapotentialflue
gascondensationproblem,misplacingthecirculatoronthebypasslinewouldcauseseriousproblems.

Settingupbypasslines

Nowconsideracopperfintubeboiler.Thistypeofunitacceptscoolerreturnwatertemperatures(typically105F),butitisvery
sensitivetotheflowrateacrossitsheatexchanger.Ifthewatermovestooslowlyacrossacopperfintubeboiler,thesafety
alarmwillshutofftheboiler.

Withcopperfintubeboilers,thecirculatoralwaysgoesontheboilersideofthebypass,whetherthepumpingtakesplaceon
thesupplysideorthereturnside.Andmostmanufacturersinsistthatthebypasslineshouldneverbesmallerthan1in.india.
Checktheinstructionstobesure.

Whenabypasslineissetuparoundamodernsystem,usingflowcontrolvalvestosendthewaterbacktotheboilercansave
onafewfittings.Enteronthesideoftheflowcontrolvalveandbypassthroughthebottomtoaccomplishthisarrangement.
Andalwaysuseatruebalancingvalveinthebypasslinesothatthecorrecttemperatureand/orflowratecanbeachieved.Ball
valvemanufacturerscautionagainstusingtheirproductsasbalancingvalves.Ballvalvesshouldbeeitherfullyopenedorfully
closed,butnotthrottled.Abalancingdeviceisacalibratedtestandadjustmentdevicedesignedtolettheuserknowtheflowat
eachvalveposition.

Finally,donotforgetthebasicsofpumping.Thiskindofsystemusesallthepumpheadavailabletoit.Underflowsand
overflowsmayoccurincircuits,andtheusermaynotknowwhatisgoingonexceptthatitiscoldinazone.Forexample,a
twozonesystem(Fig.6)wasinstalledtopreventcondensationorshockontheboilerandhadseparatecirculatorsoneachof
twozones.Pumpsweresuppliedwiththesystemtheywerenotselectedspecificallyforthepipinggeometry.
However,onsuchaprimarysecondarysystem,pumpselectioniscritical.Inthiscase,theboilerpumpwasratedfor20gpm.
Thepumpsforzone1andzone2wereeachratedfor20gpm.Asaresult,personnelwerewarmonthesecondfloor(zone1),
butthoseonthefirstfloor(zone2)werefreezing.

Theboilerpumpmustprovidethetotalflowofthesystem(inthiscase,atleast40gpm)pluswhateverflowisnecessaryto
keepthereturnwatertemperatureashighasdesired.Ifthepipinginthezonehaslessresistancetoflowthanthepumphead
ratingattheflowdesign,thepumpwillprovidemoreflowforthepipe'sgivenresistance.Flowsgotothepointofleast
resistance.Inthiscase,zone2mayreceiveonlyrecirculatedzonewaterandnosupplyfromtheboiler.Checkallpipesizes
andresistances.Thistypeofsystemtypicallyrequiressometypeofbalancingdevicetomakethesystemperformthewayitis
intended.

EditedbyJeanineKatzel,SeniorEditor,6303207142,jkatzel@cahners.com

&HEADLINE>Moreinfo&/HEADLINE>

TechnicalquestionsaboutthisarticlemaybedirectedtoauthorMarkHegbergbyphoneat8479663700oremailat
mhegberg@fluid.ittind.com.

AdditionalinformationonthissubjectisalsoavailablefromtheFluidHandlingUniversitywebsiteatfhs.ittind.com.

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