Reference Guide

to Flamco Equipment

© Flamco B.V.
December 2016
Summary
This reference guide provides you with details concerning four stand-alone subjects relating the HVAC
industry.

The guide contains the topics; Expansion Vessels, Pressurisation Equipment, Air & Dirt Removal
Equipment and Balanced Pressure Automats. The reference guide concludes with some useful facts.

Expansions vessels are necessary because water expands when heated. When we use water in a heating
system we need to give the water somewhere safe to go. Let’s think of the vessel as a rubber balloon
protected inside a steel outer shell.

EXAMP

Remember me, key information

Top tip, this should make your life easier

Example for further explanation and understanding

Page 2
Contents
Expansion Vessels................................................................................................... 4
Principle of thermal expansion in relation to water................................................... 4
What is an expansion vessel for?............................................................................... 4
So An Expansion Vessel Is a Balloon?........................................................................ 5
Static Height, Cold Fill Pressure And Static Head..................................................... 5
Domestic Cold Water (Booster Systems)................................................................... 6
Potable, Not Portable................................................................................................... 6
Domestic Hot Water (Potable Expansion).................................................................. 6
Sealed Systems (Heating Or Chilled Expansion)........................................................ 7
Changes In Pressure.................................................................................................... 7
Vessel Efficiency........................................................................................................... 7
Vessel Sizing................................................................................................................. 8
Reversing the Calculation – If You Really Want To…............................................... 10
Quoting Conventions & Terminology......................................................................... 10
What Happens If A Vessel Is Selected or Setup Incorrectly.................................... 11

Pressurisation Equipment.................................................................................... 12
Use Of Pressurisation Equipment............................................................................. 12
Mechanical Equipment.............................................................................................. 12
Digital Equipment - Flexfiller..................................................................................... 12
Selection Of Pressurisation Equipment.................................................................... 13

Air & Dirt Removal Equipment............................................................................. 14

How Does Air Get Into Water?.................................................................................. 14
Effects Of Air In Sealed Systems.............................................................................. 14
Flamcovent................................................................................................................. 16
Flamcovent Clean...................................................................................................... 17
Flamco Clean.............................................................................................................. 17
Flamco Smart 22”- 600mm........................................................................................ 17
PSD............................................................................................................................. 18
Flexfiller....................................................................................................................... 18
Flexfill Plus.................................................................................................................. 18
Flexfiller PressDS....................................................................................................... 19
Flexfiller PressDS Plus............................................................................................... 19

Balanced Pressure Automats............................................................................... 20

Balanced Expansion.................................................................................................. 20
Air Cushion Equipment.............................................................................................. 20
Spill Tank Equipment..................................................................................................20
Selection..................................................................................................................... 22

Top Tips.................................................................................................................. 23

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This reference guide discusses four different subjects - Expansion Vessels, Pressurisation
Equipment, Air & Dirt Removal Equipment and Balanced Pressure Automats - and provides you with
essential information necessary when working in this sector.

Expansion Vessels
Principle of thermal expansion in relation to water
The reason that we don’t fill a saucepan with water to the brim or a kettle to the top before heating it up is
because water expands when heated.

Water is the only substance known, where it’s volume increases as it is heated and as it is
cooled.

The chief reason for insulating pipework, and the use of antifreeze, is that water expands as it freezes.
This tends to be more localised expansion that the pipe material can stand. As a result the pipe ruptures
(bursts) and when the ice melts, the resulting hole represents a major system leak.

If you cool water to below 5 °C the volume starts to increase, up to a maximum (for pure water) of 8%
as it turns to solid ice.

If you heat water, and it remains as water, it will expand in volume.

If you heat water too much, or too quickly, or without sufficient pressure, then it will turn to steam and
expand very quickly. You could say ‘fatally’ quickly, this is also referred to as ‘flashing to steam’ and is
very, very dangerous to be nearby.

When we add antifreeze into the calculations, the resulting expansion is much greater and this
must be taken into account.

What is an expansion vessel for?

The idea behind an expansion vessel is to give the ‘extra’ expanded water volume somewhere safe to go.

Think of a orange juice carton. It is a sealed unit containing a liquid that is largely water. If this
is heated, the juice expands but the extra volume has nowhere to go. The result is the carton
deforms, stretches and eventually will burst.

There is a calculation that can be carried out to determine how much expanded volume there is likely to
be, this will be covered later.

An expansion vessel in this example would be attached to the orange juice carton, like a deflated balloon
that would allow the expanded volume somewhere to go.

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So An Expansion Vessel Is a Balloon?
Yes and then again no. To keep the idea simple lets say yes.
Lets now think of it as a rubber balloon protected inside a steel outer shell.
From here on we will talk about a domestic heating system, when the heating system is cold, it should be
full of water with no thermal expansion to consider. We have an empty expansion vessel (balloon) attached
to the system.

As the heating system is turned on, the water starts to expand, this expanded volume pushes into the
expansion vessel, filling the balloon, and the expansion is taken up without putting additional stress on the
main system pipework.
The balloon inside the steel vessel is surrounded with air, that cannot escape. As the expanded water
pushes into the balloon, the space available for the air is reduced. This compresses the air and increases
the pressure of the air, on the dry side of the balloon.

When the system cools and contracts, when the heat source is removed or turned off, the increased
pressure on the outside of the balloon, the compressed air, pushes the water back into the main system
and returns the balloon to its original empty state.

An expansion vessel should only contain expanded water.

Static Height, Cold Fill Pressure And Static Head

This section relates to how much pressure is needed to fill a system with water. Static height is the vertical
height of a water system, measured as vertical distance above the expansion vessel.
Cold fill pressure and static head are ways of expressing the water pressure required, at the expansion
vessel to fill the system and expel all of the air from the pipework.

Water is very vain and self conscious, image is everything and prority is given to its weight.

A lot of people talk about water pressure, and for the most part we can accept that water is not really
compressible, so what do they mean?Weight. Water pressure is referred to in terms of its vertical weight.

Let’s consider a swimming pool that is 10 metres deep. If we were to float on the surface we would feel
no weight of the water below us, if we swam to the bottom however the weight of the water would put
pressure on our body and make our ears pop.

The calculation for us is very easy, for every 10 metres of vertical water the pressure increases
by 1 bar. Therefore 1 metre of vertical water has a pressure effect of 0.1 bar.

So a water system in a building that is 100 m tall will have a water pressure of 10 bar at the
ground floor, 5 bar halfway up and 0 bar at the top.

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 We should always aim to have at least 0.3 bar of exra pressure to overcome the static height
to push air out of the highest point.

e.g. 47 metre static height would have a cold fill pressure of 5.0 bar.

Domestic Cold Water (Booster Systems)

A booster system is essentially a pumped cold mains supply. The idea is to ‘boost’ the water pressure
provided by the utility company to a greater pressure needed by the building systems.

e.g. 3 bar cold supply will not push cold water to the top of a 50 metre building.

The pumps required to boost water are selected on their ability to move large volumes of water quickly.
However it is always advisable to reduce the number of times that the pumps start in a short space of
time. In this situation an expansion vessel is used as an hydraulic accumulator.
An accumulator is a vessel selected to store water at pressure so that minor demands of the system are
met without bringing the pumps online every time.

Potable, Not Portable

Traditional expansion vessels are used on sealed heating or chilled systems. This is water in the radiators,
cooling circuits and underfloor pipes. Not suitable for human consumption, smelly and dirty.

Potable systems are garden hoses, car washes, irrigation systems, domestic showers, boosted cold
mains ,etc. These can also be referred to as drinking water systems. This water is expected to be
tasteless, clear and wholesome.

Potable water is full of dissolved air and is highly corrosive. Have you ever drawn a glass of cold
water from your supply at home and had cloudy water? If you left the glass to ‘settle’ there
would most likely be no sediment or debris after 10 minutes You have just seen microbubbles of
air in the water that have then disappeared into the atmosphere.

Domestic Hot Water (Potable Expansion)

Hot water for showers and hand basins started life as cold mains water. When we heat water, as we have
discussed, there is expansion.

A potable expansion vessel is designed to be resistant to corrosion by the heavily aerated mains
water and will not affect either taste, colour or smell of the water.

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Sealed Systems (Heating Or Chilled Expansion)
The water used in sealed systems is constantly being reused, as a result the dissolved air is taken care of
and exposed steel in traditional vessels are not subject to continued corrosion. As this water is heated, or
cooled, there is expansion.

Potable vessels can used on potable system and sealed systems. Sealed system vessels cannot
be used for potable systems.

Changes In Pressure
Now we have established that we have a balloon in a steel shell, the balloon is surrounded by air that is
compressed as the balloon fills.

We have also established that we only want expanded water in an expansion vessel.
How do we prevent water, that is not expanded water, entering an expansion vessel?

We know that if a system is 50 metres tall then the water pressure (weight) at the bottom is 5.0 bar. If we
do not want any water pushing its way into the expansion vessel at this point then we must have a
balance of pressure in the expansion vessel. If the gas charge (gas cushion, pre-charge) matches the cold
fill pressure, then we see a balance where both sides are pushing on the balloon evenly. In this way no
water will go into the expansion vessel.

The gas charge (air around the balloon) must match the cold fill pressure to prevent water
entering the vessel that is not expanded water.

If we now accept that there is a starting pressure for a system, and we also accept that as
expanded water pushes into an expansion vessel that the gas cushion is compressed further,
increasing the gas cushion pressure.

Remember, with traditional expansion vessels there will be a different working pressure to the
initial cold fill pressure. This is perfectly normal. The calculations are there to accommodate the expansion
whilst allowing for a safe increase in operational pressure.

Vessel Efficiency
There is a relationship between the maximum working pressure and the cold fill pressure that affects how
much of a vessel can be used on a system.

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The idea is to allow the expansion to be taken up, whilst allowing an acceptable change in pressure.
To this end we must factor in the maximum allowable pressure.

Vessel Efficiency (how much of the vessel can be used)

PMAX - PMIN
Vessel efficiency =
PMAX

PMAX = Maximum working pressure (absolute)
PMIN = Minimum working pressure (absolute)

e.g. Maximum working pressure 3.0 bar (gauge)

Minimum working pressure / cold fill 1.0 bar (gauge)
(3+1) - (1+1)
Vessel Efficiency =
(3+1)

Vessel Efficiency = 0.5 or 50%

Vessel Efficiency is how much of a vessel a system wants to use. Design Efficiency is how
much of a vessel is capable of being used, and is set by the manufacturer. Whichever is the lower
figure is the one used for vessel selection.

Maximum Design Efficiency on vessels up to 800 litre is 50%

Maximum Design Efficiency on vessels of 1000 litres is 40%

Vessel Sizing
We now know that water expands as it is heated, and this can be calculated using established reference
tables (or the excel calculator provided on request).

For the purposes of calculation the flow temperature is used, not the average temperature. This
provides a level of safety in the calculation.

We know that there is a relationship between the cold fill pressure and the static height of the system and
a relationship between the cold fill pressure and the maximum working pressure.

When we do not know how much water there is in a system we can use an approximation as laid
out in BS7074. 12 litres of system water per 1 kW of thermal input.

Page 8
 For chilled systems Flamco work with 18 litres per kW of thermal input when the actual volume is
not known or specified.

Expanded Volume
Vessel Sizing =
Vessel Efficiency

Lets see how it all ties together:

• Static height 7 metres

• Maximum working pressure 3.0 bar
• 100 kW of Boiler Power
• 82 °C flow temperature

PMIN Cold Fill Pressure 1.0 bar (7m = 0.7 + 0.3 to expel air)
PMAX 3.0 bar
Volume 1200 litres (100 kW x 12)
Flow Temperature 82 °C
Expansion co-efficient 3.02% (from tables or excel calculator)

(3+1) - (1-1)
Vessel Efficiency = = 0.5 or 50%
(3+1)

Expanded Volume = 1200 x 3.02% = 36.24 litres

36.24
Minimum Vessel Size = = 72.48 litres
0.5

As the next available vessel size is an 80 litre, it becomes a cursory check to make sure that the
calculated Vessel Efficiency (50% in this case) is not higher than the design efficiency for this size of
vessel.

If your calculated efficiency is 40% or below, then you do not need to check back after the
vessel has been sized. 40% is the lowest Flamco offers in terms of design efficiency.

Page 9
Reversing the Calculation – If You Really Want To…
To get an estimation of the working pressure, and you don’t want to go the easy way of using the excel
calculator, you can use Boyle’s law to calculate the gas pressure of the vessel after the expanded water
has been accommodated. If you really have to, here is how...

Boyle’s Law allows us to calculate the change in pressure.

P1 x V1 = P2 x V2

P = Pressure (absolute)
V = Volume of the gas
1 = Initial Condition
2 = Final Condition

Gauge pressure is taken relative to how we experience life with us as a starting point. We feel no pressure
at sea level, so this is taken as 0 bar pressure (gauge), and space is taken as being a vacuum an -1 bar.
For Boyle’s calculation to work we must adjust the readings to be in the absolute reference condition,
where space is 0 bar and we live (at sea level) at 1 bar pressure.

Cold Fill Pressure = 1 bar

Starting volume = 8 litres (expansion vessel size)
Final Volume = 4 litres (4 litres taken as expanded water)

(pressure gauge + 1) x initial volume = final volume x (final pressure + 1)

(1 bar + 1) x 8 = 4 x P2

((1 bar + 1) x 8)
= P2
4

P2 = 4 bar (absolute) or P2 = 3 bar (gauge) working pressure

Quoting Conventions & Terminology

Maximum working pressure

When stated this is used for the calculation as the upper pressure limit. This is used in preference to a
stated safety relief valve setting.

Minimum working pressure

When stated this is used for the cold fill pressure in the calculation. This is used in preference to a stated
static height (m) or static height (bar) as long as it is above the stated static height.

Safety relief valve setting

Used as the maximum working pressure when not otherwise stated. Always referred to in a quotation as
maximum working pressure, the term safety relief valve setting is not to be used.

Page 10
Static height (m)
Used for the cold fill pressure when no alternative is stated. Taken as 10m = 1bar, then an extra 0.3bar is
added for venting.

Static height (bar)

Used for the cold fill pressure when a stated minimum working pressure is not available, an extra 0.3bar is
added for venting.

Assumptions on glycol
On chilled systems where no glycol is stated the calculation (and quotation) will state ‘100% water’. Glycol
(antifreeze) affects the calculation massively, if you know it is being used, ask how much and factor this
into the calculation.

Assumptions in general
Where critical information is missing, and has been assumed (worst case) for the purposes of calculation,
this will be clearly marked with the rider:

‘Price and equipment subject to confirmation of full system details’

Where information has been assumed (in the worst case) the information is left blank on the quote e.g.

Volume: 100,000 litres

Temperature: 6/12 °C
Cold Fill Pressure: 1.1 bar
Maximum working pressure: _ bar (even though 6 bar may have been used for the calc)

What Happens If A Vessel Is Selected or Setup Incorrectly

Safety Valve lifting – if an expansion vessel gas charge is too high, then the system pressure has to rise
more to overcome the gas charge before any expanded water can enter the vessel. As a result the system
working pressure is much higher and may affect the system by activating the safety relief valve and
discharging water.
This effect is also seen if the gas charge is too low, the vessel will accept water that is not expanded
water. As a result the available space for expansion is reduced, the expanded water cannot be totally
accommodated, the pressure rises and the safety valve lifts. As the system cools further the pressure
drops to zero and the boiler may not fire. Sometimes the use of pressurisation equipment, automatically
topping up the system, will mask this problem.

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Pressurisation Equipment
Use Of Pressurisation Equipment
Pressurisation units are used for automatically topping up water system that have lost some, through
leaks, air venting etc.
There are a variety of manufacturers, models and styles. Generally it can be simplified into two types,
mechanical or digital.

Mechanical Equipment
Mechanical equipment is built from analogue controls that infers traditional, well established technology.

Pressure switches that are essentially a stainless steel bag against a spring. As the bag
inflates/moves it pushes against the spring until it knocks a switch. It relies on the physical
properties of the materials to work.

With mechanical pressurisation equipment the idea is to have a break tank, to separate the water mains
against back flow and contamination. To then have a pump and an expansion vessel as a hydraulic
accumulator (a store of water under pressure), and a pressure switch for pump control. Finally to have
pressure reducing valve to regulate the water out to the system.

Digital Equipment - Flexfiller

With digital equipment the idea is to have a break tank, to separate the water mains against back flow and
contamination. To then have a pump and a pressure sensor ultimately controlled by electronic hardware.

Page 12
 Flamco digital equipment protects itself, Flamco’s reputation and yours.

The onscreen messages will inform you of the running state, error messages and when all is stable the
system pressure is displayed.

The Flamco digital equipment can be configured to work with special expansion equipment or to stand
alone monitoring the system pressure and maintaining the customer set minimum pressure.
The digital equipment monitors the fluid level in the break tank to prevent the pumps from running dry, it
automatically cycles the duty pump (where two pumps are used) and logs the pump run activations as
well as the cumulative time running.

This information can be invaluable when diagnosing systems and reporting fluid loss for ISO 14001
environmental reports.

Selection Of Pressurisation Equipment

Mechanical equipment is not generally publicised by Flamco, it remains in the range at the budget end but
does not reflect the innovation and image of the company.
Digital equipment represents the way forward in the industry, equipment is selected on the anticipated
water makeup required, the perceived need for duty only or duty standby pumpsets and available floor or
wall space.

Flamco has an option to suit all requirements, and if we do not.....

We will invent, design and build it for you.

Page 13
Air & Dirt Removal Equipment
How Does Air Get Into Water?

Drinking water (Mains Water) is generally drawn from the ground, filtered, cleaned and disinfected prior to
general supply.
The schematic below shows the basic process and draws reference to the fact that the water is aerated.
This means that it is deliberately allowed to absorb as much air as it can at atmospheric pressure (0 bar
gauge = 1 bar atmospheric).

Effects Of Air In Sealed Systems

Free Air
In sealed heating systems free and dissolved air cause a number of problems. In and around the
circulation pump, micro-bubbles form on the pump suction as a result of localised pressure drop. This
directly affects the liquid displacement of rotary pumps, reducing the flow capacity and therefore the
efficiency of the system.

The presence of micro-bubbles and dissolved gas can reduce the liquid displacement of a pump by 10 to
45%. These effects are also seen on balancing valves giving unrepeatable and unpredictable results. This
significantly increases the commissioning time associated with precision equipment e.g. Chillers.
Free air, along with localised micro-bubbles cause noise in systems, often amplified through unrelated
equipment e.g. expansion vessels. This acoustic vibration also affects mechanical valves, seals and
pumps reducing the component life and altering the perception of the end user as to the suitability of the
system as a whole.

A common misconception in the industry relates to air and ways to combat the effects of free air. On
discovering micro-bubbles in a system some engineers opt to increase the overall pressure of the system.
Whilst micro-bubbles will no longer form, the reverse is seen as the fluid becomes more saturated with
dissolved gas. This in turn increases the effect of the liquid displacement of the pump and also increases
another key issue with air in sealed systems, corrosion.

A noisy pump may be the result of cavitation caused by there being too much air in the
system.

Page 14
Debris
Materials of construction come under more scrutiny in today’s construction market as price becomes a
governing factor in securing project work. Carbon steel pipe-work is common place and extensively used
in HVAC systems. Heat, oxygen and water are the three ingredients in creating corrosion. Water and
thermal transfer are the key components we must retain, the oxygen content is not. Effective removal of
dissolved gas, especially oxygen will prevent or dramatically slow the effects of corrosion.

Corrosion is a process that is difficult, if not impossible, to stop once it has begun. Corroded metal breaks
off and becomes water borne debris. This debris clogs heat exchanger channels, fouls filters and causes
excessive wear in circulating pumps.
Pure clean water, with reduced dissolved gas, is the ideal state for thermal transfer providing the optimum
conditions in a repeatable manner.

Damage to a pump may be the result of too much air in the system accelerating corrosion and
resulting in particulate debris.

High Velocity
The micro-bubble, by definition, is small and lacks the natural buoyancy of large bubbles to rise to the
surface. The micro-bubble, coupled with a high velocity guarantees that the bubble is carried around the
system, never being allowed to rest or coalesce (join with other micro-bubbles forming a larger bubble) in
a particular area.
The Flamcovent unit, and derivatives, offered by Flamco has been independently tested and verified to
show that a maximum velocity of 3.0 m/s, coupled with the PALL rings, is an effective and efficient
method for both large bubble and micro-bubble removal.

Pall Rings
The cross section presented to the flowing water has no clear path through, all the water is diverted over
the PALL rings and essentially slows within the larger diameter of the unit. The increased surface area and
hydrofoil action of the PALL rings allow further pockets of lower pressure to develop accelerating the
deaeration process and promoting coalescence on the large stainless steel area of the PALL rings. The
automatic air vent on the top of the unit is then simply used to allow the now larger bubbles to discharge
to atmosphere.

Pall rings attract microbubbels to the smooth surface where they can join up before floating
way. This is exactly the same effect as dropping a plastic drinking straw into a glass of very
fresh lemonade.

Page 15
Dissolved Air
As temperature decreases, and- or pressure increases the volume of dissolved gas can increase.
Therefore the reverse is true for releasing dissolved gas from water. In effect, starting on the 20 ° C line, at
4 bar we can see that there is the potential for 74 litres of dissolved air per cubic meter of water.

Henry’s Law (1803) states that gasses are soluble in water, the respective volume of gas
dissolved is dependent on the pressure and temperature of the water.

As the temperature is increased to 100 deg.C, while the pressure is unchanged, the water now has the
potential of holding 35 litres of dissolved air per cubic meter of water.
Equally starting again on the 20 deg.C line, when the pressure is reduced, without altering the
temperature, to 2.2 bar, the water now has the potential of holding 40 litres of air per cubic metre of water.
This reinforces the message that as the temperature goes up, or the pressure is reduced, or both together,
water cannot hold the same volume of gas in solution.

You can demonstrate the principles of gas being released as pressure is reduced by taking a
bottle of sparkling water to a meeting. A carbonated liquid bottle is actually a pressure vessel.
As you unscrew the top, the ‘ffffsss’ is the pressure being released. Now you see the bubbles
come out of solution.

Flamcovent
Flamco Flamcovent systems remove micro-bubbles by essentially filtering out the
bubbles. A large surface area is presented to the water as it flows through the
equipment. The micro-bubbles adhere to the smooth surface and join together into
larger bubbles in a process called coalescence. The larger bubbles do not have any
momentum to be carried through the unit and simply float away to the automatic air
vent located at the top of the equipment. This equipment is ideally suited to heating
systems and is located directly after the heat generating equipment on the suction
side of the pump. This makes the best use of Henry’s Law combining the reduced
pressure on the suction side of the pump along with the highest temperature in the
system.

Page 16
Flamcovent Clean
Coupled with the established Flamcovent is a sump and sludge trap, as water
borne debris hits the Pall rings the forward momentum is lost, the debris is then
free to fall into the sludge trap ready for manual venting at a later stage.

Flamco Clean
As a standalone debris collector, the Flamco Clean is a sludge trap using Pall rings
as a filter medium, allowing the water to flow through the unit with a minimal pressure
drop. The water borne debris hits the Pall rings, the forward momentum is lost, the
debris is then free to fall into the sludge trap ready for manual venting at a later
stage. The Flamco Clean equipment has a unique sludge removal system, as debris
is ready to be vented the vent valve is connected to an internal scraping arm. The
vent valve is free to be rotated by the engineers trough 360 deg. and in doing so the
internal scraping arm loosens the collected debris prior to venting.

Flamco Smart 22”- 600mm

A new technology for air separation has been developed by Flamco. A unique air and
dirt removal principle that takes a 360 degree ‘slice’ of the incoming flow water,
capturing floating debris and dense, heavier debris as well as a proportion of any
microbubbles present at the point of connection.
The sampled water is slowed, in a larger chamber, to allow microbubbles to coalesce,
and to allow debris to be collected (including ferritic debris accentuated by the magnet
attachment).

The sampled, and now de-aerated

cleaned water, is injected back into the
flow stream, coincidentally forcing new
water to the outer edge of the internal
pipework ready to be ‘sliced’ and
conditioned.
This technology is unique and does not
need additional filter media to achieve
optimum separation results, with the
added benefit of even smaller pressure
drop figures than conventional solutions.

Page 17
PSD
Flamco PSD (Pressure Step Degasser) equipment is ideally suited to chilled systems. This equipment
samples water from the system in a side stream manner, minimising the effect on
system pressure or flow. The sampled water is then subjected to a vacuum,
dramatically ‘stepping’ the pressure down making full use of Henry’s Law relating to
pressure. With the reduction in pressure, the water sample boils within the cylinder,
the dissolved gasses are liberated and as the equipment completes its cycle
the liberated gasses are pushed out of the automatic air vent.

The water is pulled to create the pressure drop exactly as if you cover the end of a closed
bicycle pump with your thumb and try and pull the plunger out.

Flexfiller
The Flexfiller equipment is designed to monitor sealed systems and topup with fluid as required. The unit
uses a stainless steel pressure transducer and electronic controls to intelligently monitor the system. In
the event of water loss the unit will automatically cycle the duty pump, on twin pump units, to extend the
working life of the equipment.

The Flexfiller has 6 volt free alarm contacts, and a digitally controlled pump overrun to
prevent pressure ‘hunting’ and to remove the need for a hydraulic accumulator within
the set.
This pressurisation unit includes a water break tank, to comply with backflow
regulations and a low level switch to prevent dry running of the pumps.
The Flexfiller range includes wall mounted or floor standing options, and delivery
pressures are available from 2.5 bar to 16.0 bar.
The system logging records, pump run hours, pump activations, power interruptions
and alarm counts. Coupled with MODBUS communication protocols and annual
service reminders it provides intelligence and peace of mind for your system.

Flexfill Plus
The Flamco Flexfill Plus combined the operating principle of the PSD (Pressure Step
Degasser / Vacuum Degasser) with the recognised Flexfiller automatic top up
pressurisation unit, while maintaining the standard footprint.

Page 18
Flexfiller PressDS
The Flexfiller PressDS is designed to automatically topup a sealed system with dosed fluid,
suitable for either glycol / water mixing or inhibitor / water mixing.
The equipment has a reduced size water break tank, to category 5 protection standards,
designed to be connected directly to a mains water supply.
The unit also contains an 18 litre chemical tank, designed for manual filling.
The unit operates as a conventional pressurisation unit, however the two fluids are mixed only
as required and on demand. This removes the need to agitate two fluids that potentially will
not merge. The mix levels can be set onsite and adjusted as and when a system requires it.

Flexfiller PressDS Plus

The Flexfiller PressDS Plus combines the de-aeration facility of the PSD (Pressure Step
Degasser / Vacuum Degasser) with the functionality of the PressDS combined dosing and
pressurisation equipment.

Page 19
Balanced Pressure Automats
Balanced Expansion
The idea of balanced expansion equipment is to take up the expansion of the system without affecting the
operating pressure of the system. This is especially key to large buildings, where the relationship between
cold pressure and maximum pressure may be very close resulting in very limited efficiency of traditional
expansion vessel equipment.
This can also have a significant cost saving in terms of being able to run some systems within cost
effective pressure ranges.
Using balanced equipment may assist in a significant saving across the whole system.

PN10 (pressure nominal 10 bar) equipment, pipes and valves are cheaper to purchase than their
PN16 alternatives.

Air Cushion Equipment

When a traditional expansion vessel is used on a sealed system we see that there is a
cold pressure, reflected by the gas charge, and a different running pressure. This is due to
the fact that as the water expands it pushes into the vessel moving and compressing the
only thing on the system that will allow movement, the gas charge. By reducing the
volume of this gas charge, as water is not in the vessel too, it is seen that the pressure
must increase. This is due to Boyle’s law (P1*V1=P2*V2, with pressures taken as
absolute), effectively as the volume decreases the pressure must increase.

If the gas charge was being monitored by a sensor, coupled in turn to a release valve,
then as the water enters the vessel (during expansion) the increase in gas charge can be
neutralised by venting the correct amount of gas.
Equally as the system contracts, a compressor is also linked to the gas pressure sensor,
and as the pressure is seen to fall, the compressor starts, recharging the vessel as
appropriate.

Compressor equipment, as all special pressurisation equipment, is highly efficient. It is not governed by
the static height or safety relief valve to determine the maximum water content. As a result this vessel is
80% efficient regardless of the working pressure or system volume as a whole. This solution is therefore
cost effective on large and/or high pressure systems both financially but also in terms of footprint.

Essentially a vessel controlled in this way becomes an intelligent expansion vessel.

Spill Tank Equipment

When a water system expands, if the additional volume has nowhere to go the pressure will rise very
quickly. If we, instead of using a variable gas cushion, open a valve and allow water to spill into a tank,
then closing the valve, we see a number of principles come together.

Page 20
Firstly we separate the expanded water from the system, secondly the expanded water can now be held
at atmospheric pressure, bringing into play pressure step de-aeration, thirdly handling fluid in this manner
is quiet.
However open bodies of water allow air to become remixed and absorbed, and most health authorities
have something to say about open bodies of water being allowed to get warm and then cool and warm
and then cool etc.

The answer is therefore a sealed spill system, similar in principle to a water balloon, it holds
water at nearly atmospheric pressure even though it was originally connected to a pressurised
mains supply.

The balloon, or diaphragm, is then fitted with an automatic air vent, complete with an air
non return valve, so that released air can be vented without introducing new air. Using
PALL rings within the vessel it is possible to further accentuate the de-aeration process.

The small bubbles that are carried into the vessel adhere to the smooth stainless steel
surface of the PALL ring. Much like dropping a straw into a fresh glass of lemonade. The
small bubbles join together in a process called coalescence. The larger bubbles now
have the required buoyancy to float up to the automatic air vent.
The Flamcomat is designed to accurately balance system pressure to within (typically)
0.2 barg.

Expansion Relief
As the system fluid heats up it expands, during expansion the system pressure attempts to rise. The
Flamcomat control equipment senses the pressure rise and opens the connection (solenoid) valve to the
expansion vessel. The expanding fluid flows into the vessel, through an orifice (to restrict flow rates) and a
system pressure rise is prevented.

Contraction Compensation
As the system cools down, the system fluid contracts, during contraction the system pressure attempts to
drop. The Flamcomat control equipment senses the pressure drop and energises the pumps. The fluid is
actively pumped from the vessel back into the system, and a system pressure drop is prevented.

Safeguards
Weight sensor to calculate water content of the master vessel at any one time. The weight sensor is
calibrated in the factory with the system dry, this allows for accurate water measurement during normal
operation.
Pressure sensor for monitoring system pressure.
Filling interlock for replenishment fluid
Flamcomat self diagnostics. The system holds the last 50 alarm conditions in its memory, these can
include water top up, excessive pump activation and high / low pressure alarms.
Cascade setting for pumps (twin pump version only), allowing second pump to energise in addition to the
first if faster fluid replenishment is required.

Pressureless Vessel And Flamcomat De-aeration

The water held in the vessel is at atmospheric pressure. The system effectively spills the expanded water
into the Flamcomat vessel. This action creates an active pressure drop between the system and the
vessel.

Page 21
In accordance with Henry’s law dissolved air can be released from water by increasing the temperature or
dropping the pressure.

The Flamcomat system with its pressure drop design allows dissolved air to be released from
the system water. This is enhanced by a cartridge of patented PALL rings in the inlet stream to
the vessel. The released air is allowed to vent out of the vessel via an automatic air vent on the
top. The air vent is also fitted with a non return valve to prevent air being drawn back into the
system

When the Flamcomat is in passive de-aeration mode air is released during the heating and cooling cycles
only.
 
When the Flamcomat is in turbo de-aeration mode the system water is continually being
exchanged with the vessel water by cycling the solenoid and pumps on the skid. This
turbo mode operates within the +/-0.2 bar tolerance on the system pressure setting.

Normally an acceptable level of dissolved gas, using Nitrogen as the measurable gas in
this gas, is 12 ml/litre of water. This is an acceptable level that takes into account the
respective oxygen level and its inherent effect on corrosion.
Traditional Automat equipment is capable of achieving dissolved Nitrogen levels of 8.2
ml/litre of water.
The Flamcomat however, was tested at the Delft University and was verified as achieving the same results
as partial vacuum equipment. Dissolved Nitrogen levels of 7.0 ml/litre of water.

Selection
Balanced equipment is selected based on:
• System Volume
• Required Running Pressure
• Thermal Load
• Operating Flow Temperature
• Fluid Composition (e.g. Glycol or Ethanol percentages)

The expansion vessel or spill tank is sizes using the system volume, fluid composition, and the flow
temperature (to lookup the corresponding coefficient of expansion).
The compressor or pumpset is selected against the required running pressure and the thermal load of the
system.

The excel calculator provided by Flamco takes care of this for you.

Page 22
Top Tips

1 litre water = 1 kg at 1 bar absolute pressure and at sea level if you

want to be super accurate

12 litres per 1 kW of Heating power is an assumption used in the UK (Bsw7074)

18 litres per 1 kW of Cooling power is an assumption used in the UK (Industry

Approximation)

PN10 and PN16 Flanges are the same up to 200mm in size

Sparkling water is a great way to demonstrate Henry’s Law

Vacuum degassers are the only effective way to remove dissolved gas
from chilled water

Water boils at 69 °C at the top of Circa -0.7bar in reference to Sea Level

Mount Everest

Antifreeze massively affects the expansion values for water, take it into account.

Medium Temperature Systems (MTHW) need special attention, make sure that an antiflash
margin is included.

Safety First, If In Doubt Ask!

If you have any further questions, please contact us:

Flamco Technical Support & Service

T +44 1744 744 744

E [email protected]
I www.flamcogroup.com

Page 23
Flamco is your reliable partner around the world
Flamco is a unit of Aalberts Industries N.V. and engaged a world leader in its field. Flamco has seven production
in the development, production and sale of high-quality locations and supplies successful and innovative
products for heating, ventilation, hot domestic water, air products to the installation industry in more than 60
conditioning and cooling systems. All these products are countries. Our three basic principles always come first:
available from technology wholesalers. With 60 years of high quality, excellent service and sound advice.
experience and approximately 650 employees, Flamco is

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