This feat is made possible by incorporating an addressable 2-port valve from Belimo into the remote commissioning unit. This valve has an actuator that can be set remotely to the required position to give design flow rates. Only two sizes of valve and four valve configurations of flow and return are needed to achieve design performance.

The concept can be applied to chilled and hot-water systems.

Martin Lowe of Marflow explains, ‘The remote commissioning approach is about more than new valve technologies. It is designed to give the specifier and installer complete control of the project from start to finish. As such, it incorporates centralised management of valve information and hydronic performance data, advanced prefabrication techniques and innovative commissioning processes using Marflow’s single-station balancing method.

These commissioning units are prefabricated and bring all the valves for each zone into a single location that also contains information about the system. The manifold box is pre-insulated, and final connections to terminal units made using pre-insulated flexible pipe.

Unlike proportional balancing, which is laborious and time consuming, single-station balancing uses a subtraction technique to identify problem valves. It is based on knowing the design flow rates for each valve and, therefore, the total flow rate for the group of fan coils.

Assuming that all valves are functioning correctly, isolating a valve will have a predictable effect on the total flow rate for the remaining valves. Where an unexpected result is observed, it is a simple matter of elimination to identify the valve responsible, enabling the commissioning engineer to home in on the problem area.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend