I'm getting mad at you. I want to see a full size picture of the monster in your avatar.Sting wrote:The only way to understand the difference between moving sufficient GPM [SUCCESSFULLY] is to read the books I have listed. We cannot go into the detail it will take here. I understand your doubt and please don't take offense at my persistence. Read the books and gently learn why.
Let's you and me go into detail, shall we? I challenge you and all the other board members to show me how this won't work. And if it won't, how you can make it work. We need to define a totally auto setup. You light the fire and walk away. When the coal boiler is up to temp, it takes over. When the coal boiler dies, gas/oil takes over. No valves to touch, no switches to throw. No temp switches, relays, interfacing control wiring. Just plug and play. And it minimizes losses.
I do not in any way doubt that this will work as I described it. I don't have time for reading any of your recommended books, that would cut into my time here.
While I am not a licensed Professional Engineer, I have been employed as the Chief Engineer for the Cintas Corporation's facility in Branford, CT for the last 15 years. I was not new at this when I got there either. I have over 80 pumps ranging from small fractional HP to twin 60 HP pumps running in loops and fed by twin 25's in a Ultrafilter of my own design. In my tenure here, I have processed, reused, cleaned and sanitized over 150 million gallons of wastewater.
This design will flow water exactly as the gas boiler sees it now, if you don't believe it please describe how it fails. If it won't work at the flow rate now, it will not satisfy the demand if the gas boiler was removed and installed in it's place exactly as shown in his drawing. Your asssumption of demand is correct if all four zones call for heat continuously. If that were the case, do you really think that beer keg size gas boiler could keep up with the same demand? When his house calls for heat from one zone, that zone pumps at the pump's rating through a 3/4" pipe, when it calls for heat from four zones, it pumps the same volume of water through four 3/4" pipes at the pump's rating. If the flow rate is the same, you are moving the same mass of heat. If I pump 200 gallons a minute through a three inch pipe, and I pump 200 gallons a minute through a six inch pipe, how much water comes out of each in a minute? I say it will keep up and it will do a better job heating the house than if it stood alone as it has almost twice the mass of heated water. How does the heat loss figure in here?
The ancient Greeks purposely tipped the Parthenon's roof supporting columns to lean inward so that when you stood at the base it would not appear to be falling down on top of you. While not a great engineering principle or making the strongest support, it is truly a magnificent building. You might also note that it is in fact about 2,500-3,000 years old. Sometimes you just don't need perfect.
So I'm calling bull crap on the pipe size. Prove me wrong. And bring a big picture of that traction engine.