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VA Design Manuals (PG-18-10) - Steam Heating, Hot Water, and Outside Distribution Systems - Volume 2 - Water Boilers, 0
- 1.0 DESIGN PARAMETERS/REQUIREMENTS [Go to Page]
- 1.1 Requirements:
- 1.2 Load Determination Capacity Calculations:
- 1.3 Boiler System Capacity:
- 2.0 GENERAL CRITERIA [Go to Page]
- 2.1 Graphic Standards:
- 2.2 Guidelines:
- 2.3 Equipment Selection
- 2.4 Life Cycle Cost Analysis
- 3.0 HEATING PLANT [Go to Page]
- 3.1 General Heating plants may be either centralized or decentralized. The determination of what style plant a facility should install or whether a conversion is appropriate requires a detailed evaluation of many elements including installation, oper...
- 3.2 Building Requirements
- 3.3 Water Treatment Area (central or hub locations):
- 3.4 Water Test Area (central or hub locations):
- 3.5 Personnel Facilities
- 3.6 Access Platforms
- 3.7 Permanent ladders and stairs
- 3.8 Acoustical Considerations
- 4.0 EQUIPMENT LAYOUT [Go to Page]
- 4.1 In a central plant arrange boilers, emergency generator room/enclosure, control panels, instrumentation panel, motor control center, and control room/ECC along an aisle on the main floor. Boiler, chiller, and emergency generator spaces must be obs...
- 4.2 Control and instrument panels shall be visible from aisle, and to the maximum extent possible, visible from the control room/ECC. Instrument panels may be located in the control room/ECC.
- 4.3 The electrical switchgear and engine-generator(s) (cogeneration equipment) shall be located within the plant in a separate room adjacent to an outside wall. The engine-generator(s) shall be visible via view windows from the room that contains thei...
- 4.4 Housekeeping Pads - All floor mounted equipment shall be placed on and anchored to housekeeping pads
- 4.5 Tube replacement for firetube boilers generally requires a space in front of the boilers which is equal to its longest length. (See manufacturer’s installation manuals for exact area required for boiler tube pulls.)
- 4.6 The width of the clear space between the side of a boiler and a wall shall be not less than three feet six inches.
- 4.7 Passage clearance between boilers ≥36inches wide and ≥80inches high.
- 4.8 The clearance for the opening of boiler doors shall not be less than 12 inches from the edges of the doors in any position.
- 4.9 The clearance between floor mounted pumps shall not be less than three feet. The clearance between floor mounted pumps and walls shall not be less than two feet, preferably three feet, except where a greater clearance is required to maintain a...
- 4.10 Where possible allow enough space between boilers to maneuver a forklift. This is mandatory for new construction.
- 4.11 All equipment and piping devices shall be accessible from the floor or from permanent platforms for operation, repair, maintenance and replacement.
- 4.12 Repair, maintenance and replacement shall be possible without requiring the removal of other major items of equipment, the removal of major portions of piping, or the removal of portions of the building.
- 4.13 Generally, there should be at least three feet of clear floor space around all items of equipment. Boiler access shall be reviewed in detail as some areas of the boiler such as tube pull or cleaning will require a greater distance.
- 4.14 Where possible, valves shall be located not more than seven feet above a floor, mezzanine, or platform. Limited exceptions are permitted for valves that are rarely used, would not need to be operated in an emergency situation (an emergency isolat...
- 5.0 BOILER ROOM ENVIRONMENT [Go to Page]
- 5.1 Heating Plant HVAC Requirements
- 6.0 SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT [Go to Page]
- 6.1 Hot Water Heating Systems
- 6.2 Boiler Capacity (non-condensing type):
- 6.3 Pressure Requirements
- 6.4 Safety and Design Considerations
- 6.5 Boiler Criteria and Types.
- 6.6 Water Treatment Equipment
- 6.7 Pumps
- 6.8 Emergency Power
- 7.0 FUEL [Go to Page]
- 7.1 General
- 7.2 Natural Gas
- 7.3 Fuel Tanks
- 7.4 Fuel Pumps
- 7.5 Fuel Oil piping
- 8.0 BURNERS [Go to Page]
- 8.1 Automated Shutdown- When water temperature or pressure is in excess of demand sensed, the following shall occur:
- 9.0 COMBUSTION AIR [Go to Page]
- 9.1 An adequate air supply provides for clean, safe combustion and minimizes the formation of soot.
- 9.2 The boiler room shall have two combustion air openings to ensure adequate combustion air and proper ventilation; one within 12 inches of the ceiling and the other within 12 inches of the floor. Each opening shall have a minimum free area of one ...
- 9.3 Combustion air fans shall be equipped with VFDs.
- 9.4 Combustion dampers shall be interlocked with the boiler firing cycle. Manually operated dampers prohibited.
- 9.5 Burners: Provide low excess air design, with oxygen trim, on larger water tube boilers when justified by life cycle cost analysis. Provide low NOx burners (not to exceed 30 ppm) unless lower emission concentration is required by emissions authori...
- 10.0 BOILER STACK AND EMISSIONS [Go to Page]
- 10.1 Boiler stack location, height, and diameter shall be determined by an engineering study conducted by a licensed professional engineer, which considers boiler/burner operational requirements, air flow around the stacks and the boiler plant and adj...
- 10.2 Generally, individual stacks on each boiler are required. A common breeching and single stack system for all boilers may be approved if documentation is provided to support the need of the request due to specific project conditions. A request for...
- 10.3 Locate diesel engine exhaust outlets so that they do not mix with building intake air.
- 10.4 Stacks shall be designed to provide adequate natural draft. A stack generally shall extend at least 10 feet above the highest point on the roof.
- 10.5 The size of the stack shall not be smaller than that recommended by the boiler manufacturer. Wherever possible, the outlet area should be sized to provide a discharge velocity at a maximum gas flow of 2000 to 3000 feet per minute.
- 10.6 Vents, stacks, and chimneys shall comply with NFPA 54 and NFPA 210.
- 10.7 Gas mains, burner headers, gas piping, etc., shall be vented according to the criteria in NFPA 85A, Prevention of Furnace Explosions in single Burner, Boiler-Furnaces and NFPA 85B, Prevention of Furnace Explosions in a Gas Multi-Burner Boiler.
- 10.8 Boilers shall be equipped with outlet air dampeners regardless of whether the boiler has a dedicated stack.
- 11.0 CONTROLS AND INSTRUMENTATION [Go to Page]
- 11.1 Controls
- 11.2 Safety devices
- 11.3 Automatic/Remote Starting(light off)
- 11.4 Monitoring and data management:
- 12.0 OPERATION OF BOILERS [Go to Page]
- 12.1 Operational Requirements Designer shall ensure that all of the operational requirements defined below can be accommodated with the equipment and systems provided. In some cases additional connections or specific equipment for testing and calibra...
- 12.2 Inspections
- 12.3 Cleaning
- 13.0 FREEZE PROTECTION [Go to Page]
- 13.1 Heat tracing systems are not recommended for systems inside the building. It is not visually apparent that a heat cable has failed.
- 13.2 When terminal devices are in contact with freezing ambient air, steam is the preferred choice for the heat source.
- 13.3 The condensate created when steam is used for freeze protection may be returned to the boiler.
- 14.0 WARRANTY [Go to Page]
- 14.1 Boilers shall be selected for the maximum warranty period offered.
- 15.0 MODIFICATIONS TO EXISTING PLANT [Go to Page]
- 15.1 In addition to the equipment required for operation, the design shall provide a standby boiler and standby pumps during all phases of construction.
- 15.2 Temporary boilers and other equipment may be employed if cost effective.
- 16.0 CODES & STANDARDS
- 17.0 REFERENCES [Go to Page]
- 17.1 Design Manuals (PG-18-10); HVAC Design Manual for New, Replacement, Addition and Renovation of Existing VA Facilities: Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Construction and Facilities Management.
- 17.2 ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section I,II,V and IX
- 17.3 NFPA 85, 8501, 8502 or 8504
- 17.4 Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) Central Heating Plants UFC 3-430-08N
- 17.5 GSA P100 Facility Standards for Public Buildings Service
- 17.6 EPA/625/5-86/020, Nitrogen Oxide Control for Stationary Combustion Sources.
- 17.7 Heating Boiler Operators Manual, Mohammad A. Malek, 2007 McGraw-Hill
- 17.8 Cleaver Brooks – Boiler Room Guide
- 17.9 Code Requirements – International Mechanical Code 2012
- 17.10 The VA Safety Device Testing Manual
- 17.11 VA Directive - Boiler and Boiler Plant Operations
- 17.12 VHA Directive 1028, Electrical Power Distribution System
- 17.13 VHA standard details on the TIL.
- 17.14 VA CFM Physical Security Design Manual (PSDM), latest edition
- 17.15 29 CFR 1910 [Go to Page]
