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Extreme water hammer

iPipefitter
iPipefitter Member Posts: 15
in Strictly Steam
I work as a pipefitter, still rather new to my trade. Trying to learn all I can to become the best I can be. I been having issues with extreme water hammer. I noticed the some of the pipes aren't insulated as there was a leak that required me to tear of the insulation in order to fix the leak. The traps seem to be good, tested them with a ultrasound device, everything is pitched correctly, there does seem to be too long of a nipple in the in the Hartford loop. I fixed the nipple issue to meet common standards, however, it's still pretty bad. Could the lack of insulation really contribute that much to the cause of the water hammer? I know it loses quite a bit of heat due to lack of insulation, or do you all think that there could be another underlying issue? My thought is that the lack of insulation is causing more condensate than they can handle but was wondering others opinions too.

Thank you.

Comments

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,690
    edited May 2021
    pictures of the boiler and near boiler piping and anything else unusual would help. Is the water level in the site glass stable when it is steaming or does it bounce up and down a lot? Is the level in the system cold and while steaming drastically different? is it all 2 pipe? what is the pressure set at and what is the actual pressure?
    iPipefitterethicalpaul
  • iPipefitter
    iPipefitter Member Posts: 15
    It would kind of be hard to take a picture of the boiler because I'm at a huge plant that has a power house with 4 huge boilers probably the size of a small house. It's a huge system that runs with 24" mains, maybe this is just a common issue with systems this large that cannot be fully prevented or contained. I was just thinking it was narrowed down to that specific unit heater.
  • iPipefitter
    iPipefitter Member Posts: 15
    mattmia2 said:

    pictures of the boiler and near boiler piping and anything else unusual would help. Is the water level in the site glass stable when it is steaming or does it bounce up and down a lot? Is the level in the system cold and while steaming drastically different? is it all 2 pipe? what is the pressure set at and what is the actual pressure?

    I can't really post pictures it's against my companies policy. I could try to check the pressures, and give you some more data, it's super high pressure steam with PRV's all over to reduce to lower pressure for the unit heaters and other various aspects of the plant.
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,690
    Oh. Yeah, there is something wrong. There are lots of things it could be. On high pressure systems it can break pipes and kill people so you need to sort it out.

    The way you asked your question it sounded like a residential system.
    ethicalpaul
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,594
    Yes, not having insulation will create excessive condensate and this can certainly cause water hammer. 
    Retired and loving it.
  • retiredguy
    retiredguy Member Posts: 971
    What is the boilers operating steam pressure steam, what size are the boilers, and where is the steam hammer happening, in the boiler room, out in the system, at the deaerator, where? Is this an old system or newer system? Is this a hospital, school or industrial building? Is the steam used for heating or processing or both? Much more information is needed for anyone to make even an educated guess as to what is causing the steam hammer. Where in the USA are you? Name the city. We need more information and pictures.
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,248
    @iPipefitter

    On a job like that if all the pipe is pitched right and you getting water hammer the most likely reason is a bad trap(s).

    You mentioned a unit heater is any equipment piped where it has to lift the condensate to an overhead return?
  • iPipefitter
    iPipefitter Member Posts: 15
    edited May 2021
    EBEBRATT-Ed said:

    @iPipefitter

    On a job like that if all the pipe is pitched right and you getting water hammer the most likely reason is a bad trap(s).

    You mentioned a unit heater is any equipment piped where it has to lift the condensate to an overhead return?

    I found some bad traps, replaced them and had the pipe re insulated and the issue stopped. Thank you for all your replies.

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