circulators and heating element located in the ceiling

Brian_37

I work for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. There are several buildings where I work that have forced hot water systems that heat from the ceiling through steel ceiling tiles with pin holes in them to help move heat down. The system includes B&G circs, finn tube, choke valves for balancing and dialectic couplings that constantly fail, automatic air valves that seem to only serve the purpose of constantly pulling air into the system and so on, no flow checks. These buildings are both home and work to many so it is very difficult to work with people always walking below you. There are actually B&G pumps and couplers wizzing away just above peoples beds.

The heat is generated by steam from steam plant and then into the basement at 100 lbs down to 15 lbs and then through a heat exchanger. All of the purging of air that is needed, say after a repair is made, must be done from the ceiling piping since no allowance was made to do any purging from the basement. To make matters worse, there are no controles currently working to regulate the heat, such as an outside sensor to regulate water temperature or even thermostats. The circulators run 24/7. A few of the building have nonfunctioning HVAC steam control valves that have failed open leaving me to utilize a cracked gate valve and a laser thermometer as the only means to controle the amount of steam into the exchanger. In other words 300 degree water could be produced instantly and all day long if I misjudged the valve opening. Eventually I hope to find time to make some needed repairs for safety reasons and ultimately have an HVAC Pro come in ro work out the controle details.

Barnes & Jones from the early 1960's is said to have designed this mess. Have you ever heard of such a system? What advice, other than getting a new job, if any can you give me about this. It's here to stay.

Thanks