IIAR’s Annual Conference to Feature a Deep Dive on the Ammonia Piping Handbook
The educational session, Ammonia Piping Handbook Education Program: Exploring an Essential Tool for Designers, Contractors, and Operators, will take place on Thursday, June 24 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. “This type of session was typically presented on a Sunday, but it has moved from a Sunday to a Thursday in our virtual format,” McKeown said.
The four-hour course will examine all the parts of the IIAR Refrigeration Piping Handbook and will provide an overview of the content, including spreadsheet calculators provided to those who purchase the handbook, and detailed explanations of the art and engineering methods that are presented in the handbook.
During the event, Bruce Nelson, director of innovation for Colmac Coil Manufacturing Inc. and past chairman of IIAR, will present Part 1, which will cover pressure drop engineering equations, vertical suction riser flow theory, and the use of computer programs and nomographs. Nelson is also the current chairman of the Ammonia Refrigeration Foundation.
“I’m just really pleased with the way that recent Ammonia Refrigeration Foundation-funded research has produced really high-value deliverables that have contributed directly to the rewrite and the revision of the Piping Handbook,” Nelson said. “In particular, Chapter 1, which I get to present to the membership at our education session.” Nelson said the chapter incorporates results from at least three different research projects. “We’ve incorporated the results from an ammonia suction riser project funded by ARF. The result is a sizing method that allows engineers to properly size these suction risers. The other updated our economic pipe sizing,” he said. “Both of those projects introduced some new software tools.”
“I’m just really pleased with the way that recent Ammonia Refrigeration Foundation-funded research has produced really high-value deliverables that have contributed directly to the re-write and the revision of the Piping Handbook.”
–Bruce Nelson, director of innovation for Colmac Coil Manufacturing Inc. and past chairman of IIAR
During the session, Part 2, which will be presented by Gordon Struder, director, advanced engineering at Evapco, will cover evaporator and condenser piping methods. Struder is a member of the IIAR board of directors and is the chairman of the IIAR Piping Committee. He was also involved with the re-write of chapter one and the entire handbook. He was a long-time chairman of ASHRAE’s Refrigeration Piping Committee.
Part 3, which will be presented by Doug Stricker, refrigeration engineering manager for Gray Architects and Engineers, will cover several important topics found within the handbook, including plant layout, machinery room layout, welding requirements, schematics, and relief piping. Stricker is a member of an IIAR Standards Consensus Body, the IIAR Piping Committee, and has contributed to the review and editing of the handbook content.
Jim Young, a cold insulation specialist engineer with Johns Manville, will present Part 4, which will address insulation systems for piping and equipment. Insulation systems reduce energy consumption, enhance workplace safety, and increase the mechanical integrity of piping and vessels. Young will provide the overview of insulation guidance found within the handbook. He is a long-term member of IIAR’s piping committee and was instrumental in executing IIAR’s recently published Insulation Installation Guideline and other insulation research. Young is also a long-term member of ASHRAE’s piping and insulation technical committees.
The IIAR Refrigeration Piping Handbook Education Program is presented as an adjunct technical program to the annual conference technical program. Registrants will be provided the opportunity to purchase a new piping handbook, which provides access to computer design programs, for a 40 percent discount.
