Control valves minimise energy costs

Samson Controls has provided optimum control for temperature regulation at the London exhibition venue Excel.

Achieving energy savings at Excel has always been a key objective.

The centre has 90,000m2 of events, conference and meeting space, as well as cafes and restaurants.

A typical exhibition hall would cover about 6,400m2 and as a result of the flexible layout, adjacent halls can be easily joined together, with single halls of up to 3,200m2 possible.

As the centre is a year-round venue, consideration was given to creating the most energy-efficient methods of heating and cooling the various exhibition spaces.

Clearly, it was important that the energy costs could be optimised for a wide variety of demands ranging from only a few halls in use, to all the halls being occupied.

To help achieve the key objectives, variable speed pumps for water circulation in the extensive heating and ventilation systems were utilised to realise the potential for significant energy savings.

To ensure that the water distribution worked as designers intended, it was important that differential pressure regulators were installed as the primary balancing device.

Samson Controls provided over 225 valves ranging in size from 1/2in series 45 valves, up to size 400mm series 2333 valves.

The 400mm valves are some of the largest globe valves manufactured and were installed to handle flow rates as high as 375 litre/sec.

The use of very large valves, which have to operate against high pump heads, required special construction and this was a challenge that Samson was pleased to accept.

The Samson valves enabled speedy commissioning of the water distribution network because each sub-circuit could be set independently of other circuits, without the need to go back and adjust previously set circuits.

The large stocks of valves held by Samson enabled the project to be completed to tight deadlines, ready for the first exhibition being staged at the new centre.

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