Posted by When we welcomed Belimo to our Pleasant Hill training facility for a half-day session on the Energy Valve, we didn’t know we’d also be getting a much needed history lesson. David Kandel, our technical guide, started from the beginning with position control valves – those wonderful little pieces of equipment that open and close and that’s about it. Then came the ball valve with rotary action and a characterizing disc, opening a range of control positions.
For many applications still today, the CCV (Characterized Control Valve) works fine – it’s inexpensive, has high close off and a wide range of Cv. The only downside is it’s only appropriate for hot and chilled water with glycol (unit ventilators, fan coils, VAV units), and it’s not “smart.”
For larger applications, there came the globe valves, with equal percentage and linear characteristics and SS trim that works for steam. Due to their cost and their size, these globe valves have been difficult to use, and the actuators get a lot of wear and tear.
The next natural progression, for the scientists among like David who can rattle off coefficients and square roots like sports scores, was the pressure independent valve. These two-way valves supply a specific flow for each valve of the control signal regardless of pressure variation in the system. They include mechanical regulators and flow meters with dynamic balancing, which makes them ideal for pretty much all applications (in short, because they continuously re-calibrate for GPM).
This is essentially where we are today, with PIVs that achieve perfect zone levels, are dynamically balanced, offer field set-able flows and result in cost savings compared to CCVs that require a separate balancing device. The electronic Belimo Energy Valve comes standard with the same logic as pressure independent VAVs – there’s a flow measurement device, a controller and a flow regulating device for real time flow measurement and an unrestricted flow pattern.
These electronic Energy Valves are fully programmable to exact flow requirements, feedback options and programmable characteristics. VFD reset can also be employed with pressure independence (which is required in ASHRAE 90.1 and for California-based projects, Title 24).
For hospitals and university campuses, the pressure independent, electronic Energy Valve can be especially efficient with the most possibility for quick ROI through energy savings because it enables dynamic Delta T management.
If you’re interested in learning more about the evolution of the energy valve, get in touch. Our sales team is now trained and ready to talk through the Belimo product line, and we have access to technical experts like David to get in front of any customers who want a deeper dive into how the device actually works.
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