Calculate Expansion Tank Sizes

Water, in the liquid stage, expands when you heat it and contracts when you cool it. Therefore, in
closed hydronic systems, we need expansion tanks to allow for this expansion to go somewhere.
Otherwise, the expansion would cause excess pressure that will damage our systems.

Difficulty:
Challenging

Instructions
Things You'll Need

 Calculator
 Water expansion factor chart
 Pencil and paper

1. Calculate Expansion Tank Size

o 1
You will need to calculate the total amount, in gallons, of water in your system. If you
do not know this, you can use the following formula as an estimate.
V=(L1+L2) * 4 * Dia2/24
V: System volume in gallons
L1: Length of loop
L2: Width of loop
Dia: Diameter of largest water main in inches
 o 2
Next, you need to know your initial system temperature and final system temperature.
This will assist in finding your expansion factor. Average fill temperature off a NYC
street is 50 degrees Fahrenheit. For a chilled water system, you usually do a 50-degree
to 90-degree swing, and for a hot water system, you do 50 degrees to 180 degrees.

o 3
Using your temperatures locate the appropriate expansion factor. Multiply the
expansion factor by the system volume and you will have your appropriate expansion
volume. Expansion factor charts can be found online.

o 4
Next, calculate your acceptance factor using the formula below:
Acceptance factor (in PSI) = (1-(PI-Atm)/(P0-Atm))
PI: Initial pressure in PSI
P0: Final pressure in PSI
Atm: Atmospheric pressure (14.7 PSI)

o 5
Calculate your expansion tank volume. Do this by dividing the expansion volume by the
acceptance factor, and this will give you the necessary size of the expansion tank in
gallons.

Read more: How to Calculate Expansion Tank Sizes | eHow.com

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