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Gas Pipe Sizing in 4 Simple Steps
Gas Pipe Sizing in 4 Simple Steps
Gas Pipe Sizing in 4 Simple Steps
When undertaking gas pipe sizing, the pressure loss through the pipes cannot
exceed the difference between the starting pressure and the pressure required at the
appliances.
Based on the example image above, if you need 2.75 kPa / 0.4 psi at the appliance:
In this example, all appliances have differing flow rates with the same inlet pressure
of 2.75 kPa / 0.4 psi.
Step 3 – Draw the pipe layout
In the most efficient way possible, draw the pipe layout from the gas meter to the
appliances (minimise the amount of pipe and fittings).
First, you need to determine the index length. The index length is the route from the
gas meter to the furthest appliance.
As you can see in the example below, the stove in the kitchen is the furthest away
appliance and is therefore the index length (highlighted in yellow).
The index length from A-F is 27m / 88 ft. It is common practice to add 20% to the
index length to cater for pressure loss through bends and fittings. This makes the
index length 33m / 108 ft.
From here we can create a table to record the pipe sizes for each segment. The
process to follow for each pipe segment is:
Now we can use a spreadsheet or pre-calculated tables to fill in the ‘size’ column on
the table.
Using the pre-calculated table below, the index length is rounded up and shown in
green. The pipe segments B-C, C-D, and C-F are shown in yellow, B-E and A-B is
shown in blue.
Now we can complete the gas pipe sizing table with the results.
Then the last step is to show the gas pipe sizing on the drawing.
- Diversity – if you have lots of appliances, they will not operate simultaneously
so you do not need to allow for 100% demand in the gas pipe sizing
- Minimum pressure – you may have appliances that have different maximum
pressure requirements, in this case, it would be best to use the most onerous
- Height – if you have a very tall building, the height will affect your calculations