The Whalen Company - How It Works

Energy Savings • Lower System Friction Losses • Variable Speed Pumps
Diversified Fan-Coil Product Line • Temperature Control • Superior Humidity Control

For an example of how the individual units in a tier operate, please refer to the adjacent diagram showing a typical tier of Whalen units. In this three story building, the designer has decided to upfeed three floors from mains in the basement. Obviously, the designer could also downfeed the units from mains located in the 3rd floor ceiling.

1. Chilled water enters the riser heat-exchanger of the first floor Whalen unit at 45 degrees F and absorbs heat from the room. In this example, the temperature rise of the water is 1.7 degrees F in each pass through a single unit, so the water will enter the second floor unit at 46.7 degrees F.

2. Assuming that all unit thermostats are calling for cooling, the temperature of the water in the supply riser will increase at the rate of 1.7 degrees F per floor, with the entering water temperature of the 2nd floor unit being about 48.3 degrees F.

3. The water loops around a factory-installed top U-bend (with air vent) and begins its descent through the return riser, leaving the 3rd floor at 51.7 degrees F. In the top floor unit, as in all other units in the tier, the air passing over the riser heat-exchanger coil is cooled by an average water temperature of 50.0 degrees F.

4. If some thermostats in the tier of units are satisfied, those units will not warm the water passing through them. This results in a reduction in average water temperature in the whole tier of units, with an accompanying increase in cooling capacity in those units with thermostats calling for cooling!

5. The average of the water temperatures in any unit is a constant 50.0 degrees F in this example. Of course, the designer could make use of a different entering water temperature and design for a different temperature rise through each unit. The overall result would be the same. The average water temperature in each separate unit is the same as the average temperature of the water entering and leaving the tier.

Extensive testing at various temperatures and flow rates confirms that all units in this example have nearly identical sensible and total cooling capacities regardless of their position in the tier. The average water temperature concept is independent of the number of units in the tier. In the example shown, the average water temperature would be 50.0 degrees F whether the building were two stories tall or eighty-two stories tall or anything in between.

For an example of how the individual units in a tier operate, please refer to the adjacent diagram showing a typical tier of Whalen units. In this thirty-five story building, the designer has decided to upfeed thirty-five floors from mains in the basement. Obviously, the designer could also downfeed the units from mains located in the 35th floor ceiling.

1. Chilled water enters the riser heat-exchanger of the first floor Whalen unit at 43 degrees F and absorbs heat from the room. In this example, the temperature rise of the water is 0.2 degrees F in each pass through a single unit, so the water will enter the second floor unit at 43.2 degrees F.

2. Assuming that all unit thermostats are calling for cooling, the temperature of the water in the supply riser will increase at the rate of 0.2 degrees F per floor, with the entering water temperature of the 35th floor unit being 49.8 degrees F.

3. The water loops around a factory-installed top U-bend (with air vent) and begins its descent through the return riser, leaving the 35th floor at 50.2 degrees F. In the top floor unit, as in all other units in the tier, the air passing over the riser heat-exchanger coil is cooled by an average water temperature of 50.0 degrees F.