Two- or four-pipe heating and/or cooling systems are characterized by changing conditions due to valves opening and closing depending on the need for heating or cooling. This continuously causes flow and differential pressure changes.
Without proper measurements, such systems suffer from uneven heat distribution, poor energy inefficiency and are very difficult to commission.
To avoid these issues Pressure Independent balancing and Control Valves (PICV) provide the best and simplest solution.
By adding an actuator, the valves function as flow-limited control valves, automatically balancing the system and providing the best possible indoor comfort and energy efficiency. The commissioning of the system is a lot easier, all valves only need to be set to the design flow before the actuators are mounted.
Danfoss offers a broad range of pressure-independent balancing and control valves and matching actuators.
Stable room temperature
Eliminating the overflow situations at partial load conditions has a significant effect on the stability of the room temperature
Improved indoor comfort
With the stable room temperature, the indoor comfort increases. Required temperatures are accurately met, increasing the productivity of office employees or benefitting the experience of hotel guests.
Energy savings
The perfectly balanced system, under all conditions, increases the energy efficiency and leads to savings on energy costs.
Reduced maintenance costs
As the pressure-independent valves ensure perfect working conditions, the actuators mounted on them require fewer movements to keep the temperature stable. This increases the lifetime value of the actuators and reduces the maintenance costs.
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AB-QM 4.0 Pressure Independent Control Valves (PICVs) are the successor of Danfoss AB-QM. They offer best-in-class specifications and easy installation. The scaling- and clogging resistant design secures and outstanding reliability and long lifetime. The required design flow can easily be established by turning the setting wheel on top of the valve to a presetting between 10-100% of the nominal flow. A wide variety of on/off, modulating and digital actuators is available to accurately control the flow through the valves.
AB-QM Pressure Independent balancing and Control Valves (PICV) provide both a control functionality and dynamic balancing solution for HVAC heating and cooling systems. PICVs are designed for various types of terminal units, Air Handling Units (AHU), chillers and provide high indoor comfort and energy efficiency in public and commercial buildings.
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With NovoCon® Danfoss revolutionizes the way hydronic balancing and HVAC control work together. The first of its kind digital HVAC actuators are directly connected with a Building Management System (BMS). This enables System Integrators to design state-of-art, Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.
To take advantage of the combined balancing and control features of Danfoss AB-QM it has to be equipped with actuators controlled by room thermostats or a Building Management System. Danfoss offers a broad range of actuators varying from thermal on-off to digital step motor actuators with bus communication.
Building: Hotel/resort Application: Heat pump system for comfort cooling via fan coil units Challenge: Increase guest comfort and save on energy costs Solution: The hydronic HVAC system for cooling was equipped with AB-QM 4.0 PICV valves for dynamic hydronic balancing and control via TWA-Q thermal actuators
Building: OfficeApplication: Hydronic balancing and remote control of 4-pipe heating/cooling change-over system.Challenge: Gaining BREEAM credits for energy monitoring and ensure fast, fail free installation.Solution: Digital NovoCon S actuator combined with AB-QM 4.0 PICVs and ChangeOver6 Energy. The combination balances the system hydronically, allow remote access via a BMS and provides actual energy consumption data per climate panel during both heating and cooling operation.
Building: OfficeApplication: Hydronic balancing and remote control of 4-pipe heating/cooling change-over systemChallenge: Ensure a flexible to use HVAC system with DGNB sustainability certificationSolution: Digital NovoCon actuator combined with AB-QM control valves and NovoCon CO6 combined with ChangeOver6 as a combination balance the system hydronically, allow remote access via a BMS and control the room temperatures during both heating and cooling operation.
Building: OfficeApplication: Climate panels with a four-pipe change-over system for Heating and CoolingChallenge: Establish a modern, innovative HVAC control system optimized for flexibility in (changing) usage of office spaceSolution: Integration of Danfoss field devices with the Building Management System via BACnet bus-communication
Building: HotelApplication: Hydronic balancing and control for radiator heating and fan coil coolingChallenge: Establish top level comfort and minimum energy consumption for heating and coolingSolution: Fan-coil units for cooling; 8 heating risers and radiators equipped with Danfoss products.
Katowice Business Centre is a modern office building where Danfoss hydronic balancing solutions are used; AB-QM balancing and control valves in combination with revolutionary NovoCon® actuators.
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The pressure independent balancing and control valve means that the control characteristic is independent from the available pressure. The precise flow control performance of the AB-QM 4.0 with a Danfoss actuator provides increased comfort and superior Total Cost of Ownership. The AB-QM 4.0 ensures and control the required flow on every terminal unit and maintains Hydronic balance in the system.
AB-QM 4.0 has following features:
Automatic flow limitation functionModulating below 1% of set flow, regardless of the settingAuthority of 1 at all settingsAble to close against 16 bar of differential pressurePolymer (PPSU) components of differential pressure controller and control valve coneLinear control characteristicLinear settingScale in percentage of flowMinimum setting is 10%Setting of flow percentage is visible with actuator mountedControl ratio 1:1000Pressure stage PN25All inner brass parts from DZR (CW602N)Available in the range from DN 15 – 32 for design flows from 20 – 6,000 l/h from one supplierAvailable with external thread acc. ISO 228/1 and internal thread acc. ISO 7/1Available with test plugs for pump optimization and flow measurements (dpcv)Flow measurements accuracy according to BS7350:1990Characteristic can be changed from linear to equal percentage characteristic at all sizes by adjusting actuator settingsFilling and flushing is possible in flow and counter-flow directionStarting pressure of 16 kPa for DN 15 – DN 20 and 20 kPa for DN 25 – DN 32Starting pressure of 32 kPa for DN 15 – DN 32 HF versionsLeakage rate of no visible leakage for DN 15 - DN 32 in combination with recommended actuator (IEC 60534-4:2007 Class IV)
The pressure independent balancing and control valve means that the control characteristic is independent from the available pressure. The precise flow control performance of the AB-QM with a Danfoss actuator provides increased comfort and superior Total Cost of Ownership. The AB-QM ensures and control the required flow on every terminal unit and maintains Hydronic balance in the system.
AB-QM has following features:
Flow limitation functionModulating below 1% of set flow, regardless of the settingAuthority of 1 at all settingsAble to close against 16 bar of differential pressureLinear control characteristicScale in percentage of flowControl ratio 1:1000Test plugs for pump optimization and flow verification for DN 10-250Available in the range from DN 10 – 250 from one supplier.
Characteristic changed from linear to equal percentage characteristic at all sizes by adjusting actuator settingsLockable settingStarting pressure of 16 kPa for DN 10 – DN 20Starting pressure of 20 kPa for DN 25 – DN 32Starting pressure of 30 kPa for DN 40 – DN 250Leakage rate of no visible leakage for DN 10 - DN 20 in combination with recommended actuatorLeakage of 0.05 % of the Qnom for DN 25 - DN 100 in combination with recommended actuatorLeakage of 0.01 % of the Qnom for DN 125 - DN 250 in combination with recommended actuator
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