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Home My WebLink AboutHVAC Piping LeaksE. S. KALOGERAS, ACEC Member Suppo~ng Excellence UNION SQUARE ONE UNION AVENUE RD #1 BOX 530 RIVERHEAD, NY 11901 Town Board Town of Southold Town Hall Main Road Sonthold, New York 11971 September 24, 1992 Gentlemen: Re~ Engineering Report on HVAC Piping Leaks at the Town Hall, Main Road, Southold, N.Y. In accordance with your authorization, by Town Board resolution, we have completed our investigation of the leaking HVAC piping system in the older portion of the Town Hall. An inspection of the entire piping system was conducted on September 18th, 1992 jointly with your Town Engineer and building maintenance personnel, whom we gratefully acknowledge. In addition, the services of a private HVAC Contractor were solicited by the Town to aid us in the shutdown/startup of the system and cutting/sampling of the existing pipe system. The HVAC Contractor was also present during the inspection period and was an invaluable aid during our investigation. The ensuing engineering report is a result of the efforts of all those present during our inspection of your HVAC piping system. The piping system is entirely located in the basement of the Town Hall and consists of various diameters and lengths of black iron, schedule 40, threaded and coupled pipe. All fittings or elbows are also of similar material. The entire pipe network is wrapped with fiberglass insulation and covered with cloth wrapping. The insulation is intended to maintain cooling/heating temperatures within the piping system for distribution to the various fan coil units spread throughout the Town Hall. The fan coil units function to maintain ambient room temperatures and relative humidity levels independent of outside air temperature and conditions, wherever installed within the Town Hall. The initial investigatory step was conducted by removing a portion of any insulation which appeared stained from leakage or weapage, thereby exposing the underlying piping. Most of the piping runs were located above suspended ceilings. In some cases, piping was located above older gypsumboard ceilings covered over by the newer suspended ceilings. Some insulated piping runs were also constructed along walls and ceilings, in an exposed fashion, in storage and maintenance moms. The exposed portions of piping under the stained insulation was found to be encrustated with iron oxide and leaking. This is likely due tO the failure of the insulation at those locations. It is our opinion that those failures of insulation allowed warmer, humid air surrounding the piping to condense on the piping, specifically during TEL: (516) 727-5135 / (516) 722-4040 FAX: (516) 722-5093 E. S. KALOGERAS, Engineering Report ....(Cont'd) Page 2. September 24, 1992 the normal cooling operation periods of the summer. Gradually the condensate quantity increased such that the insulation was completely soaked through its exterior cloth covering where it mixed with additional oxygen in the surrounding air. This ~nixture of water and oxygen consequently reacted chemically with the iron piping and caused corrosive ferrous oxide encrustation to form and continuous deterioration of pipe joints, particularly at threaded locations such as elbows, couplings, etc., thus resulting in leakage and structural disintegration of the pipe's exterior and threads at joints. The encrustation, in most cases, was moderate to hea,,% depending on the particular location. The final investigatory element was to determine the interior condition of piping system and the effect of normal domestic water for heating and cooling passing through it. All initial and makeup water for the heating/cooling system is supplied fi:om municipal sources, in this case from the Village of Greenport's Water Supply System. We selected the worst leak area for a sample of the piping system to be obtained. We felt that this location would be indicative of the majority of the piping system and if found to be badly deteriorated, additional samples could be obtained fi'om other areas. To our delight and surprise, the piping sample showed little if any corrosion on its interior after over 15 years of service life. Because of this successful sample, we determined that additional sampling would be a waste of the Town's investigatory appropriation, and we suspended further investigation of the interior condition of the piping. Based on the results of our investigation, we recommend that the Town proceed with a minimal remediation program to ensure that the integrity of the piping system is maintained throughout its useful life (which should be approximately a minimum of fort5, (40) years). The remediation program we recommend may be accomplished as a phased program either by Town Personnel or outside Contractors. The latter is recommended so that modern, efficient techniques of remediation are continually applied to the piping network. The following program of remediation is recommended: PHAS'E1- Remove and replace all heavily, surface corroded, piping and fittings with new sections of galvanized~ or b'.ack irou. ~cl:edt:le 40 pipe and fittings (Generally in those areas where large stains on the insulation covering were observed and evident during our inspection period). Remove all insulation on the heating/cooling system piping within the Boiler Room. Completely clean to bare metal all pipe and fitting surfaces by sand blasting, wire brushing or other means and apply an epoxy coating system prior to recovering with insulation. Upon proper curing of new coating system, all piping should be reinsulated with a modern material capable of providing trouble free operation and preventing future condensation trod subsequent corrosion of the encapsulated piping. Engineering Report.....(Cont'd) Page 3. September 24, 1992 PHASE 2- Annually remove sections of fiberglass insulation from piping, clean and coat piping as described for Phase 1 and reinsulate with modem insulating material. The extent of such work annually would be dependant upon your fiscal capabilities and/or your desire to complete as quickly as possible in order to minimize the effects of the annual disruption of your office staffs normal operations. It is strongly recommended that this remediation be completed not longer than five (5) years henceforth. ESTIMATED REMEDIATION COSTS - The following costs are estimated for remediation of the HVAC piping system to prevent surface corrosion and maintain its useful life cycle and are based on outside Contractors performing the work: PHASE 1 - Repair isolated sections of piping and completely reinsulate all heating/cooling piping in the existing Boiler Room. $ 4,800.00 PHASE 2 - Remove and replace sections of insulation with more modern material to maintain the integrity of the existing piping system. 4 years ~ $ 4,500.00/year $ 18,000.00 Engineering costs for design and construction services are not included in the above values. We would be happy to undertake such work on either a fixed cost basis or a per diem cost basis depending on your preference. In either case, our fee would be a small amount and would ensure that the remediation work is of the best quality, at the lowest possible cost to the Town to achieve long term continued use of the heating/cooling pipe system. If you have any questions concerning this report, we would be happy to meet with you to answer any questions you may have. Respectfully submitted, E.S. KALOGERAS, P.E. CONSULTING ENGINEER ESK:gd cc: Mr. James Richter