Installed by G&O Refrigeration working with Ice Tech UK, the cooling plant uses an advanced heat recovery system to harness waste heat that would otherwise be lost to atmosphere to provide supplementary heating for the building, and as the energy source for the snow melt pit and permafrost protection loop beneath the ice pads.
Heat recovered from the refrigeration system is also used to produce domestic hot water for the centre’s visitor facilities and on-site cafe.
The centre has two Olympic-sized rinks, replacing a single smaller rink in the previous facility on the site. The new ice centre has capacity for 800 spectators, and includes a café, gym, exercise studios and community spaces.
The rinks are cooled by four Gorac chillers based on high efficiency inverter-driven Bitzer CSVH screw compressors, with a combined cooling capacity of 800kW. The chillers deliver cooling to the twin ice pads via a secondary glycol circuit, and are future-proofed with built-in retrofitability to R1234yf, including plant room ventilation and integrated leak detection systems.
To read more please visit https://www.acrjournal.uk/news/heat-recovery-refrigeration-powers-new-ice-centre/