Energy analysis in ice hockey arenas and analytical formula for the temperature profile in the ice pad with transient boundary conditions

Andrea Ferrantelli,Klaus Viljanen,Jarek Kurnitski

doi:10.1080/17512549.2019.1615549

Andrea Ferrantelli, Klaus Viljanen + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/17512549.2019.1615549

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Abstract

ABSTRACT The energy efficiency of ice hockey arenas is a central concern for the administrations, as these buildings are well known to consume a large amount of energy. Since they are composite, complex systems, solutions to such a problem can be approached from many different areas, from managerial to technological to more strictly scientific. In this paper we consider heat transfer processes in an ice hockey hall, during operating conditions, with a bottom-up approach based upon on-site measurements. Detailed heat flux, relative humidity and temperature data for the ice pad and the indoor air are used for a heat balance calculation in the steady-state regime, which quantifies the impact of each single heat source. We also solve the heat conduction equation for the ice pad in transient regime, and obtain a general analytical formula for the temperature profile that is suitable to practical applications. When applied to the resurfacing process for validation, it shows good agreement with an analogous numerical solution. Since our formula is given with implicit initial condition and boundary conditions, it can be used not only in ice hockey halls, but in a large variety of engineering applications.

Highlights

IntroductionA well-known major preoccupation of contemporary building research is the energy e-. ciency of buildings, which is subject to increasingly stringent requirements set by manufacturers and international institutions (European Parliament (2010); Butera (2013))
A well-known major preoccupation of contemporary building research is the energy e-ciency of buildings, which is subject to increasingly stringent requirements set by manufacturers and international institutions (European Parliament (2010); Butera (2013))under ecological and economical motivations.In this context, ice hockey arenas are fairly demanding systems, infamous for consuming a very large amount of energy that approaches ∼ 1800 MWh per year
We examine the heat ux on the ice pad, the indoor air relative humidity (RH) in its proximity and the temperatures at surface and at the ice/concrete interface during a typical day of operation

Summary

Introduction

A well-known major preoccupation of contemporary building research is the energy e-. ciency of buildings, which is subject to increasingly stringent requirements set by manufacturers and international institutions (European Parliament (2010); Butera (2013)). We choose the resurfacing stages because they are the most complex and energy consuming phases of the operational cycle of an ice hockey hall, due to the large amount of heat transferred to the ice pad in a relatively short time. This aects importantly the eciency and energy consumption of the refrigerating system, and here we aim at nding applicable quantitative knowledge to aid e.g. system control and space heating investigations. Our results are summarized and further discussed in the Conclusions, and nally in Appendix A we apply our formula to the calculation of the temperature prole inside the ice pad during resurfacing, validating it with the initial data

Ice hockey hall and temperature measurements

Indoor air measurements

Energy balance and ice temperatures before resurfacing

Analytical temperature prole for the ice pad

Findings

Conclusions