Simulation of the Optimal Refrigerated Floor Design for Ice Rinks

Wenjie Zhou,Lei Han,Zhihua Gan

doi:10.3390/en14061535

Abstract

A good design of the ice rink floor could save a great deal of capital and operational costs for hockey arenas. This ice rink floor design focuses on a cost-effective tube arrangement and an optimal concrete coverage over the tubes that could provide sufficient heat transfer rate between the coolant and the freezing ice. This paper reports a theoretical model to simulate the heat transfer characteristic of a different tube diameter, spacing distance, and thickness of the concrete coverage of the tubes of an ice rink. In addition, calcium chloride and ethylene glycol with water solutions are compared to figure out the pros and cons of these two secondary coolants. This model prediction is compared to the typical ice floor arrangement in order to determine the best floor construction scenario.

Highlights

Ice rinks are among the most energy consuming public facilities needing refrigeration, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
Nilsson [5] investigated the performance of carbon dioxide as secondary coolant for the ice rink refrigeration system
Qtot = qup + qd + qh qup could be considered as the heat transfer from the top of the ice rink to the secondary coolant in the pipe; qup is shown in Equation (2)

Summary

Introduction

Ice rinks are among the most energy consuming public facilities needing refrigeration, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Ahmed [6] presented three theoretical models to predict the heat transfer, the airflow patterns, and the humidity distribution in a 3D section for an ice rink Their simulations are consistent with published Computational. Galanis and Seghouani [13,14] studied a case of the interaction between an ice rink and its refrigeration system They found that it is possible to save energy by reducing the ceiling emissivity and increasing the coolant temperature without affecting the quality of the ice. Zmeureanu and Teysedou [15,16] developed a benchmarking model to simulate the operational parameters of a commissioning ice rink facility. It is worthwhile to conduct a theoretical study of the heat transfer behavior of the pipe floor at the steady state condition so that it can provide guidance for the ice rink construction and operation.

Ice Rink Discrete Thermal Resistance Circuit Model

Model Prediction Results

Conclusions and Discussion