Eliminate big parts of your water heating costs for your flood water and save 10% – 12% energy from your ice plant by lowering the temperature of the resurfacing water used on your ice pad. According to ASHRAE, 7% of an ice rink’s total energy use is due to domestic hot water that is used in the resurfacing process of the ice.
The more impurities in water (both minerals and dissolved gas), the harder the refrigeration plant has to work before it will freezes.
Local water sources with higher concentrations of salts of various kinds will have different freezing properties and if the concentration is elevated enough to lower the freezing temperature even further. More energy is required to lower that temperature, and the resulting ice will have poorer quality.
To address these issues, most ice rinks heat the water to 140°F – 160°F to remove micro air bubbles before resurfacing the rink and in some cases where the water quality is not good, water softeners or filtration systems are in use.
Using extremely hot water not only requires energy to heat but also increases the refrigeration load because warm water is being applied directly to the ice.
Instead of using extremely hot temperatures for the resurfacing water, air bubbles can passively be removed and the temperature on the resurfacing water lowered. This treatment of the resurfacing water results in harder, smoother ice that requires less maintenance.
De-aerated water has fewer impurities then boiled water and can therefore be frozen at a higher temperature.
Benefits:
- Reduces compressor run hours
- Eases the load on dehumidification and chiller systems
- Produces high-quality ice that is harder and clearer than traditionally treated ice surfaces
- Reduces GHG emissions
- Reducing humidity in the rink because hot water is not applied on the ice surface
- Can be retrofitted to current equipment
- Likely utility incentives available
Savings:
- Electricity savings approx. 10% – 12% (through raising the ice slab temperature)
- Natural gas savings for not having to heat up the resurfacing water by 80% and up
- CO2 emissions approx. 40t per sheet of ice per year
Web Resources:
- Enbridge Gas Case study George Bell Arena, Toronto
- Green Technology Initiatives at the University of Alberta
- Tacoma Public Utilities Video
- FortisBC Commercial video
