What can it do for your ice arena?
HVAC 101 teaches us that all refrigeration systems create heat as a byproduct. The HVAC process revolves around removing heat through condensers and water cooled systems. For most fuel-fired heating equipment, a large amount of the heat produced is wasted as exhaust or flue gases. If we’re told that a piece of equipment is 80% efficient, we may not stop to think that 20 cents of every fuel dollar spent went up that the chimney.
In furnaces, air and fuel are mixed and burned to generate heat, some of which is transferred to the heating device and its load. When the heat transfer reaches its practical limit, the spent combustion gases are removed from the furnace through a flue or stack. At this point, these gases still hold considerable thermal energy – in many systems, this is the greatest single heat loss. Energy efficiency can be increased by reclaiming this wasted heat through recovery systems designed to capture and use this energy. Waste heat recovery is using any heat that would otherwise be wasted. This can considerably reduce your fossil fuel consumption.
In legacy refrigeration plants waste heat is rejected by expelling steam into the air or rejecting water. The entire refrigeration process is devoted to removing heat generated by machinery and disposing of it. Since a great deal of heat is conveyed by the refrigeration system and a lot of power is consumed to operate the electric motors, it makes sense to make a more efficient use of the waste heat. Directly next to the boiler flue in most arenas is the condenser or cooling tower for the ice rink chiller. What you typically see is a boiler stack just releasing that excess heat, that could have been used in reclaim heat design, into the air as a water vapor.
What if we could harness all that wasted heat back into the facility?
What if we combine the two waste heat outlets? What if we could have a higher grade heat that could heat the facility, domestic water, or Zamboni water – beyond just the indoor snowmelt pit or the warm floor under the sheet of ice? Think of the savings!
Waste heat is a valuable, free resource and becomes an asset when redirected from the refrigeration plant back into the facility. Waste energy harnessed by Emerald Environmental Technologies’ ice3 Cube system can be redirected and used in multiple applications. Providing warmth for radiant flooring/seating, Zamboni ice management water, domestic hot water heating, swimming pool heating, fresh air makeup preheat, snow melt pit, and facility heat is always a win-win for our customers. By using as much of this heat as possible we dramatically decrease fossil fuels used by the building and decrease cooling tower or condenser run time.
Visit the case studies to read how Plymouth State University in Plymouth, MA used Emerald’s geo3 Cubes in a geothermal application allowing the Cubes to solely source the HVAC system. There are no other means of fossil fuel used to heat or air condition this facility. There are no external mechanical equipment mounted outdoors. In addition to HVAC heat is reclaimed as a source for domestic and Zamboni preheat water, as well as snowmelt shavings and warm floor under ice. The Ice Haus at Jay Peak in Jay Peak, VT was a unique project because 700 feet from the ice facility is the Jay Peak water park, reclaiming waste heat from the rink for the pools was a consideration in the overall design, the ice3 Cubes would be used to provide air conditioning as well as a heating source. A warm glycol pump was sized with a VFD to allow transfer of warm fluid to a future heat exchanger in the water park via underground piping system. Phillips Academy, in Andover, Massachusetts, commissioned Emerald to install a refrigerations system to heat and cool their two sheets of ice in addition to their new 105,000-square foot Snyder Center Field House to be constructed in a free standing location at the end of the rink. Domestic hot water, Zamboni preheat water systems, heating the accessory rooms in the rink, and heating and cooling the 1-5,000 square-foot field house. Piping and design allow for the future geothermal systems to be added. This is a commissioned LEED project.
Give us a call for a free consultation 888-530-7713 and ask how your facility can take advantage of similar benefits in ease of operation, reduced operational costs, and precise output. Ice3 Cubes may be the alternative you’ve been looking for.
Request a Consultation
The expert team at Emerald Environmental Technologies can help define and customize which ice3 Cube combinations are ideal for your community/municipal/outdoor, upgrade project, or collegiate rink. Emerald Environmental Technologies is based in New England and services the entire east coast up through Canada. Please contact us today to request a free consultation or Email or call 603-238-9249 with questions.
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