Andrew Stergiopoulos Ice Rink
Ice Rink Switches to Natural Gas for Refrigeration, Power and Cool Savings
The Great Neck Park District has gone all-out to offer increased energy savings and a more enjoyable, comfortable indoor skating experience in its Parkwood Sports Complex in Great Neck, New York.
During renovations of the Andrew Stergiopoulos Ice Rink, park officials added a new natural gas engine-driven chiller to provide a smooth, reliable skating surface for patrons. The new ice-making system also saves energy, making it economically possible to extend the annual skating season into spring and fall months. As an added benefit, it provides air conditioning so the building is able to serve as a summer recreation center.
Making all this possible is a new TECOCHILL®CH-200x natural gas engine-driven chiller that provides 95 tons of cooling. The new chiller maintains a glycol-water mixture at 15°F as it circulates beneath the ice sheet at the rink. It replaced an aging electric chilling system that was costly to operate.
Electric to gas conversion
"People are looking for alternative ways to save energy," says Great Neck Park Superintendent Neil Marrin. "We're converting from electric chillers to gas."
"It's an energy conservation project," says Joe Weinschreider, Mechanical Engineer with Energy Concepts Engineering, P.C., Rochester, New York, which designed and managed the installation. "They're able to save a certain amount of money on their energy bill. Previously, they had aging electric chillers. They wanted something more reliable. Natural gas is a more competitive energy solution."
The new chiller, when re-set to a higher temperature, can also supply comfort cooling during the summer months, making it possible to use the rink as a recreation hall. And it can enable the park district to keep the rink open for skating beyond its usual October-to-March skating season.
"We found that with other rinks using natural gas-fired chillers, if operating costs are kept low enough, they have the potential to extend the skating season," says Jeff Glick, Regional Sales Manager for Tecogen, manufacturer of the chiller as well as the TECOGEN®CM-75, a 75 kW natural gas-fired cogeneration module also newly installed at the rink. "The #1 cost of operating a rink is making the ice. If we can cut this operating cost, they may want to open up a month earlier in the season. Because of the long hours an ice rink typically operates, the savings are large."
Electricity made by the generator offsets most of the facility's existing power usage. The generator is equipped with low emission controls.
Waste heat recovery
Anew 1 million-Btu Laars natural gas-fired boiler was also installed during the renovation to provide winter heating and domestic hot water for the Sports Complex. Exhaust heat from the chiller and the generator offers supplemental heating for the boiler. Eventually, some of this heat will also be used to warm an adjacent swimming pool.
The key to energy savings is that there are multiple uses for the "waste" heat so it really never goes to waste, says Glick.
In this case, recovered heat from the chiller and generator also regenerates a Munters desiccant dehumidification system installed to reduce excess moisture in the rink. As a further bonus, the Munters system raises the temperature of the air in the rink, making it more comfortable for skaters and spectators.
The primary reason for installing a dehumidification system was to provide a more comfortable skating experience, Marrin explains.
When humidity builds up inside the rink, particularly during the fall and spring, it causes fog that can obscure vision, both in the air and on skaters' safety glasses. Excess moisture can also cause increased building maintenance problems and slush buildup on ice, according to Jacqueline McIlrath, Marketing Coordinator for Munters Commercial Dehumidification.
Total system efficiency
The new gas-fired boiler produces 160 gallons of hot water needed by the rink's Zamboni machine every time it moves onto the ice for a resurfacing run. The hot water melts the top of the ice and freezes to form a fresh, smooth surface. Boiler water also indirectly saves wear and tear on the Zamboni's tires by eliminating the machine's need to cross a parking lot to unload ice shavings. By depositing the ice shavings in a new indoor pit to be melted with boiler water, the machine avoids tracking in corrosive road salt that could damage tires and the rink's ice surface.
This totally efficient system is expected to save operating costs and bring in a steady stream of satisfied skaters.
Article originally published by Energy Solutions Center Inc. www.energysolutionscenter.org
