The Brooklyn Park Community Activity Center. Source: Stevens Engineers
APPLICATION OF CLIMATE-FRIENDLY ICE RINK TECHNOLOGIES:
BROOKLYN PARK COMMUNITY ACTIVITY CENTER
Name of Facility:
Brooklyn Park Community Activity Center
(CAC)
Location:
5600 85th Avenue North
Brooklyn Park, MN 55443
Type of Facility:
Community multi-sheet rink
Rink area = 50,800 ft2
Technology/Refrigerant Used:
Indirect ammonia/calcium chloride system
FACILITY OVERVIEW
The Brooklyn Park Community Activity Center (CAC) is a
recreational facility located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota,
that is operated by the city. The facility is home to two
regulation-size ice arenas that provide 6,700 hours of
indoor ice time to approximately 100,000 patrons each
year. The facility also hosts a gymnasium, racquetball
courts, banquet rooms, walking track, outdoor skate
park, and an on-site fishing pond.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
The original arena was constructed in 1983 and the
second arena in 1997 with two 85' x 200' ice sheets that
were served by separate refrigeration systems. Rink 1
used a direct1 R-22 Holmsten refrigeration system and
1A direct refrigeration system circulates the primary refrigerant directly through the ice rink floor.
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Rink 2 used an indirect2 ammonia (NH3)/glycol system.
The direct R-22 system consisted of two eight-cylinder
reciprocating compressors, a low-pressure receiver,
two pumper drums, an evaporative condenser, and a
waste heat recovery system. The total heat extraction
capacity of this system was approximately 136 tons
(1,632,000 BTUs/hour). After 27 years of operation, the
aging direct R-22 system began experiencing issues such
as corrosion in the vessels and rink floor piping; three
major leak events in the ice rink floor necessitated either
significant repairs or replacement of the system.
In 2009, the City of Brooklyn Park began working with
Stevens Engineers to design an indirect ammonia
(NH3)/calcium chloride (CaCI2) system to replace both
rink refrigeration systems. Brooklyn Park selected the
design for the following reasons:
• The city already had experience using indirect
systems in Rink 2;
Rink 2 Ice Equipment Room
• The NH3/CaCI2 system does not need to circulate
refrigerant through the spectator seating area; and
• The system reduces the rink's environmental impacts.
Brooklyn Park city officials elected to use NH3 as the
primary refrigerant in the new system because of its
favorable environmental characteristics and high energy
efficiency. In comparison to R-22, which has a Global
Warming Potential (GWP) of 1,8103 and an Ozone
Depleting Potential (OOP) of 0.055,4 NH3 has zero
GWP and OOP.5 Brooklyn Park selected CaCI2 as the
secondary refrigerant in the new system because of its
observed higher efficiency compared to glycol mixtures.
The modification of the ice arena's refrigeration system
was part of a larger energy efficiency retrofit project that
used stimulus money from the federal government's
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block to improve
citywide energy efficiency.
;;,;;„"-"
Rink 2
Welded
Steel
Heat
Exchangers
Leak Detection
System
HOPE Piping
To/From Rink 1
HOPE Piping
To/From
Rink 2
Rink 1
Schematic of the CAC's current NH/CaCI2 refrigeration system. The NH/CaCI2 system is housed in the equipment room for Rink 2.
Source: Stevens Engineers
2 An indirect refrigeration system uses two refrigerants. A primary refrigerant stays confined in the ice equipment room and a
secondary refrigerant is circulated in the rink floor.
3 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2007. Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (AR4).
Available at: www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/contents.html
4 U.S. EPA. 2014. GWPs and ODPs of Some Ozone-Depleting Substances and Alternatives. Available at: www.epa.gov/ozone/snap/
subsgwps.html
5 Ibid.
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SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The new indirect NH3/CaCI2 system has a refrigeration
charge size of 387 pounds of NH3, which replaces the
6,000 pounds of R-22 and 1,200 pounds of NH3 used in
the previous systems. Brooklyn Park expanded the ice
equipment room for Rink 2 to accommodate the
NH3/CaCI2 system. The renovated equipment room now
houses three compressors on concrete pads, an
above-ground NH3 containment tank, a chiller, a leak
detection system, heat exchangers, and a combination of
welded steel and high-density polyethylene piping. Each
rink floor has approximately 10 miles of 1-inch piping.
Other Sustainability Measures
In conjunction with replacing the rinks'
refrigeration systems, three other cutting-edge
modifications to the facility were made:
1) Replaced the energy- and water-intensive
cooling towers used to cool the refrigeration
system with a well connection to the city's
raw water system.
2) Used the city's raw water as a geothermal
coolant to reduce the refrigeration system's
energy use. The connection from the well
provides water at 49°F, which allows the
compressors to operate at temperatures
lower than the minimum temperatures
listed in the manufacturer's specifications.
The lower operating temperature requires
half the electricity and produces double the
capacity of a typical system.
3) Balanced the heating and cooling loads
through an advanced control system, which
makes use of warm and cold outdoor air
when temperatures are advantageous to
the system. The design allows heating
systems to utilize waste heat in the facility
from dehumidification, rink heat, snow
melting, resurfacing, and subfloor heating.
The CAC's current NH3/CaCI2 refrigeration system. The new
indirect NH3/CaCI2 system has a refrigeration charge size of
700 pounds of NH3. Source: Stevens Engineers
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
AND COSTS
The Brooklyn Park CAC ice rink is now considered one
of the most energy efficient ice rinks in the United States,
and possibly the world. The new system requires half the
energy of the previous systems to perform at the same
capacity. The unique heat design and incorporation of
the heat pump system allows the recovery and reuse of
95 percent of the waste heat that is generated from the
refrigeration system. When compared to an indirect R-507
system, the two-sheet ammonia-based system is at least
15 to 20 percent more energy efficient. The Brooklyn
Park CAC ice rink is also achieving additional energy
efficiency gains due to the integration of the geothermal
exchange system. The system uses advanced controls
to lower the condensing temperature from a typical 96°F
for NH3 to approximately 52-57T, resulting in increased
operational efficiency. Overall, the city's energy efficiency
retrofit project is reducingits annual electric and natural
gas consumption by 317,000 kWh and 11.1 million ft3,
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respectively. The city's overall energy efficiency retrofit
project is reducing emissions by more than 1.7 million
pounds of CO2 equivalent annually, which is equivalent to
taking more than 160 cars off the road every year.6 The
ice arena upgrades account for nearly 30 percent of the
project's total carbon reductions.
The indirect NH3/CaCI2 system has experienced no
refrigeration leaks to date. Furthermore, by selecting
NH3/CaCI2 instead of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC)
refrigerants, like R-507, additional greenhouse gas
emissions are avoided.
A breakdown of the costs associated with the ice rink
renovation is as follows:
• Installation costs. The overhaul of the two ice rinks
cost $4.5 million, which the City of Brooklyn Park
funded with grants, Heritage Infrastructure Funds,
bonds sales, and utility energy savings rebates.
Installation costs for indirect ammonia ice systems are
typically 3.5 percent more than R-22 or HFC systems,
since the systems usually require additional building
renovation costs to address ammonia's toxicity and
mild flammability (e.g., a fire-rated room, vestibule on
the entrance door to contain potential ammonia leaks,
or exterior entrance).
• Operation and maintenance costs. Maintenance
costs are somewhat lower for an industrial-grade
ammonia system than a similar system using
R-22 or HFC-based refrigerant because of the
smaller equipment and increased efficiency in its
operation. Maintenance costs include compressor
oil changes, gasket replacements, and inspections,
among other activities.
• Costs savings. The citywide efforts to improve
energy efficiency are saving the city more than
$250,000 per year in utility and other operational
costs; the ice rink renovations are contributing
approximately 25 percent to these cost savings. The
citywide efforts to improve energy efficiency, which
include the ice rink renovations, have an estimated
payback period of just over 12 years.
6 See EPA's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, available at:
CHALLENGES AND
LESSONS LEARNED
The conversion to a new ice rink was a major
undertaking, and with it, the Brooklyn Park CAC faced
a number of construction-related obstacles, including
finding sufficient space for the new systems, routing
piping through the existing building, and working around
day-to-day services and operations during renovation.
The Brooklyn Park CAC also had to overcome a
challenge related to using the system's waste heat
for other building applications, since as a result of
improvements to the energy consumption of the
refrigeration system, the waste heat given off by the
cooling plant became insufficient to continue to use as
a source for many of the heating needs of the building.
Introducing new heat pumps not only satisfied the hot
water temperatures required by the facility but it also
significantly reduced operation costs overtime.
Other ice arenas have since been upgraded with similar
designs using similar advanced control technology and
climate-friendly refrigerants. The geothermal connection
may be a viable option for some facilities, if local
governments can access raw or finished water mains at
a low cost. The controls and balancing of the system is
applicable to any ice arena in any community.
The CAC's previous R-22 refrigeration system.
Source: Stevens Engineers
Printed on 100% recycled/recyclable paper with a minimum
50% post-consumer waste using vegetable-based inks.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air and Radiation (6205T)
EPA-430-R-14-008
October 2014
www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html.
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