11. PRSR 03-10-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ELK RIVER ARENA 1000 SCHOOL STREET ELK RIVER, MN 55330 (763) 635 - 1141 FAX * (763) 635 -1144 To: Pat Klaers From: Rich Czech Date: February 17, ?004 Subject: Equipment for Olympic Ice Plant Thank you for meetin, with me regarding the Arena's Capital Improvements. I felt it was important to keep you abreast cf the items the Arena needs and the potential problems that may occur if they are left miattended. I also feel it is very important that we have a plan in place to face the challenge of replacing or repairing the building and it's equipment as they get older. One area we discussed in length is the Olympics Ice Plant. Two items that were discussed in detail were the Condenser and the Backpressure Regulator. As I reviewed with you, the Condenser is a large tower that sits outside of the north side of the building. By using blowers and water, the Condenser cools the high-pressure gas from the compressors into ahigh-pressure liquid as it passes through the coils of the Condenser. The liquid then is used to pump the refrigerant from the pumpers out into the floor. Over the yeazs we have been dealing w7th the water of the condenser freezing when the outside temperature goes below freezing. Two things cause this; first the condenser is under sized for our climate. Second, the outside cooling pipes that carry the hish- pressure gas is layered with scale. The scale acts like an insulator that does not allow the air or water to cool the high-pressure gas. The scale was caused from the last o~nmer not treatin, the water, which would have removed impurities from the water that would have prevented the scale from building up on the pipes. Since we have had the Ice Plant in operation. we have treated the water with chemicals to help remove some of the scale from the pipes. We have had some success, however some of the pipes still have scale on them.