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ELK RIVER ICE ARENA—ICE SYSTEM EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS <br /> Some of the potential downsides, or risks, involved in <br /> continuing to operate the existing direct systems for too much <br /> longer are as follows: <br /> • Continued Equipment Costs: The equipment and parts <br /> on the refrigeration system will continue to require <br /> replacement in the near term. It's similar to driving a <br /> vehicle with high miles; the longer it runs, the more <br /> costly it becomes to repair and the lower the return on <br /> investment. Parts for the existing York compressors are <br /> no longer manufactured and becoming extremely <br /> difficult to find and costly to purchase. Some valve <br /> manufacturers (like Sporlan) no longer manufacture <br /> some of the valves used on the system. <br /> • Risk of a Refrigerant Release: As the system ages, the <br /> risk of a major release of refrigerant increases. The <br /> existing direct systems contain approximately 4,000 <br /> pounds of R-22 refrigerant in Rink 1 and approximately <br /> 6,000 pounds for R-22 in Rink 2. Depending on the <br /> availability of R-22 when this occurs, the City may be <br /> forced to install a new blended refrigerant which will <br /> require additional modifications to the system. <br /> • Dependability: The risk of problems occurring with the <br /> refrigeration system, and therefore, the risk of losing <br /> the ice sheet, increases as the system ages. <br /> Option 2 — Make Improvements to the Existing Rink 1 Ice <br /> System: <br /> Holmsten Ice Rinks provided good quality vessels (e.g. high <br /> pressure receiver, pumper drums, etc.) with their systems. This <br /> opens up the option of renovating the existing refrigeration <br /> system to extend its useful, dependable, and safe life. This has <br /> successfully been performed at several facilities such as <br /> Gustavus Adolphus College, University of Minnesota-Duluth and <br /> others. <br /> If the existing refrigeration system is going to remain in place, <br /> whether in its current operation as a direct system, or <br /> converted into an indirect ice system, we recommend the <br /> following improvements be performed on the existing <br /> refrigeration system. <br /> 18 <br />