On-site measurement of thermal environment and heat transfer analysis in a curling arena

Maintaining a stable ice pad and indoor thermal environment satisfying requirements usually consumes high energy consumption in ice arenas. In this paper, a curling arena with ethylene tetra fluoro ethylene (ETFE) membrane structure is taken as an example to analyze the refrigeration load. Field tests for thermal environment are firstly carried out in this arena. Sources of refrigeration load are determined and possible reducing approaches are proposed to lower the energy consumption for ice making issue. It's indicated that average refrigeration load of the curling ice is 152.8W/m2, among which long wave radiation contributes 55.5%. The ceiling temperature could reach as high as 26 °C, contributing more than 70% of the longwave radiation. It's then noted that cavity ventilation could be a special method to lower the roof temperature on basis of avoiding condensation, reducing the refrigeration load by 7% for this special building with ETFE membrane envelope. It's hoped that the current research will be beneficial for the design and operation of an ice competition circumstance. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd