Bitzer was given the mammoth task of keeping five stadiums cool during the Winter Olympics in Sochi earlier this year, deploying 35 CSH and HSK screw compressors.
Bitzer worked with Finnish manufacturer Suomen Tekojää on the project.
Suomen Tekojää managing director Timo Mansikkaviita said it came with a lot of responsibility, as the athletes required the optimal conditions for a variety of disciplines such as ice hockey, bobsleigh and curling, but that “everything went off without a hitch”.
“We’ve built refrigeration systems for more than 100 ice rinks in Russia and around 500 worldwide,” he said.
At four of the five venues, the refrigeration and air conditioning systems had to be entirely disassembled and relocated.
To avoid problems, back-up systems were installed for each refrigeration system, Bitzer sales director Ralf Gasper said.
“If one unit fails, the second one springs into action,” Gasper said. “The last thing we wanted was for hockey stars to find a rink of puddles rather than ice.
“That’s why, for instance, four CSH screw compressors ensured the optimal ice surface and six additional CSH compressors kept the air cool in the arena.
“The cooling capacity varied between 450 and 1050 kW so there was plenty of ice.”
HSK semi-hermetic screw compressors feature displacements of up to 535m3/h, and even up to 3200m3/h with a parallel circuit.
With 11 displacement volumes, the capacity range can be precisely adjusted.
The CSH series is designed for use in applications with higher condensing temperatures, in particular and features displacements between 137 and 1120 m3/h.
The screw compressors are equipped with dual capacity control and can be adjusted infinitely or according to scale.