In the early summer of 2010 we were commissioned to produce two 8 mtr long dual wheeled desiccant AHUs that were to control very high temperature & humidity in a showcase football stadium being built in Doha, Qatar as part of their 2022 world cup bid. The Stadium was built as a showcase for the Qatar government for the 2022 world cup bid in progress. They needed to prove to FIFA that every stadium could be environmentally controlled to allow the footballers comfortable playing conditions, with outside temperatures as high as 55 degrees and RH as high as 95% this was a major undertaking considering the amount of air to be conditioned.
The whole project also had to be environmentally sound with a zero carbon footprint so it was designed to run from electricity generated by a solar array situated outside the stadium in the desert. We had to integrate our design into this complex BMS technology, our engineers designed a high temperature, high pressure water system that would regenerate lithium bromide coolant for chilling the airflow, high pressure vessels were fabricated and pump sets designed, specified and installed. We had to construct an exterior workshop to build these huge units and then start fabrication of the bases.
In the first instance we were asked to only manufacture the desiccant AHUs but after much discussion with the developers we submitted plans for the High Pressure - High Temperature water heating system too. There was a photo voltaic system installed to generate 100kw of electricity and this powered all the stadium’s mechanical and electrical requirements. The innovative, cutting edge system featured a ‘solar farm’ made up of photo voltaic panels and Mirrox parabolic mirrors which focused the sun’s energy to generate hot water to 200 degrees which is then stored in a 40,000 ltr vessel to be used for regeneration of the absorption chiller. Due to the high temperature of the water there was a danger of flashing off to steam so the system was designed to operate at a pressure of 18 bar, thus the vessel had to be fabricated our of 30mm steel, all the high pressure ancillary equipment including pumps, valves, strainers, gauges, sensors and heat meters had to be rated at PN40.
The chiller takes hot water from the solar farm and uses it in a regeneration process thus creating water as low as 7 degrees. The chilled water is consequently stored in eutectic tanks beneath the seating area of the stadium. These tanks are lined with a Salt Hydrate solution (type S10) in the form of packs used in cool boxes, this chilled water could provide capacity for 10hrs cooling in the case of chiller failure.
As previously stated - in the first instance we were commissioned as supply only, but post manufacture and after a site visit it soon became clear that there was a severe lack of mechanical knowledge on the site on how to create and install a system of this nature so our engineers were soon appointed project managers for the installation and integration.
The project was very complex and difficult to execute and our engineers had to spend 4 weeks out in Qatar project managing the mechanical systems and integrating the technologies in time for FIFA to visit the project and consequently approve Qatar’s bid. We are extremely proud to have been an integral part of this amazing achievement and we are now looking forward to being one of the major HVAC suppliers for the 9 new stadiums to be built by 2022.
Please look at the page ‘Qatar Stadium gallery’ to see pictures from this project. If you need any further information regarding this great project please call us for a chat. 01524 581500 ask for John.
Alternatively you can download a PDF regarding this fantastic engineering achievement, simply click this logo