EP3587966A1 - Système d'enneigement et procédé d'enneigement - Google Patents

Système d'enneigement et procédé d'enneigement Download PDF

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Publication number
EP3587966A1
EP3587966A1 EP18179023.9A EP18179023A EP3587966A1 EP 3587966 A1 EP3587966 A1 EP 3587966A1 EP 18179023 A EP18179023 A EP 18179023A EP 3587966 A1 EP3587966 A1 EP 3587966A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
snow
making
water
snowmaking
assembly
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP18179023.9A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Heinrich HOFER
Armin SPÖGLER
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Nivis Srl GmbH
Nivis GmbH Srl
Original Assignee
Nivis Srl GmbH
Nivis GmbH Srl
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Nivis Srl GmbH, Nivis GmbH Srl filed Critical Nivis Srl GmbH
Priority to EP18179023.9A priority Critical patent/EP3587966A1/fr
Priority to PCT/EP2019/065789 priority patent/WO2019243208A1/fr
Priority to EP19729776.5A priority patent/EP3811005B1/fr
Publication of EP3587966A1 publication Critical patent/EP3587966A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
    • F25C3/00—Processes or apparatus specially adapted for producing ice or snow for winter sports or similar recreational purposes, e.g. for sporting installations; Producing artificial snow
    • F25C3/04—Processes or apparatus specially adapted for producing ice or snow for winter sports or similar recreational purposes, e.g. for sporting installations; Producing artificial snow for sledging or ski trails; Producing artificial snow

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the field of technical snow production, for example for winter sports both outdoors (e.g. ski slopes, cross-country ski trails, ski jumps) and indoors (e.g. ski halls).
  • the water used to produce snow when it is fed to the at least one nozzle, typically has a temperature of a few degrees above 0 ° C.
  • the finely sprayed water in the ambient air quickly cools down to freezing point (approx. 0 ° C) and freezes.
  • the heat released in the process is at least partly dissipated by evaporative cooling, a part of the water emerging from the nozzle evaporating.
  • the formation of snow crystals starts with nucleation nuclei, which are usually formed by rapid subcooling of water with the help of expanding air at the above-mentioned water / air nozzles or special nucleator nozzles operated with compressed air.
  • the invention is based on the knowledge that in snow-making systems with at least one water or water / air nozzle, the snow-forming properties are particularly good if the water expelled from the at least one nozzle soon changes to the freezing temperature (approx. 0 ° C, depending on the prevailing air pressure) or in some configurations this temperature is already present when it emerges from the nozzle.
  • the freezing temperature approximately 0 ° C, depending on the prevailing air pressure
  • the colder the water ejected from the nozzle the less heat needs to be dissipated, and the easier it is for the nucleation seeds to form the basis for the snow crystals.
  • the invention therefore proposes a snow-making system that has a snow-making assembly and a refrigerator.
  • the snow production module can be a snow generator known per se (for example in the form of a propeller machine or as a lance snow generator) be or at least be derived from such a known snow gun within the scope of the usual professional skill.
  • the chiller as such is either known per se or derived from a known chiller within the scope of the skilled person.
  • the invention is primarily seen in the combination of the snow making assembly and the chiller.
  • snow-making method there is also the combination of the steps that snow-making water is cooled by means of a refrigeration machine, and that the snow-making water cooled by the refrigeration machine and / or a mixture of air and the snow-making water cooled by the refrigeration machine through one or more nozzles of a snow-making machine. Assembly is / are ejected.
  • snow can be efficiently produced in good quality even at limit temperatures - i.e. at wet bulb temperatures in the range of at most 0 ° C to just below 0 ° C.
  • the invention is not restricted to this temperature range. If the snow-making water is subcooled in some configurations, it is even possible to produce snow at wet bulb temperatures of slightly above 0 ° C.
  • the system according to the invention also has advantages at temperatures below the absolute limit range. It has been shown in practice that known installations with cooling towers do not always work satisfactorily even at temperatures below the absolute limit range. Even in cold weather conditions, it is not possible to feed strongly supercooled water into the lines that run from the storage lake or pool to the snow guns, since otherwise the lines could ice up. However, if the water fed in has a temperature of around 0 ° C, it heats up to a few degrees above 0 ° C due to geothermal energy until it arrives at the snow guns. This is particularly true in early winter because of the warmer soil, when technical snow production is particularly important to create a good snow base. There is also an open cooling circuit in the case of evaporative cooling, which must necessarily be arranged in front of the feed pumps to the snow guns. The power loss of the pumps then leads to a further heating of the snow-making water.
  • the effects just mentioned can lead to the fact that the snow-making water arriving at the snow-making equipment is warmer than it would be desirable for good snow production even in cold weather conditions.
  • the evaporative cooling towers require a few degrees of temperature difference between the wet bulb temperature and the temperature of the snow-making water that can actually be achieved by evaporative cooling, and then the above-mentioned heating on the way to the snow-making equipment and through the pumps and pipes come in addition.
  • the solution according to the invention enables efficient water cooling to a desired temperature range - which is generally lower than would be achievable with known systems at limit temperatures.
  • embodiments of the invention can be designed such that, in all weather conditions that are suitable for snow production at all, the snow-making water exits the one or more nozzles and has a temperature of at most 4.0 ° C. and preferably at most 2.0 ° C. and more preferably at most 1.0 ° C. These temperature ranges already represent a considerable advantage over the prior art.
  • the snow-making water is subcooled by the refrigeration machine, so that it has a temperature of less than 0.0 ° C. when it emerges from the one or more nozzles.
  • nucleation nuclei form immediately upon exiting the nozzle or nozzles, which are then immediately in thermal equilibrium with the droplets of the snow-making water which is expelled.
  • nucleation nuclei formed dissolve again in the warmer other snow-making water and thus the snow production is restricted.
  • the snow making assembly having one or more nozzles for ejecting the snow making water and / or a mixture of air and the snow making water
  • the snow-making assembly can also contain further nozzles, which are provided in addition to the “one or more nozzles” mentioned. In some configurations, however, all the nozzles of the snow-making assembly have the claimed properties.
  • the refrigerator and the snow making assembly are integrated into a single device or assembly.
  • the refrigerator and the snow-making assembly can rest on a common foundation and / or be attached to a common frame and / or be built into a common housing.
  • the refrigerator and the snow-making assembly are two separate assemblies.
  • the refrigeration machine and the snow-making assembly are at a relatively small spatial distance from one another, which is, for example, at most 10.0 m and preferably at most 3.0 m.
  • Such a small spatial distance helps to avoid undesired heating of the water cooled by the refrigerator in a line leading to the snow-making assembly.
  • embodiments of the invention are also provided in which this distance is greater.
  • the chiller and the snow making assembly are connected by an (insulated or non-insulated) conduit for the cooled snow water that is in the ambient air and / or within a housing and / or in the ground, but less deep than that Frost depth runs.
  • a line network which has at least one main water line fed by a storage lake or basin and a plurality of branch lines branching off from it.
  • a similar pipeline network exists and the chiller is on the same branch line as the snow making assembly.
  • the snow-making system has a plurality of snow-producing assemblies and a plurality of refrigeration machines, each of which is individually associated with one another (ie in a 1: 1 relationship).
  • these systems there are several pairs of exactly one chiller and exactly one snow-making module, so that the chiller only supplies its assigned snow-making module with cooled snow-making water, and the snow-making module is exclusively supplied by this chiller. This does not rule out the fact that in such systems there are further snow-making assemblies and / or further chillers that do not have the aforementioned 1: 1 relationship.
  • the snow-making water is already under pressure in the refrigerator, for example under at least half the operating pressure.
  • these can be embodiments in which the snow-making system does not have its own feed pumps for the snow-making water, so that the inlet pressure of the snow-making water in the refrigerator is approximately as high or (due to the pressure loss in a heat exchanger of the refrigerator through which the snow-making water flows) somewhat higher than the operating pressure is.
  • the operating pressure can be more than 2 bar or preferably more than 5 bar or even more preferably more than 10 bar.
  • the refrigeration machine and / or the snow-making assembly can be designed as such in various ways which are known per se or obvious.
  • the refrigerator can have an economizer and / or an intermediate cooling circuit.
  • the snow making assembly may further include at least one water jet pump, as shown in FIG EP 1 456 588 B1 is described.
  • the snow-making assembly is set up to work in uncooled and / or uncompressed ambient air.
  • the snow-making system is set up to only expel snow-making water, which has been cooled by the refrigerator, at least in some temperature conditions. In other embodiments, however, additional water that is not cooled by the refrigerator is expelled.
  • This make-up water can, for example, come directly from a storage lake or pool, whereby evaporative cooling can take place, but does not necessarily have to take place. Such embodiments can have a high maximum output with particularly good efficiency.
  • a snow-making system 10 is shown in each case with a snow-producing assembly 12 and a refrigeration machine 14, which are connected to one another by a line 16 for cooled snow-making water K.
  • the refrigeration machine 14 is in turn fed by snow-making water B from a storage lake or a storage basin (not shown) which, in the exemplary embodiments described here, is not cooled or at most is cooled by central evaporative cooling. It goes without saying that the invention is not restricted to snow-making systems 10 with a single snow-producing assembly 12 and a single refrigeration machine 14, even if such systems are primarily described below for better understanding.
  • snow-making systems 10 can have a plurality of snow-producing assemblies 12 and / or a plurality of refrigeration machines 14 and / or further components, such as, for example, a line network (not shown in the figures) with a main line and a plurality of branch lines.
  • a line network not shown in the figures
  • the snow-generating assembly 12 has at least one nozzle assembly 18, which according to the exemplary embodiments described here 1-6 in each case a plurality of nozzles 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, ... - hereinafter referred to collectively as "20.x" - contains.
  • each of the nozzles 20.x can be designed as a water nozzle or water / air nozzle or in special other designs (for example as a nucleator nozzle).
  • the water or water / air mixture expelled from the nozzles 20.x or at least some of the nozzles 20.x is cooled snow-making water K or has at least a portion of cooled snow-making water K.
  • the nozzles 20.x are in uncompressed ambient air or, in the case of propeller machines, in the air jet generated by the propeller, which is also to be understood as “uncompressed ambient air” in the wording used here.
  • uncompressed ambient air If the snow-making system is installed outdoors, the ambient air is also uncooled. If the snow-making system is installed indoors (e.g. in a ski hall), the entire ambient air in the ski hall may have been cooled, but there is no additional cooling in connection with the snow-making system. This should also be understood in the choice of words used here as "uncooled ambient air”.
  • the snow generation module 12 can be configured in various known designs, for example as a propeller machine (“snow cannon”) or as a lance snow generator.
  • Fig. 1 shows a particularly simple embodiment of the snow production module 12, in which only water nozzles 20.x are provided which only eject cooled snow-making water K into uncompressed and uncooled ambient air. More complex embodiments are the subject of Fig. 2-6 and are described below.
  • the refrigeration machine 14 has, in a manner known per se, a cooling circuit 22 which contains a refrigerant M which is separate from the snow-making water B, K.
  • a first heat exchanger 24, a throttle element 26, a second heat exchanger 28 and a compressor 30 are provided.
  • the refrigerant M can condense in some configurations, while in other embodiments there is no phase transition.
  • the throttle body 26 reduces the pressure of the refrigerant M.
  • the refrigerant M is therefore able to extract heat from the snow-making water B supplied in the second heat exchanger 28, which can be configured, for example, as an evaporator. This results in the cooled snow-making water K.
  • the heated and possibly now vaporous refrigerant M is fed back to the first heat exchanger 24 via the compressor 30, whereby the cycle is closed.
  • the various configurations of the snow making assembly 12 as shown in 1-6 are shown and described here, arbitrarily with the various configurations of the refrigeration machine 14, as also shown in FIG 1-6 shown and described here can be combined.
  • the invention thus includes, for example, at least all snow-making systems in which any snow-making assembly 12 according to one of the drawing figures 1-6 with any chiller 14 according to another of the drawings figures 1-6 is used.
  • FIG. 2 A modified snow-making system 10 is shown, in which the nozzle assembly 18 is supplied with a mixture of air and the cooled snow-making water K by a water jet pump 32.
  • the nozzles 20.x are designed as water / air nozzles.
  • the cooled snow-making water K serves as a driving medium for the water jet pump, which in turn sucks in uncompressed ambient air at an inlet 34 and mixes this air with the cooled snow-making water K.
  • the snow / air mixture thus produced is expelled through the nozzles 20.x.
  • This principle of operation is off as such EP 1 456 588 B1 known. It goes without saying that, in further modifications, a plurality of nozzle assemblies 18, each having a plurality of nozzles 20.x, can be provided.
  • FIG. 3 snowmaking system 10 shown is similar to the system of FIG Fig. 1 , however one or more of the nozzles 20.x - in Fig. 3 the nozzle 20.3, for example, is designed as a nucleator nozzle for generating freeze nuclei.
  • the nucleator nozzle 20.3 is supplied with the cooled snow-making water K and with compressed air, which in turn is obtained from ambient air by means of a compressor 36.
  • Fig. 4 shows an example of a snow-making system 10 with a plurality of nozzle assemblies 18, which are supplied partly by the cooled snow-making water K and partly by make-up water Z.
  • the make-up water Z comes from the same main and branch line as the cooled snow-making water K, but the make-up water Z is not cooled by the refrigeration machine 14.
  • a hydraulic connection 40 for example a controllable or permanently set throttle element or a controllable or permanently set valve, is also provided for mixing the cooled snow-making water K and the make-up water Z, while in other configurations there is no such connection.
  • the nozzles 20.1-20.9 are supplied exclusively with cooled snow-making water K, and the nozzles 20.10-20.15 are supplied exclusively with make-up water Z.
  • the snow-making system 10 has a relatively long throw for the additional water Z expelled from the second-mentioned nozzles 20.10-20.15, because this water can then cool in the ambient air before it is completely or partially frozen Snow-making water K of the nozzles 20.1 - 20.9.
  • the nozzles 20.x are supplied with a mixture of the cooled snow-making water K and the additional water Z — optionally in variable mixing ratios.
  • nozzle assemblies 18 in Fig. 4 are shown partly with and partly without water jet pumps 32. It goes without saying that this is only an exemplary arrangement, and that many further configurations in which make-up water Z is used are possible and provided. Furthermore, in Fig. 4 Each nozzle assembly 18 is assigned a valve 38 with which the water supply to this nozzle assembly 18 depends on the operating conditions can be adjusted. This enables a good adaptation to a wide variety of operating situations and weather conditions.
  • FIG. 5 and 6 show modifications of the refrigeration machine 14, which can be combined with all the configurations of the snow-making assembly 12 described here.
  • an economizer 42 is provided in the cooling circuit 22, that is, a further heat exchanger which increases the efficiency of the refrigeration machine 14 because it heats up refrigerant M, which comes from the second heat exchanger 28, before the compressor 30.
  • an intermediate circuit 44 with a further heat exchanger 46 and a pump 48 is provided in the refrigerator 14 according to Fig. 6 .
  • the intermediate circuit 44 has a cooling medium MM which differs from the refrigerant M in the cooling circuit 22.
  • the cooling medium MM can be a water / glycol mixture.
  • the use of an intermediate circuit 44 has in particular the advantage of increased design freedom in the design of the refrigeration machine 14.
  • a snow-making system 10 of the type described above receives snow-making water B with a temperature of approximately 4 ° C.-8 ° C.
  • the refrigeration machine 14 produces cooled snow-making water K with a temperature of 0.0 ° C.
  • the snow-making water K when it flows through the nozzles 20.x (as water or as a water / air mixture), has a temperature of approximately 0.5 ° C.
  • nucleation nuclei At a temperature of the ambient air of slightly below 0 ° C, nucleation nuclei form immediately, to which the remaining snow-making water K quickly accumulates in the form of a snowflake.
  • the refrigerator K produces supercooled snow-making water K with a temperature of -1.5 ° C.
  • This snowmaking water K when it passes through the nozzles 20.x and exits them, has a temperature of approximately -1.0 ° C. Snow formation occurs almost immediately at ambient temperatures below 0 ° C. Snow can still be produced even when the ambient air temperature is slightly above 0 ° C.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
EP18179023.9A 2018-06-21 2018-06-21 Système d'enneigement et procédé d'enneigement Withdrawn EP3587966A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP18179023.9A EP3587966A1 (fr) 2018-06-21 2018-06-21 Système d'enneigement et procédé d'enneigement
PCT/EP2019/065789 WO2019243208A1 (fr) 2018-06-21 2019-06-15 Système d'enneigement, tuyau de soufflante et procédé d'enneigement
EP19729776.5A EP3811005B1 (fr) 2018-06-21 2019-06-15 Système d'enneigement et procédé d'enneigement

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP18179023.9A EP3587966A1 (fr) 2018-06-21 2018-06-21 Système d'enneigement et procédé d'enneigement

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EP3587966A1 true EP3587966A1 (fr) 2020-01-01

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EP18179023.9A Withdrawn EP3587966A1 (fr) 2018-06-21 2018-06-21 Système d'enneigement et procédé d'enneigement
EP19729776.5A Active EP3811005B1 (fr) 2018-06-21 2019-06-15 Système d'enneigement et procédé d'enneigement

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WO (1) WO2019243208A1 (fr)

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1989012793A1 (fr) * 1988-06-22 1989-12-28 Clulow Malcom George Equipment de fabrication de neige
JPH09329379A (ja) * 1996-06-10 1997-12-22 Kensaburou Katou 人工雪製造装置
EP1600711A2 (fr) 2004-05-29 2005-11-30 Innovag AG Aktiengesellschaft für innovative Industrietechnik Usine à neige intérieure
EP1456588B1 (fr) 2001-12-11 2006-03-01 NIVIS GmbH - Srl Canon a neige et procede d'utilisation d'un tel canon
US20100314463A1 (en) * 2009-06-11 2010-12-16 Max Duplan Heating or cooling equipment including a geothermal heat pump associated with an artificial snow production installation
WO2012115718A2 (fr) * 2011-02-26 2012-08-30 Naeem Ahmad Procédés de fabrication et de préservation de la neige/glace
CN107024049A (zh) 2017-06-01 2017-08-08 深圳市新力合制冰技术有限公司 新型造雪装置

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1989012793A1 (fr) * 1988-06-22 1989-12-28 Clulow Malcom George Equipment de fabrication de neige
JPH09329379A (ja) * 1996-06-10 1997-12-22 Kensaburou Katou 人工雪製造装置
EP1456588B1 (fr) 2001-12-11 2006-03-01 NIVIS GmbH - Srl Canon a neige et procede d'utilisation d'un tel canon
EP1600711A2 (fr) 2004-05-29 2005-11-30 Innovag AG Aktiengesellschaft für innovative Industrietechnik Usine à neige intérieure
US20100314463A1 (en) * 2009-06-11 2010-12-16 Max Duplan Heating or cooling equipment including a geothermal heat pump associated with an artificial snow production installation
WO2012115718A2 (fr) * 2011-02-26 2012-08-30 Naeem Ahmad Procédés de fabrication et de préservation de la neige/glace
CN107024049A (zh) 2017-06-01 2017-08-08 深圳市新力合制冰技术有限公司 新型造雪装置

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2019243208A1 (fr) 2019-12-26
EP3811005A1 (fr) 2021-04-28
EP3811005C0 (fr) 2023-06-07
EP3811005B1 (fr) 2023-06-07

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