With new ice rinks in Canada and the U.S. facing increasing financial and environmental pressures, Ainsworth, with over 45 years of experience in commercial and ice rink refrigeration, recently met the challenge by designing, installing, and opening a new rink that ushers in an innovative era of ice-making technology.
It all really began in the spring of 2014, when Kent Muench, mayor of Martensville, Saskatchewan, Canada, delivered a pointed message: “The city of Martensville supports a new arena, but this needs to be driven by the community.” The Martensville Community Recreation Project (MCRP) — a volunteer-led charity — was formed within a few weeks and began organizing and running events to raise funds for the new facility and to create awareness.
With excitement for the project at a fever pitch, it became clear it would require more than just one sheet of ice, and the vision grew into a multipurpose sporting facility, which included a regulation soccer-sized indoor turf pitch, a wall climbing area, a playground structure, and future options for up to three sheets of ice. The doors to the Martensville Recreation Centre were officially opened on October 10, 2024.
Innovative Ice
The new ice-making system for the recreation center utilizes Opteon™ XL40 (R-454A) refrigerant, which has a low GWP(AR4) of just 239, well under the 750 GWP required for new rink chillers in Canada (700 USA).
The system’s modular design is based on multiple independent refrigeration circuits. Martensville’s rink uses five modules that provide about 34 tons of cooling capacity each to meet the refrigeration needs for both a full-size ice rink and a smaller practice rink. Modular system designs have numerous benefits in terms of energy, reliability, and operational efficiency. Multiple modules can be brought into action exactly when required; for example, during periods of peak demand, such as hockey tournaments with repeated resurfacing (hot water flooding) and a warm building filled with spectators.
To maintain the ice during normal operation, only a few modules are typically required to run. A modular design is good for reducing energy by closely matching refrigeration capacity with demand (load), especially when compared to a single or pair of large compressors, which, even when unloaded, consume a lot of energy.
The redundancy of multiple circuits built into the design makes it extremely unlikely to “lose the ice” due to a single component failure. With multiple, independent modules, even in the unlikely event of compressor failure or refrigerant leak, the other modules can more than carry the load and maintain operations during repair. This would not be the case with a large industrial system with one large compressor. Regarding compressors, Ainsworth has systems operating with over 70,000 hours on this compressor design.
If and when plans call for adding another sheet of ice or expanded operations (e.g., year-round skating) and the cooling capacity of the refrigeration plant needs to be increased, additional modules can simply be added.
Minimizing Leaks, Disruption
With smaller, individual modules, even in the unlikely event of a catastrophic failure, only a fraction of the total refrigerant would be lost compared to large single systems that would lose hundreds of pounds of refrigerant in a similar scenario. This not only reduces the cost of replacement refrigerant, but also reduces the environmental impact as there is lower potential for refrigerant gas to be lost.
INNOVATIVE ICE: The Martensville Recreation Centre has an innovative ice-making system that utilizes Opteon XL40 (R-454A). (Courtesy of Chemours)
As any rink operator is aware, leaks from systems operating on highly toxic (Class B) ammonia (R-717) also have a high likelihood of resulting in facility evacuations, emergency response, business shutdowns, and impacts to employees, players, and guests. The modular design enhances safety not only from reduced charge sizes, but also by utilizing the lower toxicity (Class A) refrigerant.
Since the compressors used in this system do not require rebuilding, oil changes, and maintenance on a yearly basis like most ammonia systems, maintenance costs are also lower. Additionally, since the system is similar to supermarkets and other familiar commercial refrigeration systems, there are a lot more trained service technicians available. This helps avoid the need for specially trained technicians and turns out to be very important for rinks operating in remote regions and areas with limited-service options.
As the system uses many of the same standard components that are common in commercial refrigeration and the supermarket industry, critical parts are readily available and typically at lower costs, through a vast network of refrigeration wholesalers.
The system is very competitively priced when installed as a complete system, but has additional benefits when it comes time to replace the module system’s individual circuits. Spreading out the capital costs over many years — rather than one large expense to replace an entire system — is a financial benefit for many rink owners/operators.
In business as well as in hockey, “teamwork makes the dream work,” because success depends on collaboration and shared effort. This certainly was the key to the Martensville Rink project, starting from the initial ideation, through fundraising, and right up until the grand opening and first skate.