Buckingham Palace -- Heating Engineering Structure
Buckingham Palace - Heating Structure
The average temperatures of the groundwater systems are primarily maintained at the recorded depths of 10-15m under the ground surface (this is estimated at the mean yearly air temperature for the specific region) with further depths increase based on the geothermal gradient of the region (this is estimated to be 2.6°C for every added 100m of depth). Consequently, there's a temperature velocity and difference between the two estimates of the air temperatures and underground or groundwater temperatures for all the year; the analysis shows that the groundwater temperature maintain to be cooler in comparison that the air temperature throughout the year even during summers. We have seen numerous building engineering structures hence utilize the groundwater temperatures to control the heat/cold within the buildings. Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom is one exemplary illustration of the use of groundwater temperatures. The structure used at Buckingham Palace is the open loop ground source heat pump system. The ground source heat pump (GSHP) structures usually make use of the natural groundwater and air temperature as well as the big difference and velocity between the two in order to fulfill the heating or cooling requirements of the buildings. In the open-loop system applied within Buckingham Palace, groundwater is extracted at the ambient temperature from a number of extraction sites, which is then processed through the structures of the heat pumps before being distributed back to the aquifer through a number of injection borehole(s). The water that is distributed back will most likely have withstood a temperature change and the discharged water is going to be cooler (if employed for creating heat or warmer temperatures within the structure) or warmer (if employed for creating cooling temperatures within the structure) (Abesser, 2010).
The utilization of GSHP systems for creating warm or cool temperatures within buildings is widespread in America and Canada and selective European states as well. However, when talking about the United Kingdom, it is definitely an emerging technology. The amount of UK installations has experienced an unexpected and quick rise since the turn of the 21st century, with only about a dozen systems installed between the years 1970 and 1994 to a whopping estimate of over 3, 500 structures installed till the year 2008 which included nearly all the system configurations available (2009). The successful installation at Buckingham Palace proves that the structure is most likely going to find even more popularity. The tangible reason why this rapid development actually took place in such a wide range is primarily the increased understanding of climate change problems, rising fuel costs along with the implementation of the Merton Rule as well as other environmentally concerned regulations introduced since 2003 that have demanded innovative progressions above a particular size to create 10% of the energy requirements from on-site renewable resources. Presently, the open loop structure at the Buckingham Palace really is one that is being employed within a comparatively smaller scale inside the entire GSHP industry in the United Kingdom, but demand for use within large-scale commercial/public buildings like the Buckingham Palace within urban surroundings is likely to rise especially because of its useful and successful implementation within the Buckingham Palace infrastructure (Le Feuvre and St. John Cox, 2009).
This rise encompassing the rising concern of the consumption and depletion of the natural sources of the planet for example groundwater; and, there's also increasing concern with regards to the maintenance of such extraction-distribution (open-loop) structures and their effect on the aquifer's thermal costs (Kelly, 2009). Victorious management strategies and implementation of innovations as a result of those new environmental concerns and demands takes a good knowledge of the short-term and long-term results, hydraulic and thermal, of individual methods on the groundwater system in addition to their long-term maintenance and competence. Such information is essential for regulators, like the Environment Agency in England and Wales, to focus on the regulation of those resources accordingly. Changes to the legislation might be asked to standardize the regulation of heat structures like the GSHP employed at Buckingham Palace, or even to adjust the current regulatory mechanisms.
Longevity and maintenance of ground source heat resources, heat propagation through the utilization of rock and water, and the result of temperature changes on groundwater chemistry would be the prime domains where the loopholes in information and comprehension of implementation will surface (Kelly, 2009). Numerical heat transport models (in addition to geochemical models) are indispensable tools to aid research in these areas. They're not just valuable for verifying the conceptual knowledge of an aquifer structure, but may also help...
One of the benefits, stated by numerous energy savings-websites and installers, may be the potential to reduce fuels bills (Energy conservation Trust, 2010) and also to become cost-effective within a couple of years after installation. Most of the assertions and claims on installation/equipment expenses and cost-effectiveness make reference to residential, closed-loop schemes.
Cost-efficiency and the total amount actually saved is determined by numerous facets, including
Installation expenses of the structure
GSHP structure competency / coefficient of end result and performance
Current heat efficiency
Electricity or gas duty or tax
Offered allowances for GSHP equipments and fittings
The availability of grants (Green Energy 36, 2008)
Buckingham Palace -- Recommendations
The installation of the Flat Plate Heat Exchangers at Buckingham Palace is one recommendation that has already been effectively and competently employed within the Buckingham Palace structure at the initial cost of £0.4 million.
In the last five years, there's been a continuing project to upgrade the mechanical plant rooms by replacing the initial shell and tube pressure vessels with flat plate heat exchangers. This particular project handled plant which had passed its endurance, had poor controls and high degrees of maintenance. Before the upgrade, the primary boilers distributed water at 110 degrees centigrade for space heating and 60 degrees centigrade for domestic warm water with substantial distribution losses in the network. The upgrades that introduced the use of flat plate heat exchangers, which are highly efficient and responsive and permit the distribution temperature for space heating to be lowered to 85 degrees centigrade in cold weather, have led to savings in gas consumption and lower maintenance charges for the building (Le Feuvre et al., 2009).
In this paper, we will primarily focus on how the use of KoolShade can also help the admin at Buckingham Palace to naturally control the temperatures within the building and exude less pressure on the GSHP open loop systems.
KoolShade is, as the name indicates, a shade that is made up of a small bronze-colored micro Louvre structure. This particular structure has been constructed and merged into an arrangement of intricate designs that offer not only blocking the extreme heat from the sun but also providing an undisturbed view of the exterior surroundings. Hence, the main advantage of KoolShade is that it significantly reduces the overall solar heat rise within the building, hence decreasing the overall pressure and costs on the cooling systems (Coopers, 2010).
The need for structures like KoolShade has been mainly backed by the increasing heat as well as modern building regulations. These two aspects have forced many architects and building designers to focus on the aspects of overheating of the buildings due to the absorption of sun's heat so that all designs thereof incorporate sustainable counter solutions. These solutions need to be designed to conserve energy as well as decrease the pressures of AC functioning and costs. Another reason why the cooling temperatures must be sustained is to increase productivity percentages and decrease employee absenteeism -- both aspects can significantly increase when heated working environments persist (Coopers, 2010).
KoolShade can tackle all these concerns significantly well by simultaneously also adding to the intricate and modern design of the buildings. The main drawback in the past with blocking the sun's rays through exterior covering on windows has been the obscured view from the windows due to use of heavier aluminum Louvre but KoolShade eliminates that issue as well (Coopers, 2010).
The KoolShade structure consists of micro Louvre which in size, is simply, 1mm wide and 0.18mm thick. This gives the building designers two particular advantages that they won't possible have when using the standard sized Louvre. The first advantage is that the lightweight and width of the material does not disrupt the outlook of the building i.e. The building still can look like its original corporate design without having to adjust its overall structural stability. The other big advantage, of course is the undisturbed view from the inside that is primarily a result of the light weight of the material used. In fact, the application of the KoolShade material allows the building to have complete shade from the heat at a 40 degree+ angle (Coopers, 2010).
Another advantage of using the KoolShade material and installation is that it also provides a security shield on the windows…
