International News: AFPBB News How did the "Water Cube" transform into an "Ice Cube"?
[May 10 People's Daily] Three types of temperatures are set at the same time in one competition venue. How can we meet the competition equipment and player's game requirements and at the same time satisfy the spectator's spectator experience? The Beijing National Aquatics Center, nicknamed the "Water Cube," has demonstrated science and technology that "achieves different room temperatures in the same room."
From April 1st to 10th, rehearsals for the Winter Olympics were held, but the curling and wheelchair curling competitions were held at the National Swimming Center "Water Cube". The venue, which became the world's first stadium with the technology to turn a pool into an ice rink using smart technology and transformed from "water cube" to "ice cube", will be curling and wheelchair at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics. It will be the venue for curling.
The Beijing National Aquatics Center is the first in the world to have a curling link on the pool, making it a groundbreaking gymnasium that serves as the venue for the Olympics in both water and ice competitions.
Transforming a "water cube" into an "ice cube" is not as easy as watering the ground to create a skating rink. According to Hou Bencai, vice president of Construction Development Co., Ltd., this conversion requires five steps. The conversion to an ice rink is completed by first draining water, constructing a frame and backing plate, laying a heat insulating layer and a waterproof layer on it, installing a prefabricated ice making system, carrying refrigerant and freezing the water surface. .. The biggest difficulty of remodeling is the accuracy of control. Curling requires very precise link maintenance for competition, and even if the weight is 150 kg per square meter, the deformation of the base structure must be suppressed to 1 mm or less.
Achieving complex temperature and humidity control was also a challenge in turning the pool into an ice rink. Water competitions require a hot and humid environment, and ice competitions require a low temperature and low humidity environment, so the environments required for both competitions are far apart. Curling competitions are even more demanding on the rink, and the temperature of the rink must be controlled in three layers. The surface temperature of ice should be maintained at minus 8.5 ° C, and the temperature 1.5 meters above the ice surface should be maintained at 10 ° C. On the other hand, the temperature of the spectators'seats needs to be 16-18 ° C, and in the Winter Olympics, it is required to provide a perfect environment for curling competitions and a comfortable environment for the spectators.
Temperature control is mainly performed by a smart control system using more than 4000 sensors. This "cerebrum" observes and controls changes in data such as temperature, humidity, and PM2.5 concentration in the venue, and when the temperature changes in different places in the room, the control system adjusts the temperature through the air duct in the hall. ..
Below the spectators'seats, a long blue bag with a diameter of 1 meter is stretched around the venue. This is a dehumidifying air blowing system, and a specialized air blowing device is installed under the spectators' seats. "The blasts for the athletes and the spectators are treated separately and can be controlled independently," said Yang Qiyong, deputy chief of the swimming center backyard. (c) People's Daily / AFPBB News