DEHUMIDIFICATION: Ice Arena Application & Product Guide

Design, construct and operate

to control indoor humidity in ice rinks
 Munters is the world leader in dehumidication
Munters is the largest manufacturer of dehumidiers in the world. Since developing the rst desiccant dehumidier in
the 1930s, Munters has provided dehumidiers to over 1,500 ice rinks and arenas. We are the NHL preferred supplier
for desiccant dehumidiers. Our long history and extensive expertise in ice arena dehumidication makes us the
premier choice for your dehumidication needs.

I
ce rinks experience a multitude of issues associated
with the control of the air conditions in the space.
Munters, The Humidity Expert
These issues are primarily associated with humidity
Our extensive knowledge and experience
in the air and include: fog, condensation, drips, makes us the premier choice for your
mushrooms, mildew stains, peeling paint, rust and dehumidication needs.
corrosion, and poor ice quality. In addition to the these
issues, operators may incur increased operating cost, more
resurfacing operation, and reduced rentable ice time if the
humidity is not properly controlled in a rink. By utilizing
a desiccant dehumidifier to efficiently provide low
humidity conditions, operators can eliminate the issues
associated with poor air conditions in ice rinks.
Munters offers a variety of systems in several different
sizes and configurations to meet the customers needs.

1 DEHUMIDIFICATION: Ice Arena Application & Product Guide

 Building Design
The three most important elements when designing an ice rink facility are the envelope, ice sheet and
air dehumidication. Provided are some basic suggestions the owner and architect should consider before
the HVAC engineer sizes and selects equipment. Refer to the ASHRAE Humidity Control Design Guide for
additional guidance.

Design a tight building enclosure

Vapor barrier goes on outside of insulation
regardless of building location
Low-e (emissivity) ceilings help reduce the
load on the ice sheet;
Avoid window installation on the west
exposure of building where solar load
is greatest
Provide people access through a vestibule
with airlock to reduce inltration
Consider location and access of the
resurfacing machine to minimize outdoor
air leakage

HVAC System Design Units mounted inside require condensation control for
Calculating the dehumidification load and outside air (OA) specific ductwork system to avoid moisture problems. Outside
quantity is the first step in sizing the HVAC system for an ice air duct should be positively drained and insulated to minimize
rink. Since the ice sheet typically provides the entire cooling and control condensation inside the ductwork in the summer.
requirement (approx 30 to 50 tons of cooling effect), the HVAC Reactivation ductwork for desiccant systems should be treated the
systems primary function in an ice rink is to dehumidify. same as outside air ductwork.
The outside air or OA is the largest dehumidification load A common mistake in facilities with multiple sheets is to
for the rink. Outside air is brought into the space to dilute utilize common return ductwork from all ice sheets. Supply and
contaminants and maintain IAQ requirements. It is most effective return ductwork should be designed so that individual ice sheets
to dehumidify or treat the OA before it enters the building and can be isolated when they are taken offline for non use periods or
to use dew point sensor control, not relative humidity control. In maintenance. High return conditions will overload the capacity of
addition, by incorporating CO and CO2 sensors or an occupied/ the dehumidification equipment if return from an offline sheet is
unoccupied mode time clock the facility will be able to reduce and allowed to recirculate through the dehumidifier.
monitor the amount of OA being delivered to the space.
Since ice rinks require a large outside air quantity and the
differential between space condition and outside air condition
can be extreme, energy recovery is often a good enhancement
to the dehumidifier. An enthalpy wheel can be added to
dehumidification equipment to lower the work required by the
active desiccant dehumidification portion of the equipment and
provide substantially lower operating costs.
Once the equipment has been selected, it needs to be
positioned and ductwork sized and arranged. Air distribution is
generally routed around the rink, but care should be taken so that
supply air does not discharge on to the ice surface as sublimation
or melting of the ice is possible. High supply parallel to the floor
has worked well with the return at floor level and close to the unit.

DEHUMIDIFICATION: Ice Arena Application & Product Guide 2

 Space Conditions
The majority of ice rinks in the United
States operate at 35F dewpoint with 55
to 65F temperature.

A 35F dewpoint minimizes the humidity

impact on the ice and the rink facility. The
temperature is low enough to provide for
efcient ice plant operation without being
too cold for skaters and spectators.

Get to the point...the dewpoint.

Controlling the rink conditions at a low
dewpoint benefit the rink occupants, the rink
facility, and the rink owners and operators.
Risks associated with high humidity,
such as sight obstructing fog and uneven,
frosty ice surfaces can cause physical harm
to the skaters. In addition to safety hazards,
excess moisture in areas such as locker rooms
encourages mold growth and bacteria, which
impacts IAQ and occupant health. Providing
a low dewpoint minimizes the opportunity
for risks associated with high humidity and
poor IAQ .
High humidity in the space also
increases condensation on the building
structure and components, which can lead
to rust, corrosion, and decrease the building
longevity. In addition, the efficiency of the ice
making refrigeration plant suffers due to the
increased costs to eliminate the water vapor
on the ice surface.
Dehumidifying the rink to a low
dewpoint creates significant benefits by
enabling the rink to extend the season
and operate efficiently in all climates.
By increasing the amount of days the
rink operates, the rink can achieve
greater profitability.

3 DEHUMIDIFICATION: Ice Arena Application & Product Guide

 TO SELECT A DEHUMIDIFIER
Use the worksheet and formulas below to calculate the total moisture load of your ice arena.

FORMULAS AND CONVERSIONS

1. What is the building size?
2
TOTAL SIZE (ft )
A OACFM = Ventilation Air Quantity (cfm)
2. Maximum occupancy of building? * Sports arena (play area) = 0.30 cfm/ft2
* Spectator area = 0.06 cfm/ft2 + 7.5 cfm/person
3. How much outside air (OACFM) is needed? See A
B Grains = difference in absolute humidity of the
+ = outside air and the indoor space (gr/lb)
SPECTATOR AREA (cfm) PLAY AREA (cfm) OUTSIDE AIR (cfm)
C Inltration Leak Rate

4. Using ASHRAE design dewpoint conditions*, determine the outside air grains. Tight 0.1 cfm/ft2
Average 0.3 cfm/ft2
Loose 0.6 cfm/ft2
Convert cfm into lbs/hr using following formula:
lbs/hr= 0.000643 x CFM x Grains
5. Calculate the delta grains. See B
D People Load (per person) lbs/hr
+ = Seated at rest 0.10
OUTSIDE AIR GRAINS INDOOR SPACE GRAINS** GRAINS
Seated, light work 0.20
(Answer from question 4)
Moderate Dancing 0.52
Light Exercise 0.83
6. Calculate your building's inltration leak rate? See C Medium Athletic Activity 0.92
(lbs/hr)
Athletics 1.04
7. Calculate the people load. See D
(lbs/hr) E Internal Load (lbs/hr) = Inltration + People Load
8. Calculate the total moisture load (lbs/hr) of the building. See E, F, A, B F OA Load (lbs/hr) = humidity load of outside air
*lbs/hr = 0.000643 x OACFM x Grains
+ =
INTERNAL LOAD (lbs/hr) OA LOAD (lbs/hr) TOTAL MOISTURE LOAD
* Refer to the ASHRAE Humidity Design Guide for
these conditions
Using the total moisture load, refer to the product dehumidication capacity charts ** NHL suggests indoor arena conditions be held at
on page 5 and 6 to estimate a suitable equipment size for your arena. a 35F dewpoint or 30 grains

Locker Rooms are the Forgotten Space

Frequently air is blown into locker rooms from the
rink, or exhaust fans are used to migrate air from the
rink to the locker rooms. "Rink air" is very expensive
to produce and it is not encouraged to release that
cool, low dewpoint air for distribution to other areas
of the arena. It is more cost efficient to install smaller,
separate systems to condition the locker rooms and
other common areas.
The building load differs greatly depending on
the type of occupancy and the quantity of people in
any specific area during that time. For example, after
a game a large quantity of people typically crowd
the locker room with increased metabolisms and
raised temperatures. This type of swing occupancy
in a space needs a dedicated system to efficiently
control the space conditions and provide healthy IAQ
for occupants. If designed properly, the system will
contribute to the total building energy savings by
cycling off exhaust fans when the space is not occupied
to minimize operating costs.

DEHUMIDIFICATION: Ice Arena Application & Product Guide 4

 FreeDry Airow & Schematic

FreeDry MOIST AIR TO

DESICCANT
WHEEL
HEAT PUMP
CONDENSER
REACT
PRE-HEAT COIL

ATMOSPHERE OUTSIDE AIR

OPTIONAL HEAT HEATED HEATED TO

RECOVERY MODULE TO 115F MIN 65F

OUTSIDE AIR SUPPLY AIR

EXHAUST AIR

PRE-COOL COIL POST HEAT COIL

RETURN AIR

Features and Benets

s Advanced low-temperature regenerated desiccant

wheel
s Utilizes waste-heat from refrigeration compressors to
regenerate the desiccant wheel
Product Description
FreeDry combines advanced low temperature desiccant s Dual heat-pump and desiccant technology for
unsurpassed efciency
technology with refrigeration based technology. Utilizing the
benefit of both technologies provides a dehumidifier that can s Liquid or Packaged DX pre-cooling coil
provide and maintain low dew point in the space at very low s Waste-heat from refrigeration compressors for winter
operating cost. In addition, the FreeDry system provides lower space heating
leaving temperature is the summer to minimize the load on the s Variable Frequency Drives for optimum performance
ice sheet. s Microprocessor controls with available BMS interface
The FreeDry system uses the condenser side of a heat s Foam injected 2" double wall casing
pump circuit to reactivate a desiccant dehumidification wheel. s Optional heat recovery module available for
The efficiency of this cycle provides an extremely efficient LEED certication
reactivation input.
The evaporator side of the circuit can be used to provide
cooling to the supply air in higher ambient conditions or is
rejected to the condenser water loop for the refrigeration plant to
lower the heat rejection requirements of the condenser loop. The
pre-cooling can be a brine coil utilizing the refrigeration plant or
package DX built into the unit.
The system can be sized to handle the outdoor air requirement
of the facility and can provide modulating or demand control
ventilation. In non ice event mode the system can provide cooling
and heating to maintain more tradition space conditions.

FreeDry Capacity Chart

Airow Performance 0% Fresh Air1 Performance 100% Fresh Air1 Dimensions Weight
CFM Energy Input2 Moisture Removal Supply Air4 Energy Input3 Moisture Removal Supply Air4 LxWxH Pounds
6000 7.0 kW 54 lbs/hr 68F 22.1 kW 231 lbs/hr 77F 203 x 96 x 71 6300
8000 9.4 kW 68 lbs/hr 69F 29.5 kW 324 lbs/hr 75F 203 x 96 x 86 8500
12000 14.1 kW 108 lbs/hr 68F 44.2 kW 462 lbs/hr 77F 371 x 126 x 102 16000
16000 18.8 kW 136 lbs/hr 69F 59.0 kW 648 lbs/hr 75F 402 x 126 x 102 18000
(1) Return Air Conditions = 55F, 32 gr/lb / Fresh Air Conditions = 80F, 120 gr/lb
(2) Heat Pump Compressor Only
(3) Heat Pump Compressor & Pre-Cool Energy
(4) Supply Air Temperature Indicated in Dehumidication Mode

5 DEHUMIDIFICATION: Ice Arena Application & Product Guide

 IceAire DDS Airow & Schematic

IceAire Desiccant MOIST AIR TO

ATMOSPHERE
DESICCANT
WHEEL HEATED
TO
250F
GAS
BURNER

OUTSIDE AIR

A
RETURN AIR C D SUPPLY AIR

B
OUTSIDE AIR COOLING HEATING
COIL COIL

State No Outside Air With Outside Air

Point CFM F gr/lb CFM F gr/lb
A Outside Air 0 75 70 2,500 95 120
B Return Air 10,000 55 30 7,500 55 30
C Post Desiccant Wheel 10,000 83 4 10,000 100 17
D Supply Air 10,000 55 4 10,000 60 17

Product Description
Features and Benets
The IceAire dehumidifier is installed in more ice rink
applications than any other dehumidifier. It provides a low
s Foam injected 2 double wall casing
cost, low maintenance dehumidifier for the low humidity levels
associated with ice rinks. It utilizes a direct fired gas burner or s High temperature desiccant cycle for low
leaving dewpoints
steam to reactivate a desiccant wheel. This allows the air stream to
be dried to extremely low levels to provide maximum capacity. s Optional DDC microprocessor controls
The system can be configured with optional energy recovery s Option for modulating outside air
wheel, cooling coils, heating coils and burners, and packaged dx s ETL listed
condensing sections. It can be configured to handle up to 100% s Optional energy recovery wheel for high outside
outside air and can modulate the outside air quantity. air applications
The high temperature reactivation allows for the delivery of s Packaged DX, split system or chilled water options
supply air conditions as low as 10F dewpoint.
The simple direct fired burner reactivation and slow turning
desiccant wheel (0.1 RPM) provide a very simple, very reliable
dehumidification system.
This low leaving air condition provides extremely large capacity
in a small airflow and cabinet size.

IceAire Desiccant Capacity Chart

Maximum CFM Minimum Maximum Dehumid Dimensions Weight
Unit Tons
OA Return Total Exhaust Exhaust lbs./hr. LxWxH Pounds
DDS 20 10,000 10,000 10,000 250 10,000 100 250 219 x 80 x 70 6,500
DDS 30 30,000 30,000 30,000 500 15,000 200 350 219 x 96 x 101 8,500
DDS 40 50,000 50,000 50,000 1,000 25,000 300 500 280 x 134 x 101 10,500

DEHUMIDIFICATION: Ice Arena Application & Product Guide 6

 Munters is a global leader in
energy efficient air treatment solutions.
Munters manufactures engineered products that can economically control
humidity and temperature, provide energy recovery, and/or utilize direct or
indirect evaporative cooling for comfort, process and environmental protection.
With permanent or temporary solutions, Munters offers a wide variety of
options to meet specific climate, application and budget requirements.
Munters has net sales approaching $1 billion USD with more than 20
manufacturing facilities across the globe and sales offices in over 30 countries.
Munters employs approximately 4,300 people worldwide.
For more information see www.munters.us

Munters Corporation
Tel: (800) 843-5330 E-mail: dhinfo@munters.com www.munters.us

AG0007-04 04/09