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How the Ice is made at Murrayfield

The Basics

The law of physics upon which all ice rinks depend is that when a gas expands it drops in temperature. Using this principle to actually make ice upon which people can skate involves using a whole variety of differing gases, fluids, pumps, fans, pipes, compressors and heat exchangers which is often simplified down to one word – the 'Plant'. That’s the easy bit, because the hard bit is actually operating the ‘Plant’ efficiently and correctly to get the right type of ice surface at the right time for any particular skating activity.

At Murrayfield the ice pad is used for figure skating, ice hockey and public skating and the ice conditions required are different for all three. For instance the ice for a hockey match would not be acceptable for figure skating and is also different from that needed for public skating. A one degree change in indoor temperature can alter the quality of the ice and there is a considerable time lag between the Plant starting, achieving freezing mode and actually having an effect on the skating surface. Rink Management need to plan at least a day ahead to create the right type of ice when it is required taking into account the weather forecast, humidity, expected inside and outdoor temperature and the anticipated number of skaters and spectators. The Plant and ice surface conditions are both constantly monitored and recorded to keep in touch with changing conditions. The golden rule is plan for tomorrow today in order to get it right because you can’t play catch up.

Our current Plant was manufactured and installed by Star Refrigeration in 1984. There are three compressors, one ten cylinder, two with eight cylinders which we use to compress the gas before it expends. Rarely all three are in operation at the same time.  One or two are sufficient in the winter months but two are likely to be required over the summer months when the plant has to work harder due to the increased outdoor temperatures.

The compressed gas expands and cools through a heat exchanger to lower the temperature of the brine which is pumped through the pipes which in turn freezes the water above the concrete floor.

There is a series of 2 inch bore plastic pipes containing brine, laid in 4 inches of concrete, running underneath the ice pad feed by steel header pipes located under the rubber matting at the south end of the rink. There are 274 pipes approximately 202 feet long resulting in a total of 55,400 feet, which is over 10 miles of plastic pipes!

Split down view of the back end

 Main water system on the Olympia excluding the tyre wash

 Side view of the attachable edger showing blade angle

overhead view  attachable edger showing the board runner, blade and angled squeegee

 Side view of the old machine showing the fittings for the attachable edger

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