PROJECT
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Ilanga Mall ice arena:
all-year-round fun for all
Ilanga Mall Ice Rink in Nelspruit has been carefully designed to accommodate all
technical and operational factors necessary to minimise the possibility of failure of
this recreational piece of art.
By Ilana Koegelenberg
The ice arena after completion — fun for young and old.
T
he Ilanga Mall ice arena project
got underway in May 2017 and was
completed mere months later in
September 2017, despite a one-month
delay due to a hold in civil work. It is the first
of its kind in Mpumalanga.
The design specification called for a
45m × 20m indoor ice rink with heat recovery
for the water fountain, ablution facilities, and
the like.
The job was taken on by Bob Vuletic of
EP Multistage Cooling, who designed the
plant with the assistance of Kurt Johannsen.
Multistage was also responsible for installing
and commissioning the plant. This is the 17th
ice arena designed and installed by Vuletic
and his team. So, there were no difficulties or
issues encountered on their side.
The first of the 12km of 20mm mild steel SABS 62 piping gets installed. The centre pipes are a
benchmark for the entire rink piping installation.
The cooling skid was built at the EP
Multistage workshop in Strijdom Park,
Randburg, and transported to Nelspruit as
one unit assembly.
SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The plant is designed to operate on
ammonia as the primary refrigerant and
propylene glycol/water solution as the
secondary refrigerant.
Primary refrigerant (ammonia) is stored
in the ammonia separator, which is situated
in the plant room. From the ammonia
separator, ammonia is fed to the Vahterus
shell and plate heat exchanger by gravity
feed.
Secondary refrigerant (propylene glycol/
water solution) is circulated through the rink
High-quality concrete is used to cast the ice arena floor. Floor-level tolerances are critical and
a maximum of 3mm is allowed.
COLD LINK AFRICA • May 2018
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
21