Edenaire controls climate for London Eye
Passengers on the British Airways’ London Eye enjoy a spectacular view of the capital from the capsules, which use climate control provided by Edenaire.
The brainchild of architects David Marks and Julia Barfield, the London Eye’s
wheel measures 135 metres in diameter, weighs 1,900 tonnes and revolves at
a speed of 0.26m/s. At 135 metres high the observation wheel – the tallest
in the world – provides amazing views across London. It reveals parts
of the city which are simply not visible from the ground.
The 32 hi-tech glass capsules provide a 360° view for their occupants. Each contains two purpose built air conditioning units that provide cooling, de-humidification and heating. The capsule is sophisticated and highly intelligent with in-built computer controls and sensors that automatically control the climate inside, rescheduling parameters when outside conditions change. Internal air is drawn in from under the bench in each capsule, mixed with fresh air it returns to the air conditioning unit and re-circulated back into the capsule.
“Upgrading the London Eye’s climate control system was a major challenge,” says Andrew Potter, Consultant Project Manager for the London Eye Company. “The combination of the expansive glass environment and the variation of the British weather produced an extreme micro-climate.” Andrew adds, “We knew the requirements were exacting, but the technical performance of the units in both cooling and de-humidifying modes was a primary objective. In fact it was agreed that the design should be thoroughly tested by BSRIA to ensure conformity to design.”
It
was at this point that Edenaire; part of Eaton-Williams was approached. The
requirements were very specific – design a high performance system
to fit into the existing small space that uses as little power as possible
and which dynamically controls humidity and an environment where the doors
are flung open every 30 minutes. They also had to be upgraded without affecting
the operation of the attraction.
Edenaire specialises in designing customised solutions, but developing equipment to cool, heat and prevent condensation inside the capsules of the world’s largest observation wheel was an unusual design challenge.
A unique set of performance criteria had to be fulfilled: For summer conditions an internal temperature set point of 21°C, 50%RH with an external ambient of 30°C, 45%RH was required. And for the winter months an internal temperature of 16°C and an extern al ambient of –4°C were specified. In wet conditions internal temperatures were specified of 18°C, 50%RH, with an external condition of 5°C, 85%RH specified to prevent condensation build-up.
Horizontal Edenaire fully packaged air conditioning units with robust steel
frameworks were designed. Each unit provides a total cooling duty of 9kW (total)
summer, 4.5kW winter and 7.1kW when it’s raining. Both the units running
in each capsule were designed for dual duty redundancy.
The Trend control system fitted on the units is activated using a remote time lock and fire shut down signal, and provides local data access and logging facility for off-line analysis.
Installations were carried out at night with two units being fitted at a time so that the London Eye could be back in service the following day. A total of 64 units were installed.