KIVALLIQ/NUNAVUT
Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit may soon lose the home advantage of having artificial ice in their arenas if a pair of pilot projects prove successful this year.

Reinforcing steel is installed for the arena slab in Sanikiluaq as part of a pilot project for Accutech Engineering's own icemaking system. - photo courtesy of Ken Drysdale

Accutech Engineering is installing its invention, the Accutech-Nunavut Arena Ice System, in Iglulik and Sanikiluaq.

Ken Drysdale, company president and chief executive officer, said the system utilizes a four-pronged approach.

He said once installed, it will double the arena ice season for kids and provide additional summer activities.

"We just got the floors put in and the kids are besides themselves over the chance to also Rollerblade or play soccer in their arenas," said Drysdale.

"Thermosiphons are one part of the system, used to protect the permafrost underneath the arena's concrete slab and stabilize the slab so it doesn't deteriorate over time.

"They also chill the concrete slab so a community can start making ice earlier.

"They keep the permafrost so frozen that some of that cold contributes to keeping the ice in longer at the tail end of the season."

The concrete slab creates a sort of membrane to stop the gravel from soaking up all the water and deteriorating the permafrost when a community begins to flood.

The slab also allows numerous activities during the summer months.

A free-winter cooling system is also employed in the system, which is a series of automated fans.

Drysdale said the fans are left on all year and when it's cooler outside than inside the arena they sense the temperature, turn on and run until they cool down the inside of the arena.

He said the fans are totally automatic and have the ability to monitor themselves.

"Come early September, the fans start chilling the inside of the arena and the concrete slab so a community can get ice in a lot sooner.

"The fans also have a humidity sensor that turns them on when needed to ventilate the arena and prevent frost build-up when the weather starts to warm, or the building is hosting a large crowd.

"The fourth part of the system is training, and we're coming into communities and giving them specialized training on what these systems do.

"We'll also be leaving behind large posters for the mechanical rooms that show workers exactly how to do everything."

Drysdale said the company will bring an instructor into each community and train as many people as the hamlet wants.

He said it's a simple process to train up to 10 operators in any given community.

"Once completed, you have a system in place that basically runs by itself and doesn't require operator intervention.

"The only part of the system that uses electrical power are the fans.

"With this four-pronged approach, we're hoping to have ice in any community arena from mid-October until early May.

"This is something that's never been done before, and the Nunavut government really got excited when we proposed the system to it this past summer."

Drysdale said the thermosiphons never have to be touched once they're in place, and have a life expectancy of about 35 years. He said the fan system only costs about $2,000 a year to run once installed, which is a very small number compared to a conventional ice-making system.

"The entire system is also much cheaper to install than a conventional ice-making plant, with the largest cost being the concrete slab.

"The cost of installing our entire system is about $1 million per arena.

"With this system in place, the majority of Nunavut communities could have their ice in place for about seven months a year at minimal cost."

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