Posted to News on 12th Aug 2014, 00:00
Enclosure choice critical to Advanced Pitchcare System
Many modern football stadium designs create issues relating to the natural growth of grass due to shading on the pitch given off by their roof lines'. Stadium groundsmen are under huge pressure to provide and maintain immaculate pitch surfaces (sometimes because of TV consumption) whilst the stadiums are also being used increasingly and more intensively to generate additional revenues from other unrelated events - all of which present a high risk of damage to the pitch surface.
>One solution is the 'SeeGrow' - 'Advanced Pitchcare System' which has been further developed in conjunction with CambridgeHOK Construction specifically to encourage the rapid growth of grass whilst also helping to develop a healthy root system. The 'Advanced Pitchcare System' environment control has been designed using CambridgeHOK environmental software, with knowledge gained from the company's extensive involvement within the horticultural industry. Incorporating the latest 'Priva BlueID' BMS control hardware, grow lights and fan assisted heating, in conjunction with CO2 injection and irrigation systems, are all expertly combined by the company's design engineers to maximise the grass growth in the minimum repair time and most importantly, to greatly reduce the conventional energy costs.
>Numerous sensors feed vital information to the control system including air humidity, external and internal air temperature and air CO2 content.
>One of the key choices in the design of the system was the selection of the enclosure to house the sensitive control equipment. CambridgeHOK had many considerations to take into account, not least that the control panel will be situated in an extremely warm and humid environment, sometimes through 24/7 periods of operation. Another major consideration in the choice of enclosure was based on the fact that the grass growing rigs are mobile, with the possibility of being moved daily. This meant an enclosure that offered a high degree of plasticity yet still maintained its IP integrity was essential. Other considerations involved ease of operation. For instance, the placement of the control panel at the front of the rig to give the operator ease of access posed several challenges, in terms of its weight and the fact that it would be exposed to direct sunlight. In addition, a translucent lid was a requirement to enable life-line monitoring to aid technical support should there be a problem.
>It was also essential that the enclosure presented smooth walls both inside and out because of the range of equipment to be fitted. And because the rigs will be stored exposed to the elements when not in use, the enclosure must possess and maintain a high resistance to bad weather.
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Demanding criteria satisfied
In conjunction with Fibox and its specialist distributor, AA Jones, the electrical design engineers employed by CambridgeHOK chose the PCQ range of enclosures because it meets all the criteria listed above, giving it a clear edge over typical metal enclosures. Key advantages of the Fibox PCQ range of enclosures include:>
- Polycarbonate enclosures resist corrosion and ultra-violet rays, and are non-conductive
- Wide selection of enclosure sizes, availability and cost makes it the ideal choice for any project
- Polycarbonate is easy to work with when installing a variety of plugs/sockets and equipment fascias
- Polycarbonate plays a critical role in harsh environments and rough handling because of its high impact strength and high degrees of difficulty
- The low weight of the product helps site engineers to handle the enclosures with ease
>Finally, the enclosure had to be easily dismounted from the rig to allow return to CambridgeHOK for upgrades and, on multiple rig installations, to enable a quick 'swap out' to a spare panel in the event of a failure.
