Cooling technology will be used during 2022 World Cup Qatar

According to a news story, released on August 12, 2014 by The Supreme Committee of Delivery & Legacy (SC), Qatar, it is developing a “lessons-learned” document and workshop compiling all the elements that went into creating a cooled open-air Fan Zone during the recently concluded FIFA World Cup 2014.

Giving the background, the news story said that 15,000 fans attended a cooled open-air fan zone in Brazil, which was installed and hosted by a SC team of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, for the benefit of Qatari fans. The open-air Fan Zone was used by the SC to test the prototype cooling technology that will be utilised at the 2022 FIFA World Cup that Qatar will be hosting, SC elaborated.

SC gave details about the cooling system deployed in the Fan Zone:

• It utilised four cooling columns, located at strategic points within the venue, which delivered cooled air into the Fan Zone.
• The flexible cooling system then responded to different climatic conditions, using a range of delivery methods, such as dedicated ventilation units to funnel sufficient cooled air; high-level jet nozzles to restrict prevailing winds; and low-level diffusers to provide comfort for the spectators.
• Other methods included using mechanically adjustable dampers to regulate air – with an external weather station providing real-time data and injecting cooled mist into the venue to enhance the evaporative cooling effect.

All this resulted in the temperatures on an average being 12°C lower inside the zone, SC claimed.

The successful application and testing of the slew of cooling technologies at the prototype Fan Zone in Brazil helped the SC engineers gain an understanding of how to create an energy-efficient system ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, SC revealed.

Tamim El Abed, the SC’s lead engineer for the Brazil 2014 Fan Zone, said: “After hosting a successful fan zone, I think it’s clear that we have entered delivery mode. I believe this project will help extract the element of fantasy often linked to the idea of cooling football stadiums.”

El Abed added that delivering a cooled fan zone for 1,500 people on a daily basis was the result of “straight forward engineering”. The SC technical team will reportedly apply lessons learnt during the testing phase of the cooling technology and adapt them across different structures.

Answering a question during an interview with Al Jazeera about the cooling technology, El Abed replied: “The process employs Fresh Air Handling Units that draw ambient air from the exterior of the venue. It will reduce the temperature of that air through chilled water pipes and then distribute it around the venue through subtly concealed outlets.” (www.aljazeera.com/sport/football)

The SC said that it is also evaluating the possible uses of the Fan Zone structure and ways to continue testing the cooling technology in different weather conditions and, ultimately, reinventing it for continued productive use.

The system, SC elaborated, will be further fine-tuned, with its engineers investigating the feasibility of utilising cooling capabilities for a variety of environmentally beneficial purposes.