Caunton playing a part in Qatar’s 2022 success

Caunton was delighted to play a part in Qatar’s submission for the 2022 World Cup. We all learnt this week the tiny Gulf State has been successful. So how did Caunton play a part?

Caunton supplied and fabricated the steelwork which was used for the roof of a prototype stadium in Qatar. This stadium was dubbed the Qatar Showcase. The photograph shows this and in particular Caunton’s roof steelwork.

The Qatar Showcase was designed by Arup Associates of London, and is a 500-seat model of the full-sized solar-cooled stadiums that will be built for 2022.

Here we quote this weeks Financial Times –
‘ The ferocious summer heat could have been a serious obstacle for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid, but the country turned the climate to its advantage with an innovative stadium that uses solar energy to keep players and spectators cool.

Unlike a domestic fridge, the stadium’s chilling system is driven by super-hot water. Rotating mirrors track the sun and focus its energy, heating water to 200ºC under high pressure.

“Absorption chillers” then create a strong vacuum based on lithium bromide absorbing water vapour in a closed chamber. This sets up the pressure differences required to create a cooling effect from the expansion and evaporation of vapour Solar heat drives vapour from the lithium bromide solution, leading to a continuous refrigeration cycle. The cold is stored in tanks below the stadium.

As spectators enter, cooled air circulates down to the seating area and around the pitch. During fifa’s visit to the model stadium, on the pitch the temperature was 23ºC. Outside it was 44ºC.

“This is a real innovation,” says Michael Beaven, head of Arup’s project team. “We are confident that it can be scaled up for the World Cup.”

With this scaling up, Caunton are hoping that there will be further opportunities for the company to contribute ahead of this major world event in 2022.
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