The University of Warwick

Over the two phases the project team delivered a combination of above and below ground pipework.  The majority was made up of buried Logstor pipework which ranged from between 350mm and 200mm in diameter and the above ground pipework was stainless steel and ranged from 200mm to 125mm and was then insulated to avoid heat losses.  In addition to the district heating, our team also took responsibility for installing 400m of mains cold water and installing 400m of ductwork through which High Voltage Cable could be installed at a later date.

On the University of Warwick scheme the route called for our engineers to design a solution to running pipework through a box culvert.  The original proposal suggested by the client involved drilling through the concrete jointing seams of the culvert, but this would create the need to introduce additional bends to bring the pipework back to its original route.  Our engineers proposed a simpler solution of core drilling holes in a different location which allowed the pipe to run through in a straight line.

We worked with the client and their structural engineer to create a new proposal which strengthened the box culvert by reinforcing it with a steel mesh and concrete solution.  This allowed us to drill the 400mm holes necessary without weakening the structure.

One unusual aspect of the University’s system was that the de-commissioned steam mains which were installed in the early 1990’s are now being used as a Low Temperature Hot Water (LTHW) community heating network.   This system, however, did not provide a way to isolate sections of the network, so our team installed pre-insulated double isolation valves on the pipework.  This allows the University a level of control and also makes future expansion less disruptive.

The installation of this was made more complicated as the culvert the steam main sat in did not have space to house two series 2 valves side by side.  Our engineers therefore created a solution which saw one installed traditionally, with the other one being offset.  The new pipework connecting these valves was then painted in a red oxide primer as an anti-corrosion barrier and then insulated with 35mm penolic foam and aluminium cladding.  The team then created valve access chambers, making it simple to access and use the new valves.

Our team had to ensure that the highest standards of health and safety were adhered to, whilst not disrupting the day to day operation of the University.  Despite taking place during the quieter summer periods there were several pedestrian thoroughfares which needed to be open for the delivery of food to the student union building.  Our engineers were able to create a safe, temporary 3mx1m pedestrian bridge allowing food carts to be pushed across.

In some instances, the most simple district heating solution cannot be applied because that route would cause a clash with existing buried services and our designers encountered this on the University of Warwick project.

In this instance there was an existing 600mm sewer pipe under the existing district heating, surrounded in concrete as well as multiple communications and electrical cables which were sitting in the original route of the district heating network.

Our team were able to overcome this using “off the shelf” logstor products.  Our engineers utilised 5-degree curve pipe which was set at a vertical curve to overcome the clash with the sewer and the parallel T joints were set in a manner that the pipework could be installed with the correct flow and returns.