Energy from artificial sports pitches – modelling surface temperatures and the effect of extracting heat.
Stephen Watson, Loughborough
Introduction
High surface temperatures are one of the main problems affecting artificial sports pitches. This project investigated ways in which artificial pitches could be made cooler, and whether heat could be recovered from artificial pitches.
A method consisting of measurements of surface temperature, temperature below the pitch surface, and reflectivity, as well as the construction of a thermal model was pursued. A number of possible strategies for cooling artificial pitches were identified and investigated.
The thermal model was tested against under-pitch temperature measurements from Loughborough. It was found that the model was able to predict daily maximum temperature to within ±1.4°C.
By using the model it was found that adding a cooling system below the surface of the pitch was not effective in reducing surface temperature, unless the materials from which the pitch is constructed are changed. It was found that blowing cold air up through the pitch was effective in reducing surface temperature.
It was also found that increasing the albedo (reflectivity to natural light) of the pitch was able to significantly reduce surface temperature. This would not require the use of any expensive or complex cooling equipment.
Project Team
Student
Stephen Watson
Supervisors
Paul Fleming, David Allinson