Located only ten metres from the shoreline, the existing depot at Long Rock underwent a hugely complex redevelopment of £20 million which required the construction of a new state-of-the-art train care depot and the comprehensive refurbishment of the existing shed.
The refurbishment project of a 1970’s single road light maintenance train shed and addition of a new two road heavy maintenance shed next to it capable of servicing the class 57 sleeper train stock was funded by a collaboration of GWR, Cornwall Council, The Department for Transport and Network Rail.
The Penzance depot enhancement is unique. The existing concept was innovatively transformed from two separate buildings into a single facility that recycled the old HST shed into a new three-road depot.
Reznor, part of Nortek Global HVAC (UK) Ltd were able to offer the ideal heating solution to the new facility by providing a total of 34 Nor-Ray-Vac burners each supplied with ducted fresh air comprising 24 x 38kW, 8 x 24kW and 2 x 18kW NRV burners arranged in six temperature zones controlled by SmartCom controllers. Each radiant system has a dedicated flue charge to atmosphere. Suspended at 11m, arranged in two temperature controlled zones each with a discharge to atmosphere.
Suspended from the roof, the heaters emit infra-red rays that warm only objects and people in its path. They do not waste fuel heating the volume of air in the building. This will ensure that heating costs are kept to a minimum.
The Nor-Ray-Vac system provides even heat coverage throughout the building, with rapid warm up time and low noise operation. All Nor-Ray-Vac systems modulate down to 50% of high fire and not only more closely matches the thermal needs of the dynamic situation but also provides greater occupancy comfort at lower operating costs which is a major benefit to the end user.
Economy and effectiveness are the two key criteria specifier’s required to answer when selecting a heating system for new manufacturing facilities. Finding a solution to both in a single heating system can be challenging. However, one form of space heating technology is ideally suited to a demanding working environment – Nor-Ray-Vac radiant tube heating.
Low operating costs are achieved by concentrating the heat at low level, where it is most needed, without heating the volume of air in the building. Rapid response times reduce running costs further. Such flexibility means that warmth is felt by people in the building within minutes of start-up and no fuel is wasted bringing the internal environment to a comfortable temperature. Since the Reznor radiant system burns fuel at point of use, there are no distribution losses to take into account.
The main facility is 225m long (original single road shed) by 145m long (additional new double road shed). The radiant heating system comprises six temperature zones across the new three road depot suspended at varying heights; 4.6m, 7.1m and 9.1m above finished floor level to coincide with the structure of the facility.
Reznor worked with the project team to overcome some major complications. The depot had to remain fully operational 24 hours a day. This including challenging tasks such as removing asbestos, constructing around and over a live sub-station, building a cantilevered roof over the old shed and removing steelwork from the inside. The project also needed to be completed within the 18 months of contract award to allow the HS2 project to close part of old oak common depot by Christmas Eve 2017 and transfer the sleeper heavy maintenance to Penzance.
Installation Summary
- Reznor installed a Nor-Ray-Vac continuous radiant tube heating system
- Suspended from the roof, the heaters emit infra-red ray that warm only objects and people in its path
- Low operating costs are achieved by concentrating the heat at low level
Technical Summary
- Area 4,486m2
- Height 8 metres and 10 metres
- Volume 40,675 m3
- Heaters 34 NRV LR ducted air burners
