Synapsys automates control of under-pitch heating for MK Dons
Under-pitch heating for Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, home to football team MK Dons, is efficiently controlled by a system installed by Synapsys. The system comprises 27 km of pipework under the pitch served by condensing boilers. Under-pitch heating ensures that matches are not abandoned in cold weather and that the pitch is free of frost.
Heating a pitch in this way typically costs £1500 per game and often involves a strong element of human guesswork to decide if, when and for how long the heating needs to be switched on.
The control system at Stadium MK links the Synapsys SIP weather control system to the Trend BMS, providing accurate advance notice of weather and temperature forecasts via an API key. The BMS uses this temperature information to determine when to activate the under-pitch heating and how much energy to deliver.
The boiler plant also provides hot water for the integral 4-star hotel and heating as part of an air-conditioning system for the arena. The system uses the full Trend IQ3 network. The system’s design offered a capital cost about 30% lower than the more conventional approach, largely due to the combination of the latest in boilers and controls technologies, including the interfaces from Synapsys.
Robert Wise, senior partner at consultants Watson Wise Associates, explains, ‘We looked at a different way of designing not only a different under-pitch heating system but also one that could optimise capital expenditure and provide hot water and heating systems for the hotel and arena. Key to that is the control necessary at times of simultaneous energy demands, and the Synapsys interfaces help us to achieve that in a simple and straightforward way.’
