Australian Antarctic Division
Temperzone OSA / ISD split ducted system
Casey Research Station Antarctica
Extreme reliability!
Over the years Temperzone News has brought you numerous examples of how well Temperzone units are built to withstand the extreme temperatures in Australia…but this one's a little different. This project isn’t in the middle of the desert or near a corrosive mine somewhere, this one is in Antarctica.
The warm store at Casey Research Station is a conditioned room within the main store building used to store the station’s stock of foodstuffs that need to be kept above freezing. The room is roughly 13m long x 5m wide and 8m high and runs at around +4º using a Temperzone unit.
The outdoor unit is an OSA 101R and the indoor unit is a 101Q feeding into the end of a spiral duct running the length of the room at high level. These units have been up and running for over 15 years, and are still going strong. The outdoor unit is located in the main store area, the largest building on station, where the temperature varies from around -10ºC to +10ºC between winter and summer. The outside ambient air temperature at Casey varies between around -25ºC to + 2.5ºC between winter and summer. That’s 2.5 just 2.5ºC at the height of summer!
Casey station is one of three permanent research outposts in Antarctica that is managed by the Australian Antarctic Division. A large number of scientific programs are undertaken in and around Casey. During the summer, 150–160 expeditioners visit Casey, including the Wilkins Aerodrome ground crew. Over winter 16–20 people remain on station to keep everything in working order.
While the hours of daylight experienced at Casey vary hugely during the year. In January the sun stays above the horizon almost continuously, while in June the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon at all for several weeks.
This story came to our attention when they recently ordered a replacement de-ice controller, obviously quality and reliability are important in a location like Antarctica.