explore the BusinessNet
Warmafloor Fly into the Lead, at the Wing Assembly Facility
Story
In what is claimed to be the country's largest ever underfloor heating installation, Warmafloor (GB) has completed a project calling for some 60 kilometres of pipe for the Airbus, in its new Aerostructures Assembly and Manufacturing Centre known as the “West Factory”, in Broughton, North Wales. The West Factory is being used to assemble the wings of the new Airbus A380 555 seater double-decker aircraft as well as other manufacturing activities.
Underfloor heating was considered to be the natural choice for this part of the assembly area, providing a significantly more cost effective solution than the more traditional heating systems.
The installation was designed supplied and installed by Warmafloor using all their in house expertise to provide the complete package. The system uses 20 mm polybutylene pipe manufactured in the UK especially for Warmafloor. The pipes are laid in each of the six equipping bays with each bay having 10 heating zones.
The underfloor heating manifolds were specifically manufactured for this project. Unlike the traditional system of a flow and return manifold, located vertically above each other, Warmafloor had to construct a system were the manifolds were fixed side by side. This was designed to achieve the most effective layout for the underfloor heating pipework.
Due to the location of the manifolds and the underfloor heating pipe connections, the pipework had to be fed through pre cast holes within the trench, then into the desired bays. Each hole and manifold location had to be coordinated precisely, using our design team we produced the exact detailed drawings required.
The zonal design enables heat to be concentrated in those parts of the building being used for production at any one time. Despite the massive scale of the building, ambient temperatures of 18 degrees C in the depths of winter by inputting water into the heating grid at 50 degrees C, providing an energy saving over alternative heating methods of some 50%.
“The sheer size of the development represented a significant challenge”. Says Mike Cooke of Mechanical & Electrical services contractors Haden Young. “However, the design and installation skills of Warmafloor, combined with the benefits of under floor heating to enabled the fast track programme to be completed ready on time.”
