Station’s Technical Core Mock-up
The building of a test mock-up of the station's technical core has just been finished. The objective of this phase is to control the technical and spatial integration of its "active" systems (water treatment unit, energy storage unit, station control unit and solar thermal system). After several operational tests, the systems will then be sent to Antarctica.
Built in the assembly and test facility of Laborelec, in Linkebeek, Belgium, this 6m x 7m x 21m wooden mock-up presents the geometrical structure of the technical core of the Princess Elisabeth station, currently erected in Utsteinen. Laborelec is a technical partner of the station providing expertise on energy processes and use.
The systems pre-assembly in Belgium allows the same builders and engineers who will be going to the station this coming November 2008, to prepare the integration process before actually going. This stage also enables pre-assembly of certain modules in order to limit the on-site building time.
The tests to be carried out on the active systems and modules:
- subsystem test in and outside the mock-up
- assembly procedure validation
- hardware mechanical validation
- functional subsystem tests
- integrated functional tests
- energy management software tests
- final integrated tests inside the mock-up
The integration and fictive tests will be deployed little by little during the months of July and August, whereas the final integrated tests of all the systems in place should begin in September. The bioreactors are the first modules in cue to arrive on site in Linkebeek.
Picture: Station's Technical Core Mock-Up - © International Polar Foundation