Toriparkki, the parking area below the market square of Turku, offers parking places for 620 vehicles and electric charging points for twenty electric cars. The parking hall opened its doors to the public in December 2020.
The speciality of Turku Toriparkki is that, when completed, it is known to be the first zero-energy car park in Europe and presumably the largest seasonal solar thermal energy storage in the world. Toriparkki uses an advanced heat recovery solution based on the use of clay. Thanks to this zero-energy solution, the underground parking facility produces at least the amount of energy it uses.
In the summer, the thermal energy of the sun shining in the market square is recovered and stored with the energy poles at a depth of 50 metres in the clay soil, the so-called clay battery. The amount of heat energy recovered during the summer is approximately 11 GWh, corresponding to the annual heat consumption of about 560 detached houses. The heat output in the energy solution is estimated to be 6.6 MW. It takes about five years to charge the clay battery full.
Over one hundred Kolmeks pumps
There are more than a hundred Kolmeks pumps in Turku Toriparkki. Smaller constant speed pumps are running in the manifolds of solar collectors on parking levels. There are dozens of them in the upper car park. Larger Kolmeks pumps are located in the heat distribution rooms, where they are used on the primary and secondary sides of district heating, among other things, as transfer pumps.
Pumps for small spaces
At Toriparkki, all the space has been utilized very efficiently. The heat distribution rooms are located under the ramps, so the pumps must be compact and easy to install. In this application, Kolmeks pumps are a perfect choice. The pumps can be installed in challenging locations where space is limited. Especially, small centrifugal pumps, i.e. collector jockey pumps, are particularly fast and simple to install.
Kolmeks has a wide pump selection, and we can find a suitable solution for different applications. For instance, inline centrifugal pumps are available with a Kolmeks-made motor or a standard IEC motor. Quiet running noise is an essential characteristic of the pump, the importance of which is emphasized in this location, too.
Find out Kolmeks pump selection.
