Computer Aided Drafting, Design and Manufacturing Volume 27, Number 1, March 2017, Page 63

Transcription

1 Computer Aided Drafting, Design and Manufacturing Volume 27, Number 1, March 2017, Page 63 CADDM Application of BIM technology in refrigeration station design Zhang Yang, Guo Xuefei, Zhang Hongwei, Wang Lanzhi Department of Building Information Technology Research, China Institute of Building Standard Design & Research, Beijing , China Abstract: This paper mainly discusses the problems existing in the traditional design process of the refrigeration station and tries to solve them with BIM technology. Considering the characteristics of BIM technology, BIM design process is presented based on the traditional design process to achieve the goal of improving design quality and efficiency. Key words: building information modeling; refrigeration station; design DOI: /j Introduction Refrigeration station is one of the key parts of HVAC design and construction. Since the components of the refrigeration station are various, bulky and massy, and the pipeline layout is more complex, so the design and installation of the refrigeration station is one of the most difficult parts. In recent years, the application of BIM technology for the design of the refrigeration station provides engineers with new ideas and tools. More and more exploratory researches and preliminary engineering applications of BIM technology on the refrigeration station design and construction are conducted. Xie and Duan [1] conducted a study on key difficulties and benefits of BIM technology applied in detailing design and installation of refrigeration stations in the China Life Data Center room, Ren et al. [2] carried out comprehensive applications of BIM technology. Large data center room modeling, parametric management, electromechanical prefabricated construction, visualization of the installation space and cabinet arrangement are focused by the researchers. The construction simulation and roaming applications can ensure complex construction processes smoothly. Liu [3] applied BIM three-dimensional virtual construction in an engineering project. In his research, BIM technology application in factory modular fabrication and assembly has achieved the goal of improving labor productivity and project quality. In [4-6] addition, reference in the research on BIM application, pipeline design and other aspects obtained a certain degree of research and application results respectively. 2 Problems in traditional design process of refrigeration station The traditional refrigeration station design process is generally described in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 Traditional refrigeration station design process. Corresponding author: Guo Xuefei, Female, Master, BIM Engineer, guoxf@cbs.com.cn.

2 64 Computer Aided Drafting, Design and Manufacturing (CADDM), Vol.27, No.1, Mar Generally, the design of the refrigeration station is divided into preliminary design stage, construction drawing design stage, and detailing design stage. (1) Preliminary design stage. Through comparison of the design schemes, the form of refrigeration system can be determined. According to the air conditioning area, load can be estimated. Requirements of station location and areas can be put forward to architects. And then based on detailed load calculation results and hydraulic calculation of the system, major equipment can be selected. According to the results of the initial selection of equipment, layout of the station can be determined. (2) Construction drawing design stage. According to the preliminary design results, the system diagram of the refrigeration station can be completed. Based on system diagram, floor plan will be finished to fulfill requirements of construction drawing design. (3) Detailing design stage. After the completion of equipment bidding, according to the equipment dimensions and maintenance requirements, the layout of the refrigeration station should be adjusted. Considering the construction requirements, the installation of pipe support hangers and other factors, the refrigeration station pipelines should be designed in details. Finally, the detailing drawings are completed. The traditional design process of refrigeration station is based on two-dimensional drawing expression, which mainly has the following problems: (1) The refrigeration station area is oversized. During the initial HVAC design stage, refrigeration station area is estimated generally based on building area, building properties and other conditions. When HVAC engineers do the estimation, they always leave a certain margin in case that the station area is not enough during the late construction phase, which lead to a waste of room area. In some commercial complex or office building projects, the refrigeration station area is too large, which means that other functional area is reduced. As the unit price of commercial building is higher and higher recently, the reduction of functional area will bring some losses to the owners. (2) Equipment layout is unreasonable. The equipment layout designed through the traditional two-dimensional expression is difficult to take into account the construction requirements, maintenance requirements and other factors. Especially the distance between equipment and walls, and distance between equipment and equipment are difficult to be determined. The equipment layout problems cannot be visualized and detected easily. (3) Electromechanical pipeline layout is unreasonable. During the process of the traditional two-dimensional design, the pipeline layout is generated based on the architectural and structural drawings by the HVAC designer. The person in charge of the HVAC design will consider structural beams and other factors. However, limited by the expression of two-dimensional drawings, it is difficult to take into account whether the design is beautiful, compact and reasonable for construction and installation. The detailing drawings must be generated based on construction drawings for construction and installation purposes. The design of the refrigeration station based on BIM technology during design stage, compared with the traditional two-dimensional design, is relatively clearer. The relative position of equipment, pipe layout and all unreasonable aspects can be more easily exposed. Therefore, the application of BIM technology in refrigeration station design can improve the design quality efficiently. 3 Application of BIM technology in the phases of design 3.1 Application of BIM Technology in the Phase of Preliminary Design In the preliminary design stage, the equipment pre-selection is based on the estimated air conditioning load. Application of BIM model for the initial layout design will ensure that the layout of the refrigeration station is more reasonable (Fig. 2), therefore room area will be saved effectively. At the same time, the BIM model can also be used for analysis of equipment maintenance space (Fig. 3), analysis of equipment installation space, analysis of the distance between the highest point of the refrigeration unit and the roof structure (Fig. 4) and so on. Fig. 2 Application of BIM technology for refrigeration station equipment layout.

3 Zhang Yang et al., Application of BIM technology in refrigeration station design 65 BIM software operating ability. 3.2 Application of BIM Technology in the Phase of Construction Drawing Design Fig. 3 Analysis of equipment maintenance space. BIM technology can be applied in the construction drawing design phase of the refrigeration station to further refine the equipment layout. Moreover, due to the visibility of BIM, the problems can be exposed more directly. Conflicts of pipelines can be avoided more effectively. And pipelines layout will be designed more reasonably (Fig. 5). Using BIM model for three-dimensional pipeline design, engineers can directly use BIM software to generate two-dimensional drawings (Fig. 6). At the same time, the application of BIM model can ensure the consistence of plan, elevation and section drawings. The BIM model can generate profile drawings fast and accurately. Generated drawings can be directly used in the construction process, waiving the detailing design process, shortening the project design cycle, and saving design costs. Fig. 4 Analysis of distance between equipment and structural walls. However, BIM application in the preliminary design stage puts forward higher requirements for technical staff. More accurate estimation of the equipment parameters is needed. On the other hand the designer is required to have a certain degree of Fig. 5 Using BIM technology to design refrigeration station pipelines. Fig. 6 Using BIM model to generate section drawings.

4 66 Computer Aided Drafting, Design and Manufacturing (CADDM), Vol.27, No.1, Mar Application of BIM Technology in the Phase of Detailing Design As the BIM technology changes the original two-dimensional design expression, in order to make BIM technology to play a greater role in the design of the refrigeration station, BIM design process should make some adjustment on the basis of traditional design process (Fig. 7). Fig. 7 BIM Design process of refrigeration station. Compared with the traditional design process of the refrigeration station, BIM design process has the following changes: (1) The initial equipment layout of the refrigeration station is determined before the station area defined. Therefore the accuracy of the estimated room area will be improved. The waste of the refrigeration station area will be effectively avoided. (2) In order to take full advantages of BIM application in design, to avoid duplication of design, the equipment procurement process is brought forward before the pipeline design, which can make the pipeline design more accurate, and meet the actual situation more reasonably. (3) Two-dimensional drawings can be generated from BIM models. Because only two-dimensional drawings can be used as a formal basis for construction by law, it is of great importance that BIM models can generate two-dimensional drawings. (4) The detailing design process is waived. This is due to during the refrigeration station BIM design process, the drawings generated from BIM models during the phase of construction drawing design can be used directly in the construction process. 4 Conclusion The traditional refrigeration station design process always has to face the problems that the refrigeration station area is oversized, the equipment layout is unreasonable, electromechanical pipelines are designed unreasonably and other issues. BIM technology can be applied in the preliminary stage to carry out analysis of equipment maintenance space, analysis of equipment installation space, analysis of the distance between the highest point of the refrigeration unit and the roof structure and so on. During the construction drawing design phase application of BIM technology can be used to carry out three-dimensional pipeline design, two-dimensional drawings generation and other applications, which can be effective to solve the problems of traditional design process. In order to take full advantages of the technical characteristics of BIM design and application, it is necessary to redesign the BIM design flow on the basis of the traditional design process. Compared with the traditional design process, the BIM design process has the following characteristics: 1 The equipment procurement process is brought forward before the pipeline design to make the pipeline design more accurate. 2 Two-dimensional drawings are generated directly from BIM models. 3 The detailing design process is waived. As a result, the quality and efficiency of refrigeration station design is improved to a great extent. References [1] Xie B B, Duan Z Z. BIM technology application in the detailing design of equipment rooms [C]// Proceedings of the Second National Symposium on Wisdom Structure. Beijing: Industrial Construction Magazine Agency, 2016: [2] Ren J L, Wang B C, Jin D P, et al. General application of BIM technique in computer room of china life insurance data center [J]. Architecture Technology, 2016, (8): [3] Liu X L. Standard equipment room modular fabrication

5 Zhang Yang et al., Application of BIM technology in refrigeration station design 67 and assembly based on BIM [J]. Construction Safety, 2016, (5): [4] Yan L, Liang W Q, He J L. Application and research of BIM Technology in IDC machine building [J]. China New Technologies and Products, 2015, (11): 113. [5] Wang S, Cao J S, Shi T, et al. Detailing design of equipment & pipeline layout in refrigeration room of the people s daily project [J]. Construction Technology, 2014,(06): [6] Jiang Z F, Mao Q S, Du F, et al. Application and effect of BIM in detailing design of metro line 9 in shenzhen [J]. shandong Refrigeration & Air Conditioning, 2016, (4): Zhang Yang is currently the director engineer of Department of Building Information Technology Research, China Institute of Building Standard Design & Research. His current interests include BIM integrated platform, facility management and enterprise BIM consulting. He can be reached at zhangy3@cbs.com.cn. Guo Xuefei is a BIM engineer and also a MEP engineer of Department of Building Information Technology Research, China Institute of Building Standard Design & Research. She is now focusing on BIM application in construction projects and facility management. She can be reached at guoxf@cbs.com.cn. Zhang Hongwei is the director of Department of Building Information Technology Research, China Institute of Building Standard Design & Research. He has many years experience in BIM application in large public projects and BIM integrated platform. He has also done a lot of work in facility management. He can be reached at zhanghw@cbs.com.cn. Wang Lanzhi is a BIM engineer and also a structural engineer. She has great interest and experience in BIM application in structural area. She can be reached at wanglz@cbs.com.cn.