Multi-Scale Physics – an update on the building project

Interior
Deputy head of department André Groenhof brings us up to speed: “I take regular walks around the site. Now and then we have impromptu meetings on the spot. The highest point was reached in June. The facades have been secured to the frame, the floors have been laid and we are now working on the interior. Things are moving very fast now.”

Hall
“We intend to place our testing installations and pilot plant facilities in the main hall. Two floors of laboratories will be built alongside. The laser laboratories and an X-ray lab will be accommodated on the ground floor and there will be a Virtual Reality lab for computer research on the first floor. There will be all sorts of chemical and laser labs in the low part of the building. The hall will be separated from the office area by a sixteen-metre-long corridor. That might take a bit of getting used to.

Offices
“We have opted for one MSP office, a faculty room, a general-purpose space and, of course, some individual offices. There will also be student workplaces and a pantry at a central location. It is important for the staff to stay in contact with one another. The void between the ground floor and the first floor, the cupolas, and the transparent walls between the offices and the central area create an atmosphere of space and openness. We have thought long and hard about all the needs and preferences.”

Newsletters
André has posted newsletters and photos on the MSP site. Go to ‘newsletters’ for more information. The photos of the construction process were taken by Jaap van Raamt. You can view all the photos from the start to the present state of operations in the photo gallery.

FiWiHex
The MSP building will be the first building in the world to use the FiWiHex system for heating and air-conditioning. There will be no radiators or air-conditioning units in the rooms. The indoor climate will be regulated by discs on the ceiling. These discs have a diameter of 60 cm and a thickness of 20 cm. The FiWiHex system was developed by Dr Noor van Andel, an MSP alumnus, and his son, ir. Eur van Andel, and has so far been deployed in the horticulture sector. MSP wanted to extend this innovative technology to offices. Deerns Engineering Agency was called in to perform the technical research and do the sustainability calculations. After receiving favourable advice from Deerns, MSP, headed by Departmental Director Harrie van den Akker, decided to install FiWiHex.

Heat exchanger
André: “FiWihex stands for Fine Wire Heat Exchanger because of the thin tin-plated copper wires on the outside of the ‘disc’. Capillary tubes with a diameter of 1 mm are woven into mats of thin copper wires. Hot water flows through the capillary tubes in winter and cold water in summer. The mats are lined up in a sort of circle and form the visible outer ring of the ‘disc’. A very slow-moving and almost soundless ventilator in the inner ring sends fresh air through the mats to heat or cool the space.

Aquifer
“When the water flowing through the capillary tubes reaches a temperature of between 36 and 41 °C, it heats the mats to the same temperature. The ventilator drives air through the mats and the space is heated to around 19 or 25 °C. The temperature can be set for each space by simply changing the speed of the ventilator. The water comes from an aquifer, an underground depot of 3mE, which lies at a depth of tens of metres. In the winter we pump up the warm groundwater and adjust the temperature with a heat pump connected to the central TU Delft hot-water distribution network. In the summer we pump through pure cold groundwater. The water temperature will range from 36 to 41 degrees in the winter and from 13 to 16 degrees in the summer.

Advantages
“This system is highly sustainable. We don’t need a large boiler and we don’t pay a gas bill. The electricity costs are lower and the staff can heat or cool each space. The disc can be placed out of sight above the ceiling, but it would then be less efficient. Anyway, we want everybody to see that MSP is into innovation, so we leave it where it can be noticed,” he says with a smile.

By Miranda Kester, 21 July 2009