How to make a snow cannon. Ice sculptures, Ice figures, Ice towns in the winter season. Recipe for good snow

54 years ago at the VII Winter Olympic Games in the Italian city of Cortina d'Ampezzo, when an active entrepreneur proposed to install his invention - a snow cannon - on the slope, the businessman was accused of fraud. Meanwhile, the weather was not at all conducive to holding downhill and slalom competitions. Therefore, the military personnel had to take the rap for its whims : at night, conscripts delivered snow from nearby areas. Now snow cannons are a mandatory attribute of many competitions. Rarely a skier has not observed their work. At first glance, the operation of the miracle machines may seem too simple: huge blades spray water, which turns into snow in the cold. in fact, everything is much more complicated.

STEEL ARMS

The principle of dispersing clouds using water condensation around artificial condensation centers was also successful for the formation of mechanical snow. For snow production, a crystallizer reagent is now increasingly being used - a special natural protein called Snowmax, which does an excellent job of attracting water molecules.

In older snow gun installations, water was mixed with compressed air and released through high pressure nozzles into a stream of air produced by a strong fan. The compressed air performed three tasks at once: it sprayed water, threw the resulting droplets into the air, and further cooled the water. The latter effect is based on the fact that gases cool during adiabatic expansion. If you open a can of carbon dioxide, it will immediately cool down to sub-zero temperatures.

The disadvantage of such a scheme is excessive waste of air. It is in this regard that the old guns have been modernized and now operate in a two-stage process. First, by mixing compressed air and a small amount of water, tiny ice crystals are formed - “embryos” of mechanical snow. Then they fall into a stream of water sprayed by powerful fans, which, crystallizing on them, quickly forms snow.

A characteristic feature of all guns is a strong fan that releases a water-air mixture over tens of meters. During the period of this flight, crystals of mechanical snow have time to form, in addition, due to the range of the snow cannon, it is possible to snow over large areas.

OPERATING CONDITIONS OF SNOW GUNS

The modernized system of mechanical snow formation is a complex engineering structures and devices, which includes:

• water intake structure;
• filtration system;
• pumping and/or compressor stations;
• quick assembly pipeline;
• special fittings (hydrants, valves);
• measuring and diagnostic instruments;
• sleeves high pressure;
• automatic tracking and control system;
• snow cannons and rifles;
• weather station.

To fan snow guns low pressure could function, electricity and water supply from a pumping station are required. Liquid under pressure is directed into a ring with nozzles located in the outlet nozzle of the gun fan. The nozzles spray water, and small drops, picked up by the air stream of the fan, turn into small snowflakes during the flight. The movement of the blades provides a “firing range” of about thirty meters.

Different guns produce different quantity snow, from 10 to 150 cubic meters per hour. The quality of the snow depends on the air temperature and the size of the water droplets shot: the farther they fly and the colder it is outside, the better the quality of the snow. Upgraded guns very compact. They are made not only from steel, but also from lightweight materials: aluminum and composite plastic. This makes it much easier to transport the guns.

In the normal configuration, the guns are mounted on a stationary tripod, and to increase the area of ​​snowmaking and transportation along the slopes they can be equipped with wheels, sleds or a tower with a lifting mechanism, since the heaviest models weigh several hundred kilograms.

True, there are also very small units. For example, a Swiss mini-gun weighs only 98 kg; it can be used anywhere, even in the country. For it to function, you just need two standard sockets and a water tap. True, you will need to wait until the air temperature drops to 1-3 degrees below zero. The unit, called “Home Snow,” is capable of producing from 1 to 1.5 cubic meters of snow per hour using an 1800-watt compressor, which in the summer can be used as a high-pressure vacuum cleaner or pump.

The existence of snow cannons does not solve all problems. There are aspects that depend on the circumstances of snow formation. The most important parameters here will be temperature and relative humidity (the ratio of the actual water vapor contained in the air to the amount of water vapor corresponding to the saturation state). It turns out that water is cooled by its own partial evaporation, in other words, by the transition of part of the liquid into steam. But the higher the relative humidity, the slower the evaporation process will be, and therefore the cooling.

Because of this, at low relative humidity Snow formation is possible at temperatures above 0°C. If the humidity is high and the temperature is low, it will rain instead of snow.

In the case where the relative humidity is 30%, snow guns can only be launched at a temperature of -1°C, such conditions are considered positive for snow formation. If the temperature drops below -6.7°C, then snow can be created even at a relative humidity of 100%. At temperatures below -10°C, you can not pay attention to humidity at all.

In fact, the circumstances of snow formation may differ not only on different routes. Snow formation conditions may also be different for several nearby standing guns. It often happens that one unit is already actively producing snow, but for another, located 200 m away, the conditions are still unsuitable. Previously, the functioning of “cold steel” was monitored by professionals who checked the equipment and decided when and which unit to turn on. Now they are being replaced by computer systems controlled from a mobile center.

COMMON MODELS

Often in our country you can see the Super Wizzard cannon on the snowy hills; it is mounted on a support or cart on three wheels. The water spray system includes 20 nozzles, the circuits include 5 rings with 75 nozzles each. The unit is capable of rotating 360 degrees, there is also a vertical adjustment from -10 to 60 degrees, and the gun is likely to be equipped with a rotating device. We also have self-propelled snow guns Kashiyama KB 911-Z, which are capable of moving at a speed of 8 km/h. They run on a diesel engine, which, together with a hydraulic system, makes the snow gun move, so you can do without an electrical supply; to produce snow, you only need a water supply. Also common are the FA-540-W automatic snow guns, which can adapt to unique operating conditions, providing the required amount of snow.

IN last years Europe is quite warm even in winter. “No snow” - in the mountains this is no longer a joke, but a harsh truth of life. Because of this, starts are postponed, training camps are cancelled, and training sessions are postponed. Moreover, “no snow” does not always mean that there really is no snow at all. It just lies in the wrong place, or doesn’t cover the entire slope, or even covers it, but is unsuitable for skiing - it’s too wet... It happens that alpine skiing tournaments are held in a city park or square, where so much snow never falls, how much is needed for this, and there have never been mountains: instead of slopes, an artificial track several floors high is being built, and the snow on it can be real - just non-local.

We had a similar experience: we transported snow from Siberia, 4,000 kilometers by car,” Ekaterina Selyametova, president of the New League sports directorate, tells RR. - We agreed with the local leadership ski slopes, they willingly met halfway. In this case, the snow is compressed so that it does not melt, it is folded into special polyethylene containers - big bags - and truck delivered to the location.

Last year, the “New League” transported snow to Moscow in several stages, which was needed by the organizers of the Freestyle World Cup stage. The tournament was supposed to take place in the city center, in Gorky Park, the weather was very cold - minus fifteen, but completely dry. The organizers didn’t count on this, they didn’t install snow cannons, and the participants had already arrived from all over the world. There was not a snowflake in the air, and the snow package brought from Siberia on the last day before the tournament came at just the right time. Athletes and coaches themselves dragged the bags to the top of the artificial track - to the height of an eight-story building.

Water salvo

In general, natural snow is much less suitable for professional competitions - only artificial snow is usually used. Simply because it is much easier to fit it into the required quality framework to provide all athletes with perfect gliding.

Artificial does not mean synthetic. Nothing to do with sparkling polyethylene, snowdrifts lying around Christmas trees in apartments. Artificial means created not by nature, but by technology. But otherwise, this snow is no different from the real thing.

We are talking about the so-called snow cannons - the most common means of correcting weather problems. Today, such guns (officially they are called snow generators) are located at all ski resorts.

The principle of their operation does not seem very complicated from the outside, but one such generator is served by a huge, expensive system. It includes not only the cannon itself (masted, in the form of a tall stick, or a fan, like a large turbine), but also devices for collecting water, filters, good resorts even bactericidal, a high-pressure pump, pipes for supplying water to each gun and an electrical cable. In this case, pipes are usually buried in the ground to prevent them from freezing.

Snow is made from water supplied under pressure, explained RR at the company Is-SpoRt, which produces and trades equipment for ski slopes. - The system has two types of nozzles, mechanical sprayers. One is nucleators: here water supplied by a high-pressure pump is mixed with compressed cooled air from a compressor, and a “snowflake embryo” is obtained. The second is ordinary water nozzles, through which water is simply sprayed under high pressure.

Water particles, mixed with air in the nucleator, are forcefully thrown out of tiny holes - with a sharp expansion, the air cools and freezes the water. At the same time, tiny drops of ordinary water from another nozzle are glued to the “embryo”. The cannon fan drives all this away, the water freezes, falling to the ground like snow. The farther the water flies from the generator, the more time it has, the better the snow will turn out. That's all. No chemistry.

As a result, banal water spraying turns into real science. It’s easy to check its ingenuity; you just have to try spraying water from a spray bottle on a frosty night. Even if it manages to freeze, there will be no snow - there will be ice. And all because to get the perfect snowflake you need to take into account the temperature of the air, water, humidity and the required pressure.

Many conditions must be strictly observed,” says Ekaterina Selyametova. - If you need a large volume of snow, then necessary condition- the air temperature is minus five and below, and the temperature of the water that is poured into the snow cannons should not be higher than plus three. If you don’t need a very large volume or have a lot of time left for preparation, then you can use guns that create ice crumbs - they can be used even at high temperatures above zero: up to plus thirty. However, there is a caveat: crushed ice is not suitable for professional competitions. It can be used as a base for snow or for recreational skiing.

The quality of snow is determined by its density. If for tourist trails the suitable density is from 380 to 420 kilograms per cubic meter, then for high-speed snow descent it should be 500 kilograms per cubic meter. Its density depends on the structure of the snowflake: the less fluffy it is, the denser it is. All this can now be controlled on a snow machine, automatically setting the quality of the snow. For example, I ordered “snow quality No. 5” - and the equipment itself will do everything to ensure that the output has a certain density. The weather station will determine the air temperature and humidity, and then the required water temperature and the required pressure. Hypothetically, now all this can be done without human participation, but you don’t have to press the button mindlessly.

Unfortunately, nothing can be solved by pressing a button, and there must be a person responsible for the quality of snow,” Selyametova assures. - They call him snowman. His task is to fully study a specific route, delve into its features, calculate what problems, including weather ones, may arise, and be ready to quickly solve them. And the quality of the snow is checked by hand.

Making snow on a slope is not a cheap pleasure: 1 km of piste costs a good European resort 1 million euros. The price depends on the time it takes to achieve the result: the more time, the cheaper. Therefore, our resorts prefer to stretch the process for two weeks, while abroad they do it in a couple of days - until the change weather conditions. After all, artificial snow must be protected from direct sun rays and rain, and rain is especially terrible.

And yet, despite all the difficulties, artificial snow is wildly popular. Installing such a system allows you to extend tourist season for several months and almost always carry out the necessary starts. And if something is covered, you can bring snow from afar. The only condition is that for all this a sub-zero temperature is still desirable. So it won’t be possible to hold a snowboard contest in the middle of the Sahara yet. But in the city center in winter or even spring - no problem.

Rice. 18. Snow gun ESG-260

The key factors influencing the quality of artificial snow are:

Air and water temperature,

Air humidity,

Features of Artificial Snow System (By cooling the water, the production and quality of artificial snow can be greatly improved)

In addition, the slope angle plays a role important role: the steeper the mountain, the farther the particles are sprayed, and therefore the snowmaking of the slope is more efficient.

On average, the initial level of snow cover on the slope is 0.29–0.30 m, at an air temperature of -4 -6 C°, water +4 C°. With such parameters for snowmaking one square meter slope required 0.45 cubic meters. water and 0.388 kWh of energy.

The quantity and quality of artificial snow produced directly depends on air and water temperatures, water pressure, etc. When using snow equipment, on average, the temperature can be from – 1.5 C° to -13 C°. At T = -13 C° the equipment will work with the greatest efficiency, but even if the temperature drops below, the guns will continue to produce high quality artificial snow.

Classification of snow cannons

Propeller snow guns

The productivity of a propeller snow gun is 5 times higher than that of a mast snow gun

the ability to direct the flow of snow even in strong winds

high snow flight distance

high quality snow with water pressure of 8-35 Bar

the equipment will operate at water pressure from 11 to 660 l/sec.

Snow quality can be adjusted automatically

high productivity at – 6 -7 C°

Mast guns

for work in windless areas/weather

in the presence of high water pressure (30-40 Bar)

with medium-sized slope widths

easy transportation

for slopes where the snow cover needs to be updated frequently

Multifunctionality of snow cannons is possible, for example, you can connect snowmaking and trail lighting systems. which is the advantage of this type of ice maker.

Characteristics of high-quality artificial snow produced using snow guns

Snow quality is an interesting and controversial issue. The weight of snow (for example 400-450 kg/m) is the weight of water in the snow; in addition, important characteristics are the level of density and structure of the crystals. The weight of snow is not the only indicator of its quality. The most important indicators of high-quality artificial snowmaking are:

high resistance to melting

snow that does not roll down the slope when skiing

minimal energy use in snow production

For high-quality snowmaking on a slope, the flight range of particles plays an important role because:

freezing of droplets continues even while particles are flying in the air

possibility of producing snow with the required level of humidity

guns can operate in dry air

The first snow turns out to be “soft”

Principle of operation

Stage 1: Initial droplet size 100 microns

Stage 2: Small cooled droplets combine with larger droplets

Stage 3: Droplets reach their final size, cooling water with minimal evaporation

Stage 4: The removed particles are combined and frozen

Stage 5: Snow distribution occurs without adding water

Result: The main disadvantage of a snow cannon is seasonality. Accordingly, it is not possible to use this type of ice maker at any time of the year other than winter. Thus, the snow cannon satisfies regulatory requirements, but is completely impractical to use.

We have the lowest prices!

Below is a list of snow guns offered for sale, their brief characteristics and photographs. All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

1. Nivis® Ecostick snow gun

Special offer!!!
VS Park LLC is the only official dealer of the Italian company Nivis in Russia. Only our company offers Nivis® Ecostick snow guns for sale.

The Nivis® Ecostick snow gun is the world's only snow gun using injection technology, which does not require an air compressor or central compressed air supply. Special patented Nivis® injection nozzles, using directly atmospheric air, create a water-air mixture, which is then sprayed through the nozzles of the head. Nivis® Ecostick snow guns operate without the use of electricity.

Technical characteristics of the Nivis® Ecostick snow gun

Benefits of compressor-free snowmaking with Nivis® Ecostick

– Electricity savings of about 4 kW per gun, which is usually consumed with compressor snowmaking systems.
– Cost savings on the purchase of compressors and air ducts.
– Saving costs for servicing and operating compressors (for example, changing oil).
– Savings on maintenance work due to the simple, static design of snowmaking systems.
– Favorable for environment resource-saving technology.
– Due to the fact that Nivis® systems are compressorless, the use of Ecostick guns during expansion existing systems snowmaking is possible without problems. Nivis® systems are compatible with any installation.
– Possibility of using many single-stage guns at extreme temperatures instead of fewer multi-stage guns, since the need for compressed air, regardless of the number of guns, always remains zero.
– Easy to maintain manual installations.
– Possibility of a snow system with zero electricity consumption when connected to a water supply with its own pressure.
– The most efficient, reliable and innovative way to make snow by saving on energy, equipment weight and materials, as well as reducing noise pollution and operating costs.

2. Snow gun Vector SGS-8

This snow gun is produced in-house. During the 2016-2017 season. 2 such snow guns were used at the Zayachya Gora ski complex. The number of these snow guns has now been increased to six. They have proven themselves to be reliable and productive snow generators.
All components are in stock and, if necessary, can be sent within 24 hours.

Technical characteristics of the snow gun Vector SGS-8

We have the lowest price!

And if you find it cheaper somewhere else, we will make a discount!

3. Snow generator Demac SET-AMK

Technical characteristics of the snow generator DEMAC SET-AMK

Country of origin: Austria.

Artificial snow is very popular these days for shows, various holidays, events, weddings and anniversaries. It is used in performances as decoration, for decorating store windows, and in the interior of bars and restaurants, snow will also find application. It does not leave stains on clothes, is non-toxic, and looks exactly like the real thing.

How to make artificial snow with your own hands

Most importantly, you will need a liquid concentrate or a special powder. It is mainly manufactured by foreign manufacturers.

To make artificial snow with your own hands, you need to add ordinary water to this powder or concentrate, and after that it increases in volume almost a hundred times. This artificial snow can be stored for several days. After time passes, it begins to dry out and decrease in volume. If you collect it all and add water again, it will return to its previous state. Artificial snow is easily washed off and does not stain the surface.

Snow cannon

It will be very easy to sweep up beautiful snowdrifts in just a few seconds. In order to get the effect of a blizzard or falling snow, an air cannon and a special snow generator are used. A generator is a special device that weighs from eleven to twenty kg. But there are also installations for artificial snow big size- from forty kg. This snow generator operates on concentrate, which is previously diluted with water. The concentrate is supplied from America, and it is certified. One liter of water is enough for an hour of operation of such an installation. The size and shape of the snowflakes can be programmed in advance. The scattering of snowflakes is up to fifteen meters.

Video: comparative test of snow generator guns.

The price for a snow cannon is 150,000-1,000,000 rubles. The cost depends on its performance. They are mainly used for ski slopes. To begin with, it is better to buy the most inexpensive snow generator. It can also be rented out. The rental cost per hour of work ranges from two to five thousand rubles.