Russian-Danish project on energy saving and improving the climate in the premises of the State Hermitage

On the basis of a Danish-Russian programme for energy saving dating from 1996, the decision was taken to reconstruct the hot air heating systems in the Winter Palace in order to economize on energy and improve the climatic conditions in museum premises. At the time when the reconstruction began there were in operation 16 thermal centres and 200 ducts in the walls carrying heated air.

Research carried out jointly during 1997-1998 by the Danish consulting firm NIRAS, which represents the Danish Energy Agency, and staff of the State Hermitage indicated that there were serious oscillations of climatic conditions in the rooms and this has a negative influence on works of art.

The Winter Palace, which was constructed according to plans drafted by F.B. Rastrelli during the years 1754-1762, had an original heating system. Within the walls of the 400 rooms of the palace there were some 1000 ducts of three different types providing fresh air for ventilation and removing spent air and smoky gases released by the heating stoves in each room.

However, when the fire that broke out in the Winter Palace in December 1837 was being extinguished, a great many of these ducts were filled with debris. Consequently, already in the mid-20th century, the stoves were replaced by heat centres and heaters using hot air, but these systems did not have devices for humidification or controlling energy use according to the level of heat load.

The purchase and delivery of new equipment was financed by the Danish Energy Agency. The State Hermitage furnished the installation work, and the Danish consultants and equipment suppliers oversaw the work and provided instruction and training.

In November 1998 the new thermal point No. 9А was put into operation and its functioning was adjusted in February 1999. The results obtained fully matched the tasks set out in the project: in the rooms of German and French art the relative humidity during the winter period rose to approximately 40%; the temperature became more stable; the quality of air improved thanks to a 15% inflow of air and optimal use of fuel in the heating system; losses in the brick air ducts became insignificant, as became clear following measurements of humidity losses; damage to premises of the Winter Palace was successfully avoided by putting in order the old brick ducts.

In 2000 the new thermal centre No. 7А of hot air heating was installed, making it possible to improve the climate in the Armorial Hall and the 1812 War Gallery. This thermal centre makes use of a very effective, multifunctional and highly economical modern system of heating and humidifying air which makes it possible to maintain a stable temperature and humidity regime.

In 2001 major renovation work was undertaken on the heating and ventilation equipment of the thermal centre No. 1 with installation of a system for automatic control of the temperature of air supplied to the rooms in the south-western part of the Winter Palace.

As a result of the work carried out, by 2002 a moderate increase in the degree of air exchange was achieved in the museum rooms thanks to the cleaning of the old ducts in the walls and installation of parallel thermal centres alongside the existing ones. Improvement was made to the quality of air supplied. Thanks to installation of steam and spray humidifiers, the level and stability of humidity was raised. Unit energy use was lowered thanks to introduction of frequency regulation and a system of sensors for temperature and humidity. The thermal centres No. 2, 7, 9, 22-1 were reconstructed and a new thermal centres No. 22-2 was built, together with a main pumping station No. Р1 equipped with Grundfoss pumps.

In 2004 major renovation work was performed on the thermal stations No. 8 and No. 11 in the eastern and north-western parts of the Winter Palace. For greater convenience and to lower the cost of the work, ventilation equipment from the Rosenberg company was selected, because it can be disassembled into small parts and then reassembled rather simply, without need for any special technique or tools. All the work was carried out only in the premises of the thermal centres and in the basement of the building. The ventilation shafts and ducts built into the walls were cleaned of dust. On each ventilation line of the thermal centres No. 8 и No.11 there were installed: fire blocking automatic valves, new chambers for blending outside and recirculated air, supplemental filters at the inlet of outside air and equipment for humidifying the air.

In accordance with the implementation of a programme for the "Reconstruction of Thermal Centres for Hot Air Heating of the State Hermitage", a plan to reconstruct the thermal station No. 14 was elaborated and executed in 2005. This station serves premises situated in the north-western part of the Winter Palace.

When operating this thermal centre, it was very difficult to ensure the required parameters of the climate in the rooms due to the fact that there were not enough intramural recirculation ducts and so it was impossible to arrange the needed air exchange. It was necessary to create new recirculation ducts, and for this purpose supplemental air ducts had to be taken down to the basements. However, it did not seem that there was sufficient room to accommodate these ducts.

The decision was taken to divide the service area of the thermal centre into two parts and alongside the reconstruction of the old thermal centre to install a new, supplemental, one. To make room for the new thermal centre, the basement premises were repaired and a supplemental inlet for outside air was arranged via an old, previously unused, duct. New recirculation ducts were also arranged.

At the same time all the ducts within the walls working in the given area of the museum were cleaned of dust and processed. During the reconstruction of the old and installation of the new thermal centres, modern, energy efficient equipment was used: ventilation equipment from Rosenberg; water supply equipment from Grundfoss, Danfoss and Broen; electrical power equipment from ABB; cellular humidifiers from Munters; and automation from Siemens.

The system of automatic control for the heating centres is connected to the central server of the Visonic system, thereby making it possible to supervise the work of the thermal centres and monitor the required parameters from the central power supply control panel.

Work on reconstruction was carried out by the combined efforts of several contractors: SP Zapas Closed Corporation (general contractor), LYUMIR Ltd (subcontractor for general construction work) and MESI Ltd (subcontractor for electrical installations). The work was carried out under the guidance of the director of the Department of Major Construction Sergei Burdukov and with the participation of the deputy chief power engineering specialist Oleg Targonsky and head of the Section for Hot Air Heating Liubov Balakireva.

Representatives of the Danish consulting company NIRAS with Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky
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New equipment
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