Contract for the Maintenance of BIFoR Systems to the University of Birmingham

The Birmingham Institute of Forest Research's (BIFoR) Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) experiment in Staffordshire, UK is designed to provide the scientific community with a new understanding of how mature oak woodlands will respond to a future climate with higher levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere than exist at present. The experiment will expose large areas of woodland to elevated atmospheric CO2 at around 550 parts per million (ppm), which is the level we expect to reach by 2050. The experiment consists of six arrays of towers within a woodland, each 30 m across, which extend from the ground to the top of the trees. CO2 will be released within three of these rings, while the other three will act as control plots and receive ambient air only. Carbon dioxide is be stored in 3 x 40,000kg capacity Storage Vessels under pressure as a liquid. The liquid CO2 is converted to a gas using ambient heat vaporisers and transported in pipes through the woodland to the experimental arrays. Here, it is diluted with normal air until the level reaches ~550 ppm before being released into the research space. Sensors within the array are used by a computer to automatically adjust the amount and direction of released CO2 according to the speed and direction of the wind. The University of Birmingham intends to award a contract for up to five years for the maintenance and calibration of the CO2 storage and delivery system at the facility. The works consist of statutory and reactive maintenance and the entire system is owned and managed by the University of Birmingham. A scheme of works has been developed that covers maintenance, calibration and statutory compliance over a five year period. Stardelta Power and Control are considered to be the preferred supplier after providing these services for the previous five year period. The FACE experimental set up is bespoke in nature and unusual in the industrial market as the University owns the infrastructure. The normal mode of operation is to rent/hire such gas storage and distribution systems. The owner of the gas storage and delivery infrastructure would then in turn manage the maintenance, calibration and statutory compliance requirements. These arrangements are normally internal. For this reason it previously proved very difficult to identify companies with the requisite skills and resources to tender for the University owned BIFoR FACE facility. The University has identified that for reasons of timescale and to achieve its aims within available staff capacity and alongside its core business activities, the products supplied by Stardelta Power and Control are the only ones capable of meeting the University's requirements and this is the only viable option for the University at this time.