The 3,000 sq-metre centre Snow City was built at a cost of S$6 million and was officially opened on 3 June 2000. It was a joint venture by the Science Centre, Singapore and NTUC Income Co-operative Pte Ltd. The idea behind the collaboration was that Singapore being a tropical country, many Singaporeans have never had the opportunity to experience the cold climates and snow. With the set up of Snow City will give everybody a chance to learn more about snow, in a fun way.
Highlights
Visitors will first arrive at the Air Lock, which is maintained at 10°C. This allows visitors to become comfortable with the lower temperatures before they enter the chamber itself. The major focus of Snow City is its Snow Chamber, a 1200 sq-metre room covered with snow. The Snow Chamber is well maintained at -5°C and snow level is kept constantly at 40CM in depth. Between 10 and 15 tons of snow is created each week in order to maintain this level. The snow is produced using a special Snow Gun, which cools water using liquid nitrogen. Inside the Snow Chamber, is a 60 meter long high slope which is about 3 storeys high. 'Snowtubing' is the main activity, where visitors will be sliding down the snow slope while sitting on an inflatable tube. There is also a Snow-Play Area for the younger children. There is a place for wine and dine on level 2, named Alphine Lodge. Snow City's sound educational programmes and workshops are available to schools and interested groups.
Technology
A specially designed Snow Gun is used in the production of snow on site. Firstly, water is atomized using high-pressure compressed air. The water then arrives at the snow gun and is pushed out of the special nozzles at the end of the barrel. Liquid nitrogen at a temperature of approx. -196°C is also passed through the snow gun at the same time. The extreme cold of the liquid nitrogen instantly freezes the atomized water into snowflake-like crystallites. The simplified formula to produce snow is
One ton of liquid nitrogen + one ton of water = one ton of "snow".
