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World News
Ziehl-Abegg expands fan production
FAN MANUFACTURER ZIEHL-ABEGG has broadened its manufacturing base and further developed its production to meet the require- ments of Industry 4.0.
The total cost for the new building in the Ho- henlohe Industrial Park and for taking plastics production in-house, is 28 million AUD.
With the manufacture of fans made of a spe- cial plastic, the company is focusing on a new type of integrated quality assurance, reducing the error rate down towards zero.
Design engineers are putting bionic ap- proaches into practice in order to improve aer- odynamics. However, implementing these op- timized forms in series production poses a major challenge, according to Ziehl-Abegg CEO, Peter Fenkl.
“We are using such complex injection mould- ing technology that the cost for one single tool alone is half a million euros,"he said.
A decade of experience gained from suppliers manufacturing fans made from plastic on be- half of Ziehl-Abegg have been incorporated into the new plants.
“The key feature is that the injection moulding machines already monitor important process parameters during production, ruling out the possibility of faulty products,” Fenkl said.
“The move into the field of plastics technology will benefit our customers. This is because we will now be manufacturing our own fans made of aluminium as well as steel and plastic.
Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Klaus Weiß explains production to Minister for Economic Affairs, Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut.
“We have brought added value in-house which will allow each engineer to determine which material is best suited to the custom- er's application."
“We now have all three technologies at our disposal in-house setting us apart from our competitors.”
Many fans that were previously made of steel or aluminium, have been replaced by plastic, a thermoplastic fibre composite mate- rial known as ZAmid which was developed by Ziehl-Abegg. The material is much lighter than
steel but allows fans to rotate at a speed of 250 kilometres per hour in continuous operation; the plastic fans are tested at speeds of up to 500 kilometres per hour. “We will continue to expand the potential of plastics for light- weight construction to the benefit of our cus- tomers,” Fenkl said. “The reason for this is that many geometries which are aerodynamically ideal can simply not be realised in steel or aluminium.” Overall, the number of employ- ees at Ziehl-Abegg in the Hohenlohe Industrial Park has risen from 480 to 770. ✺
Products from Honeywell's Solstice range.
Honeywell announces non- flammable alternative to R410A
HONEYWELL HAS LAUNCHED Solstice N41, a refrigerant with a GWP of 733, for use in sta- tionary air conditioning systems.
Once on the market, Solstice N41, which has the preliminary designation of R466A by ASHRAE, will be the lowest GWP, non-flamma- ble refrigerant available worldwide, according to Honeywell.
It is expected to be available commercially in 2019.
Its composition, which has been confirmed by Honeywell, is 49% R32, 11.5% R125 and 39.5 % CF3I
In a statement, the company said: ”The inno- vation comes after years of research and devel- opment by Honeywell scientists, who set out to address one of the most vexing regulatory and
safety challenges facing the HVAC industry. All other alternatives proposed to date are flamma- ble and require cumbersome changes to safety standards and building codes.”
Honeywell said the HVAC industry has been looking to replace the current industry standard refrigerant, R410A, with an energy efficient, non- flammable, and lower GWP solution with a simi- lar or better performance.
“Solstice N41 is the only refrigerant that com- bines those attributes," the statement said.
"Early testing indicates that switching to Sol- stice N41 would require minimal changes to equipment and no additional training for instal- lation and repair technicians.
"Preliminary data indicates that the refrigerant may allow OEMs to easily convert from R410A.” ✺
CLIMATE CONTROL NEWS AUGUST 2018
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