ebm-papst Fans, Blowers and Technology

The ebm-papst sales team attended the Allied Electronics' Expo at the Fort Worth Convention Center this October. The event included a diverse gathering of industrial automation, electronic, and electromechanical suppliers. More than 90 well-known suppliers attended that offer the electronics industry power products, fans, connectors, relays, enclosures, switches, wire and cable and much more. Those in attendance accounted for 70% of sales for Allied in North America.

As a market leader in fans and blowers, and Allied's top supplier in this category, these biannual events give us an opportunity to demonstrate our products, engage with Allied's sales team and learn from our peers.

This year, everyone was talking about the economic upswing, a resurgence of manufacturing in  North America  along with Allied's sales growth.

There was a lot of 'buzz' at the show about how much is happening in the electronics industry today -- everyone is excited about the growth and position Allied is taking in continuing to address this growing market's needs. Allied is focusing on increasing their local sales presence and strengthening relationships with strategic suppliers. The show was a great opportunity for Allied's sales force and managers to learn more about our latest technology, solutions and markets.

We showcased a variety of air moving solutions including tube axial fans, axial fans, and centrifugal blowers, - a mere representation of our comprehensive product portfolio that includes AC, DC, and EC motor options. Our product display generated discussion about performance, acoustics, and application of the products across a wide range of markets. 

ebm-papst offers a wide array of product to the electronics industry that provide flexibility, performance and energy savings in various applications.

by Todd Cardillo, Market Mager -Industrial

ebm-papst Inc. has provided air-moving solutions  for medical equipment and  devices for decades. Beyond the UL, CSA, CE, EMC and other quality standards that our industrial customers must meet, medical equipment and device manufacturers must comply with FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) requirements. 

When new products are brought to market or existing ones are modified, FDA approvals play a critical role in our customers’ qualification processes.  The FDA tests and regulates medical devices and equipment – ensuring they are safe and effective for human use. This type of testing can be expensive and lengthy. Medical equipment components need to be tested for robustness and extended life expectancy. 

Since most medical devices incorporate electronics that generate high levels of heat, these frequently require internal fans or blowers. This is where we’ve applied our expertise. 

As one example, several of our axial fans are used within a computed tomography (CT) scan machine. Some of the fans are located in the gantry portion of the scanner, which rotates at a high velocity. For this application, our fans need to reliably operate at up to 75 G forces to cool the gantry during motion.  To address the air flow needed for controlling equipment ambient temperatures, as well as acoustic noise and environmental requirements, it’s crucial that the optimum air moving device is chosen at the beginning stages of any medical equipment project. 

For more details on the ebm-papst products available to cool medical equipment and devices, visit the medical equipment applications area in our Market Solutions Tool.

About Todd Cardillo
 At ebm-papst Inc. for more than 18 years, Todd enthusiastically embraces his current role as Market Manager for the Industrial market. He continuously builds new relationships and strives to deepen interactions with existing customers. Todd’s commitment to the company drives him to thoroughly educate customers on ebm-papst’s product offerings, while at the same time learning all he can about each customer’s business applications. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. When not at work, Todd treasures his time with his 3 adventurous children – engaging in triathlons, mountain biking, adventure races, skiing and traveling.
  

Las Vegas - one of the most illuminated cities in the world - hosted 600 exhibitors and close to 40,000 attendees at this year’s LIGHTFAIR International Trade Show and Conference held June 3-5. 

ebm-papst showcased active cooling solutions for a variety of lighting markets. Innovators as Pathway Lighting, LF Illumination, Alterlume, Spectrum Lighting, NBL, Atlantic Lighting and Century LED provided examples of our contract manufacturing capabilities. We displayed a wide array of fans including our radial impellers, axial fans and FlatPak blowers.

More than 1,000 attendees visited our booth, seeking reliability and long life span, ingress protection and energy efficiency in the systems that cool their lighting applications. The ebm-papst team demonstrated how our products exceed expectations for all three criteria.  Visitors were also impressed with our industry leading 7 decibel active solution for high powered light engines produced by Xicato, CREE, Bridgelux, Philips and other- LED OEMs.

Talking about trends, this year’s show reinforced what we’re already seeing in the marketplace: Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology will become the norm for virtually every light fixture over the next decade. Our active cooling solutions, which dissipate heat directly from the core of LED modules, are becoming more and more popular for high-powered LED lamps used in concert halls, museums, places of worship - as well as retail and architectural venues. Technology is also improving for LED drivers, which regulate the level of power to an LED or string of LEDs based on changing energy demands and operating environments. 

Want more information on the cooling solutions ebm-papst can offer your high-tech, high heat lighting applications?
Visit the SSL/LED lighting section in our Market Solutions Tool!

To learn more, please contact Steve Berestecky at ebm-papst Inc.

In keeping with our company’s GreenTech philosophy, Thursday June 5 was our annual GreenDay celebration. Throughout the week, employees contributed to several “green” pursuits. Encouraged to gather recyclable items from home, employees brought in an array of items including electronics waste, CFL & LED light bulbs, household batteries, and scrap metal. The collection yielded 36 CFL and LED light bulbs; 32 pounds of household batteries; 585 pounds of scrap metal; 1,401 pounds of electronics and more than ten TVs. These items were combined with the company’s regular recycling efforts. 

In addition to our year-round recycling campaign, employees brought personal paperwork from home for shredding. We gathered half a ton of paper - equivalent to 8 trees. So far this year, ebm-papst has saved 138 trees by recycling 8.1 tons of paper!

To benefit the SPCA of CT. We donated 133 pounds of old blankets, sheets and towels for re-use in animal shelters.

Recycling old textiles, those not fit for re-use, was the one effort that remained elusive. Regrettably, we could not find an organization in Connecticut that would recycle old textiles even after contacting the Town of Farmington, as well as SMART (Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles). In the mid-1990s when I lived in San Jose, CA,
I recall the weekly curbside recycling collection included textiles (and these collections continue today - 20 years later).   

Our Green Week concluded with a crew of volunteers cleaning up a heavily used area of the Farmington River. The employees collected 50 pounds of trash & recyclable containers, another 40 pounds of scrap metal, and a truck tire. Like our last two GreenDay clean ups, there is always plenty of trash to be collected if you want to find it!

To learn more about this topic, please contact Phil Hartman at ebm-papst Inc.

About Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman, ebm-papst Senior Director – Marketing, is a fan of the company’s GreenTech philosophy of developing innovative products that meet our customers’ needs while at the same time offering increased energy efficiency & more eco-friendly processes with each new product generation.  In his 26 years with ebm-papst Inc. including locations in San Jose, CA and Farmington, CT, he has held several positions in the sales and marketing departments and has experienced exciting changes affecting ebm-papst, our customers and the markets we serve.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Hartford.  In his free time, Phil pursues outdoor activities year round.

by Lou Moffa, Market Manager – Commercial Refrigeration

Last week, my colleague Joe Giacona talked about why ventilation is critical within food transport refrigeration. With many fresh foods making an average journey of 1,500 to 2,000 miles from their source, well-engineered refrigeration systems and fine-tuned logistics ensure that these fragile foods remain delicious no matter their destination.

This week, we continue the food chain journey through the supermarket right before it is purchased for use at your home. As with the containers inside ships and trucks, consistent and efficient refrigeration in holding warehouses and at the supermarkets themselves provide a slowing of the clock to help maintain food as long as possible. Commercial refrigeration systems must maintain safe temperatures; perform reliably and efficiently while working continuously in the background.

In keeping with our company’s GreenTech philosophy, ebm-papst developed a specialized line of air movers to help refrigeration engineers meet their critical design objectives. The ecological benefits are achieved with features such as programmable speeds to dial in the exact air needed, two speed fans that allow the fan to change speeds without complicated wiring or variable speed operation that allow ebm-papst fans’ EC motors to operate over a full RPM range to match the cooling performance needed without wasting energy. These various features are found in our product line so it is easy to choose the right air mover for the refrigeration system. Our small mounting footprint and quiet operation provide refrigeration designers with exciting new approaches to solving old problems.   

To help your local supermarket maximize your food shopping experience, our fans are designed into various refrigeration systems that you will see in a typical supermarket.

Once the food products arrive at the supermarket they are unloaded from the trucks and usually placed in a "walk in" cooler (or freezer). Most walk in coolers are near the loading docks at the back of the store hidden from public view.  Even if you have not been behind the scenes, you still have encountered them during your recent shopping. One side of the unit cooler is typically made out of glass display doors that are open to the public. Fast moving items like the milk in a supermarket or the beer in a liquor store have doors that you open so that you can select your product. Since these products are usually in the back of the store, they are against a wall near the loading docks so they can be restocked with little effort. This allows the store to keep large inventories of product and have it appear so that it is always stocked. Next time you open one of those doors, peak in behind the milk or beer, if you don't see the fans up above, you will hear them running as well as feel them move the air around the area.  Fans are needed to keep the air in constant circulation within these cases to help keep the products cool.

The other key refrigerated areas of a supermarket are the display cases that hold fruits, vegetables, frozen foods and every other possible food product including recently refrigerated pet foods in the pet food aisle. These display cases must perform two important tasks: They must keep food at a constant and precise temperature, and present the food in a way that shoppers can easily see it, want it and ultimately put it in their shopping carts. This is not an easy task but our ebm-papst EC fans meet the challenge even while they are subjected to constant cold temperatures, moisture from misting systems and the bumps and jarring from stocking these cases every day.

The reach in bottle cooler is another example of a refrigeration system that is in constant operation, keeping soda and water cool for impulse purchases. ebm-papst EC fans are used on both the hot (condenser) side and the cold (evaporator) side. Your home refrigerator has it easy compared to what a bottle cooler goes through every day. Multiple opening and closings and constantly being loaded with room temperature products gives these coolers a workout. Our fans keep refrigerated air in constant circulation to help cool down product as quickly as possible.

Our last stop on how fans are used in our supermarket, ends with a birds-eye of the condenser units on the rooftop. All of the reject heat from the refrigeration systems throughout the store is sent to the rooftop condensers. Our variable speed, EC Giant series of fans are installed here and are running at just the needed speed to cool down the refrigerant. Variable speed helps increase efficiency compared to running standard fans in an on and off manner.  By adding our latest AxiTop diffuser these EC Giants are operating quietly so that there is no unnecessary noise pollution and they are providing increased efficiency to help supermarkets further reduce their utility bills.

 
Whether it’s on a boat, in a truck or ready for supermarket display, our local, national and internationally-sourced food depends on reliable and efficient fans to help refrigeration systems to equalize air flow and save energy. To learn more, visit our new market solutions tool and click on “Refrigeration.”

Read part 3 of this blog series: What's that fan doing in my food chain? Part 3

About Lou Moffa
With his 11+ years experience with ebm-papst Inc., Lou Moffa listens to the challenges our customers face and recommends air-moving solutions that help refrigerant system engineers, warehouse owners and supermarket managers keep food fresh across a variety of storage and display environments. As the company’s market manager – commercial refrigeration, Lou holds an automated manufacturing engineering degree from Waterbury State Technical and a Bachelor of Science in Manufacturing Engineering from Central Connecticut State University. In his free time, Lou enjoys tackling renovation projects around his home, cooking and exploring new food shopping experiences.

John Deere is a leader in tractor products, offering a wide range of products for every possible agricultural need. The company’s 80-to-100 horsepower 5080R tractor, the smallest member of its high performance 5R Series, is designed for comfort and productivity under high stress.

John Deere in Mannheim, Germany turned to ebm-papst for a cooling solution that would reduce high temperatures in the 5080R’s engine compartment. The companies worked together to develop new cooling technology for the tractor. The concept? Control the engine temperature with a fan that would incorporate a separate charged-air cooler.

The fan that ebm-papst developed for the 5080R brings charged air to a constant temperature. It ensures highly efficient cooling by improving the flow of cool, oxygen-rich air to the engine, which leads to better combustion. As a result, the tractor’s engine delivers more power and ‘zip’ under a variety of loads.

The new ebm-papst fan helped to significantly reduce the 5080R engine’s turbo lag. It also reduced the tractor’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. To free the fan from dirt, straw fragments and other debris after a day in the field, ebm-papst engineered it to run in the opposite direction for 30 seconds with just a flip of the control button inside the tractor cab.

Bring on the next harvest!

Click here to watch the full video on ebm-papst TV°: Charge air cooling in the John Deere 5080 R

The MAX’s O’Hartford 5K is a 3.1 mile race that takes place in downtown Hartford every year around St. Patrick’s Day. This event is one of many annual races sponsored by the Hartford Marathon Foundation, with their most recognized event being the Hartford Marathon.

Many of the O’Hartford participants dress in green and orange and some even wear costumes, making the event a very festive atmosphere. ebm-papst participants wore our green “GreenTech” shirts featuring the GreenTech logo on the front and a HyBlade axial fan image on the back. Both images on the shirt represent our corporate philosophy of continuous improvement and innovation. 

We decided to challenge employees to participate in this event as an effort to promote exercise and to encourage people to set new health goals.  A 5K event was chosen so that everyone from the walker to the casual jogger to the runner could participate. We had 20 ebm-papst participants who represented the following departments; Customer Service, Engineering, IT, Marketing, Production, and Sales.

Race events are nothing new at ebm-papst and our colleagues at ebm-papst Mulfingen, Germany take road racing to another level. They have been a long-time sponsor of a large race-event called the ebm-papst Marathon, which takes place every September in Niedernhall, Germany and includes a variety of race events.

This year there were over 2,200 participants in the race. The temperature was around 32 degrees, and even though it was a sunny day, a brisk wind kept the temperature closer to the low 20’s.  Besides the reward of working towards one’s personal fitness goals, a pint of local beer and a corned beef and cabbage sandwich on rye was enjoyed by all at the finish line!

Welcome, Joe Giacona!
ebm-papst Inc. is pleased to welcome Joe Giacona as market manager – transportation

Joe brings with him 30+ years’ experience in the HVACR industry.  He has held progressively responsible positions in engineering, advanced manufacturing, product management, marketing, sales and customer relationship management. He received a B.S. in physics from Brockport State College and a B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Buffalo.

In his market management role, Joe is responsible for market development, forecasting, field sales coordination and customer relations for the ebm-papst fans, motors and blowers that heat, cool and ventilate buses, trains, trucks and other transportation vehicles across North America.

Joe believes that HVACR components within transportation systems must deliver performance and reliability over the long haul. “The highly engineered and durable brushless electronically-commutated (EC) air movers that ebm-papst offers are well positioned to meet current and future demands of this industry.“

Joe’s already hard at work helping our transportation customers match their requirements with engineered, air moving solutions that are tailored to their specific applications.

Joe can be reached at Joe.Giacona@us.ebmpapst.com.

By Mike Rota, Director of Distribution North America

Members of our leadership team recently attended the 2014 Grainger Show, which is said to be “the biggest & best maintenance, repair and operations show in existence”.  Being able to see the innovative products that today’s top industry leaders are creating while also introducing our newest ventilation and motor solutions was extremely advantageous for our team.

Here is a Q&A with our Director of Distribution North America, Mike Rota, who shares his insider perspective on the benefits of our team attending this highly regarded industry event.

Q. Why does ebm-papst participate in the Grainger Show on a yearly basis? What is the goal?
A. By participating in the Grainger Show, ebm-papst Inc. takes advantage of an opportunity to display and discuss new innovative products such as the DV6300.  Our air moving solutions are viable for the many markets that Grainger supports. As a market leader, ebm-papst is committed to working closely with our distributor partners and participating in the Grainger show is consistent with that commitment.

Q. How did our presence at this show benefit Grainger?
A. Our presence at this show benefited Grainger in many ways. I feel that the most important benefit is that it gave Grainger’s sales team and customers a chance to talk to us. We were able to provide them with more information and answer their questions about our products that are in the Grainger catalog and other products that are not.

Q. What kind of networking was gained from being present at the Grainger show?
A. Networking with key people from Grainger that support our products and key people that support competitive products is a very important residual benefit of participating in the Grainger show. Grainger has a good group of people working in our segment of the industry and spending time in an informal atmosphere (away from the office) is very helpful in building relationships.

To learn more about ebm-papst’s products, whether for maintenance & repair, or for brand new designs, please contact an applications engineer today at (860)674-1515 or sales@us.ebmpapst.com.

Compact, efficient FlowGrid air-inlet grill from ebm-papst  significantly reduces noise spectrum for
axial and centrifugal fans

Whether it’s heat pumps in the home, condensers in supermarket refrigerators or ventilation systems on the production floor, FlowGrid, the innovative patent-pending air-inlet grill from ebm-papst, is dramatically reducing noise levels for fans installed within limited-space air moving equipment.

What our award winning AxiTop diffuser does on the pressure side (outlet)
of the fan, FlowGrid does on the suction side (inlet). Easily mounted to applications with ebm-papst fans and backward curved impellers, its open grill design straightens airflow to minimize turbulence before the air hits the axial or centrifugal impeller blades. FlowGrid is ideal for fans installed within flat and central air handling units, air purifiers and heat pumps with centrifugal fans, or air-water heat pumps, condensers and V-shaped condensers
with axial fans.

“FlowGrid is the result of our extensive airflow testing for inlet conditions with a wide variety of customers’ axial and centrifugal fans across dozens of applications,” said George Riker, business development. “By improving the aerodynamic conditions external to the fan, FlowGrid reduces the adverse effects of these inlet conditions and
minimizes noise.”

Here’s how noise happens within a fan and how FlowGrid corrects it:

1. When the walls of a device such as an air handler, heat exchanger or heat pump are different distances from the fan, powerful vortices combine in the narrowest areas to form so-called ‘vortex strings.’

2. These turbulences then hit the rotating blades of the fan, generating noise – specifically a broadband noise and additional narrowband, tonal frequency components, known as propeller noise or tonal noise.

3. Mounted on the air intake side of the fan, the FlowGrid weakens these ‘vortex strings’ as they flow through the device.

4. This reduces sound pressure across the entire sound frequency range and especially in the low frequency tonal range.
   
   

Apart from reducing overall sound pressure, the most drastic reduction is in low-frequency blade-passing noise (the sum of the fan speed and the number of blades) caused by blades cutting through turbulence within small space applications such as heat exchangers. The FlowGrid grill has been proven in certain applications to reduce overall sound pressure levels by as much as 3.9 dB(A), and these blade passing frequencies by up to 16 decibels.

With FlowGrid, ebm-papst is making a clear contribution to passive noise reduction – a big part of our GreenTech philosophy. It can help manufacturers and ventilation specifiers comply with noise regulations and improve the environment for employees who work near ventilation equipment. The innovative air-intake grills, which require less acoustic insulation, work with both axial and centrifugal fans without reducing their performance. Using them can help to reduce or entirely avoid the use of cost-intensive, active noise-reduction measures.

For additional information about how FlowGrid can make a difference in your application, contact one of our application engineers today at 860 674-1515 or sales@us.ebmpapst.com.