ebm-papst Fans, Blowers and Technology

Takeaways from AFCOM's Data Center World Conference

Data center professionals continuously seek more efficient ways to cool and ventilate their expanding data centers. Every year, ebm-papst showcases its cooling solutions at the industry’s premier trade event — AFCOM’s Data Center World Spring Global Conference.  One of our key R&D ‘listening posts,’ AFCOM keeps us ahead of the curve in developing the most efficient GreenTech products for future data centers. More than 200 exhibitors, 1,000 attendees and dozens of presenters attended this year’s show.

Insight #1: Up your game to meet changing requirements.
Industry trends tell us that over the next 10 years, Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) will become an integral discipline for data center owners and managers who want to expand and reduce costs. Product suppliers must provide DCIM ready products with features not only to help their data center clients control their energy use but also help them implement and manage predictive failure and recovery protocols for their facilities.  Our EC Greentech products include DCIM ready features above industry standards – leaving system designers and architects with variety of options.

Insight #2: New power configurations = greener operation.
More than half the power brought into many data centers is ‘lost’ to tasks like cooling before it arrives at these systems’ processors or hard drives. As a result, data center ventilation and cooling systems will move to electronically-commutated (EC) solutions, which better manage changes in the data center’s heat, boost cooling efficiency and compactness.

Insight #3: Location, Location, Location.

To provide free cooling benefits, data centers’ locations will be increasingly important. The owners of very large data centers will design brand new data centers tasked to provide the most efficient cooling available. Medium to small owners will begin to co-locate their data centers.

Insight #4: When, not if, Mother Nature strikes.

Even good UPS systems can’t provide backup power forever. Over the past few years, storms in the Northeast, tornadoes in the Midwest and earthquakes in California have forced data center owners to re-review their disaster recovery plans.

Increasingly, data centers are sharing loads across geographically dispersed locations, preventing a single natural disaster from bringing a system down. While this is a more robust solution, it also increases complexity and costs. Others are examining how cloud services can offer a certain level of continuous backup to preserve highly critical data.

As we control our impact on the environment and maintain the keystones of our nation’s IT infrastructure, we continue to make data center operations more efficient. Data Center World is where we source pertinent feedback that fuels ebm-papst’s newest GreenTech EC products working seamlessly with today and tomorrow’s DCIM systems.

To learn more about this topic, please contact Joe Landrette at ebm-papst Inc.

By Jack Derewonko, Quality Manager

What does quality encompass at ebm-papst? It’s about producing reliable fans, blowers, motors, and assemblies that meet customers’ needs.  Delivering on time. Providing outstanding service and engineering support. And, near and dear to our GreenTech philosophy, it’s about designing and manufacturing products that continually improve upon the prior generation in terms of technology and environmental consideration.

Quality systems are embedded into every department at ebm-papst that help reduce process variation, avoid waste, lower operating costs and improve efficiency. Each quality system in our company is controlled and well documented so that everyone understands and follows them in the same manner. When a new product is developed, multiple departments review it to ensure that the customer’s specifications are in synch with our internal design and manufacturing processes. During production, our corrective action systems reduce waste and scrap which conserves both energy and time.

By addressing potential risks before products are manufactured, we improve our ability to deliver on time without defects. Using a straightforward method called Failure Mode & Effects Analysis, or FMEA, we’re able to systematically review any number of processes and determine the risk factors within each that could affect quality and/or service. A successful FMEA helps us identify potential failure modes in a product based on our experience with similar products and processes. We then adjust our systems to eliminate the issues that would have contributed to that potential failure. 

Our company-wide Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) emphasizes employee involvement and teamwork to eliminate waste and boost efficiency. In continuous improvement, we take a systematic long-term approach to improving all phases of work within our administrative, sales and marketing offices, our manufacturing facility and our logistics team. Lean manufacturing tools like 5S and one piece flow are just two aspects of our continuous improvement effort. By working together to identify and work through potential problems, we may get incremental improvements over time, or a breakthrough improvement all at once. Both are great outcomes to have in our toolbox as we strive for continuous improvement along our quality journey.

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.

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!

by Bob Sobolewski - President & CEO

If one thing was evident at last month's Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration (AHR) Expo in New York, it's that innovation and sustainability must go hand in hand.

AHR provides us with an opportunity to meet our partners, suppliers and customers face to face. Every year, the show renews our belief that energy savings and resource conservation are a priority. It renews our commitment to our GreenTech philosophy: that every product we develop must exceed its predecessor in terms of efficiency and economy.  At this year’s expo, we gave a group of editors and industry experts a re-cap of our company’s achievements in 2013.

2013 Growth
2013 marked the 50^th anniversary for the ebm-papst Group. Founded by Gerhard Sturm and Heinz Ziehl in 1963 with only 35 employees, the company now has 11,400 employees at 57 sales offices and 18 production facilities worldwide. ebm-papst Group grew 10 percent to around 730 million euros ($993 million) for the first half of the current fiscal year (April 1 - September 30, 2013). Over the past three years, the global company has grown by 37 percent.

The double-digit growth of ebm-papst USA last year was fueled by a growing need for climate control across nine major markets and the applications within each, as well as employees’ focus on exceeding customer needs.

Awards for AxiTop
The epylen wood-plastic composite AxiTop diffuser, introduced in 2012 as a new, passive component in ebm-papst 800 and 910 mm series fans, recently earned ebm-papst top honors at the MATERIALICA trade fair in Munich. AxiTop was honored in the Material category for its combined energy savings, noise reduction and energy efficiency.

US production of Axial and RadiPac fan assemblies
Over the past decade, we’ve expanded our product portfolio into much larger dimensions. Ten years ago, a large ebm-papst fan was 500mm to 630mm in diameter. Now, we’re selling fans up to 1.5 meters in diameter that are used in large-scale refrigeration and ventilation applications.

To increase responsiveness to our NAR customer base, we began localizing production of our larger axial fans, which are typically used in condensers and chillers, and for our RadiPac backward curved impellers used in rooftop A/C units, computer room A/C units and other applications.

Localizing production of these fan models also helps us customize the venturi, housing, mounting and paint color specs to customers’ requirements, speed turnaround and further reduce our transport-related carbon footprint.

GreenTech in practice at our Farmington, CT production facility and offices
Last year, our production facility completed installation of a new large capacity powder paint application system complete with an automatic feed system and new spray guns. The guns allow for more even coating and better use of powder at lower air pressures – further reducing powder spray waste and improving paint quality. The new powder paint system’s dual cyclone technology feeds back (recycles) the 40% of powder that hits the parts and falls into the bottom of the paint booth – increasing our actual powder usage efficiency to about 95%. As a result, production has increased our powder spray efficiency, disposed of less scrap powder, achieved higher quality for painted parts, and significantly reduced color change times.

We also replaced all highbay lights in our production facility and warehouse, and all outdoor lighting around the plant with new energy efficient LED fixtures. Energy savings for this recent installation will be measured throughout 2014.

A comprehensive new high-efficiency 15-unit HVAC system with an average Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) rating of 12.0 is being installed to replace a circa-1999, 9.0 SEER-rated 200 ton cooling system on the roof of our US headquarters. Based on today’s energy rates, we expect that these new HVAC units will save the company 20% per year in electricity expense. To further boost efficiency, a sophisticated web-based control system will allow for in-house and remote monitoring. What’s more, the new HVAC units employ ebm-papst impellers!

by Liz Callaghan – Director of Customer Service & Logistics

As 2014 begins, we're continuing our GreenTech commitment to reduce our carbon footprint in all that we do. From packaging and shipping materials to logistics and customer service to lighting and equipment, here are just a few of the ways that ebm-papst makes good on our commitment to sustainability!

• We recently replaced all lighting in our warehouse with new LED lighting, which will significantly reduce our energy usage.

• Over the years we have gotten away from the use of chemically based InstaPak foam and moved toward the use of recyclable brown paper. 

• We recycle and reuse wooden skids for shipments.

• We save all small cardboard boxes and dividers, to reuse them again.

• We have reduced our paper consumption by emailing purchase order confirmations and customer invoices, rather than mailing a paper version.

• In our logistics center, we've replaced our older pallet scales with new state-of-the-art scales. The floor scales are not only more accurate, they're also saving energy!
  
  

• Our Logistics Center and Customer Service departments work with our customers to consolidate their shipments where possible. Bundling several orders together helps reduce the number of boxes and skids needed.

• Our Logistics Center is equipped with motion sensor lighting in all aisles, helping reduce electricity costs. 

• We continue to upgrade equipment, such as order pickers and forklifts, to more energy efficient models.

About Liz Callaghan
As Director of Customer Service and Logistics at ebm-papst, Liz Callaghan enjoys meeting in person the customers with whom she’s developed productive relationships over the past 17 years. Her responsibilities include warehouse logistics, international purchasing and inventory control. A constant learner, she leverages her diverse experiences to anticipate and address logistics issues in advance, ensuring the best possible service to prospective and current customers.

By Brian Ladegard- Director of Operations

In manufacturing, we have to anticipate and react to several challenges that arise when building
our products – product weight and required fastener torque are two of the most common.

Product Weight
Our products have become increasingly larger over the years, as our product range has expanded and our EC motors began to proliferate. We now work with parts that are much heavier than previous generations.
To avoid unnecessary injuries (such as back strain or pulled muscles) from product lifting, we researched, specified and installed many lift assist devices. These devices range from the simplest form of a Scissor Jack, whereby the product pallet can be raised off the floor to a more comfortable 32” working height, to more elaborate larger crane systems.

Generally, we use two main types of cranes – overhead bridge cranes and freestanding jib cranes. Overhead Bridge Cranes allow for mechanically assisted part lifting
and then movement from station to station in a work cell. Typically, this type of crane assists in moving product through 3-5 stations in succession. Freestanding Jib Cranes perform the same assisted lifting – but only do this in a small circular area around their base. Typically, we use jib cranes to pull parts out of boxes, put parts into boxes, or assist with lifting in a single work space. Both are designed to keep operators from becoming fatigued over a full shift of work.

Required Fastener Torque
The other related challenge is fastener torque. Along with our product sizes – the fasteners we use have also grown overtime. Generally, fastener torque is proportional to the size of the fastener. Torque is the twisting force required to install a specific fastener so that it tightens the mechanical joint and keeps it from separating.
The issue with torque is one of physics – for every force there is an equal and opposite force. So, when we use a pneumatic or electric screwdriver to apply this force, there is an equal and opposite reverse force felt by the person (or device) that is holding the screwdriver.  This is called a “torque reaction” or “break back torque”. If left unchecked, it can cause muscle damage, aches and soreness to operator wrists. So, whenever we use devices with higher torque values we employ an “ergo arm” or a “counterbalanced arm”. These arms are supplied by the makers of the screwdrivers and are designed to allow for free movement of the screw gun, while eliminating break back torque on the operator’s wrists. Typically, they also balance the physical weight of the tool – so operators can work for long periods using this tool with comfort.

About Brian Ladegard
A lifelong tinkerer with a passion for product engineering, ebm-papst Inc. Director of Operations Brian Ladegard draws his expertise from the variety of engineering and sales positions he has held at the company over the past 20 years. He’s managed ebm-papst operations since 1996, including manufacturing engineering, production planning, component purchasing, production/plant operations, building maintenance and external contractors. Brian also oversees the company’s MRP planning, inventory control, capacity planning, bar coding, shop floor control systems and strategic sourcing activities.

By Todd Cardillo, Market Manager - Industrial Markets

Generating wind and solar power presents an interesting challenge. As energy is generated, other power must be generated to help keep the whole process cool.

In the case of wind power, wind-turbine capacity continues to grow each year, with 6 to 10 megawatts (MW) on the horizon, key power generation components are needed to manage increasing heat within limited nacelle space. The generator, power-conversion electronics and transformers (inverter), gearbox unit, blade pitch motors and tower structure all need to be cooled within a wind-turbine nacelle. Each of these components requires different cooling needs. That’s where ebm-papst Inc.’s wide range of products comes in, Whether it is a small axial fan for blade pitch motor cooling or multiple large impellers to exhaust heat and pressurize an inverter, we provide innovative solutions.

Inverters: the heart of the system
While the infrastructure for solar applications is much less complex than that of the wind sector, there is still a need to convert DC power to AC with an inverter. As a main component in both wind power and photovoltaic (PV) systems, it is important that the inverter function properly to optimize system output. Factors that affect the life cycle of the inverter include:

• Operating temperatures, which are caused by power loads and ambient conditions

• Location of the inverter

• Time of year and day the inverter is operating

• Size of the wind turbine or solar array involved

Air movers are essential to mitigating heat and improving long-term reliability of wind power and photovoltaic systems. One of our key products, the GreenTech EC fan, provides the ability to remotely monitor operation via the Internet or a modem. All critical information, including speed, motor temperature and operating messages or alarms, can be monitored.

Click here for an overview of our cooling fans and blowers, and download our Alternative Energy brochure to learn more about the different air moving solutions we offer.

by Phil Hartman, Senior Director - Marketing, ebm-papst Inc.

With this year’s GreenDay theme of reducing and measuring CO2emissions we decided that one way to tackle this would be to leave some cars at home on June 5th.  This means carpooling, or getting to work by alternate transport such as cycling or on foot.  With enough participants, perhaps we could accumulate enough saved miles to make a dent in gas usage for a day. 

For me, cycling to work seemed like a good experiment since I don’t live too far from work.  A bike ride sounds easy, but before doing so I realized that a certain amount of thought had to be put into planning my route.  The most direct route (Rt 6) I normally take would put me together with cars driving at fairly high speeds in multiple lanes, going around curves, and over a small mountain; the good news is that the town recently painted bike lanes on Rt 6 where previously there were none.  On the other hand I could take a more indirect route using smaller back roads, but in many cases with no bike lanes and maybe more chances not to be seen by drivers.  In the end I decided to try my luck on the back roads to limit my exposure to high speed traffic and to avoid large intersections with multiple lanes to cross. 

I know from running that roads in the area aren’t always user-friendly to pedestrians and cyclists.  In some cases the roads either aren’t wide enough to comfortably accommodate a rider and traffic, and/or don’t have designated bike lanes, and/or the painted bike lane area is so tiny that it allows hardly any room for the runner or rider – an afterthought in road design not unlike fans sometimes being treated as an afterthought in system/cooling design!  Also there seems to be less control with cycling than with running in traffic.  While running, I face traffic and I can see what is coming at me, but with cycling the danger can be behind or perpendicular to you and you may not see danger coming - complicated by higher speeds achieved on a bike.  With either method you have to be very alert and try to be as visible as possible to drivers.  My bike ride to work opened my eyes even further to how much better roads could be designed if towns really wanted to support cycling.  There are Rails-To-Trails paths that go through Farmington which are perfect for cycling, but those paths are limited and were not useable for my commute to work from out of town.

After a very hot weekend, the morning of Green Day had perfect weather for biking to work.  While riding to work I noticed so much more detail about neighborhoods and the landscape than I do when driving.   As all cyclists and runners know, some drivers are more considerate than others when passing.  For my roundtrip, I have to say that most drivers were very accommodating and gave me adequate space when they passed.  I arrived to work energized and ready to go, and also enjoyed an invigorating ride home.

The result - I’m glad I ventured out on the bike to test the practicality of this method of transport.  I estimate that I saved approximately one gallon of gas, which may not seem like much but it all adds up especially over many people.  While cycling to work would not be practical for every day or year round commuting, there is no reason why I can’t find occasional days from spring through fall to ride to work on my bike.  It’s just a matter of planning and adjusting my schedule to make this possible, with the added benefit of reducing my carbon footprint.  If cycling to work does catch on within the company, we may have to build and install a bicycle rack to accommodate everyone – perhaps a new value added project for our manufacturing department?!

As a group using an alternative method of tranportation, we saved 275.5 miles = 12.8 gallons* of gas. And 0.114 metric tons of CO₂

*Based on an average fuel economy of 21.5 mpg, from the US EPA.

To celebrate Year Two of our global Every Day is a GreenDay initiative— and thank employees for their contributions to improving our environment — our Farmington, Conn. headquarters hosted an ice cream social in its central courtyard on a sunny, pleasant June 5.

ebm-papst facilities around the globe planned the day to coincide with the United Nation’s World Enviornment Day. Our Every Day is a GreenDay program is just one more example of our GreenTech philosophy and how we do business year round. 

ebm-papst Inc. employees enjoy a sunny afternoon break – ice cream included - in the company’s tranquil courtyard.

Employees receive gift bags with LED bulbs, a GreenTech sprayer and recipes to make environmentally friendly home cleaning solutions. 

Employees receive gift bags with LED bulbs, a GreenTech sprayer and recipes to make environmentally friendly home cleaning solutions.

Market Manager Tom Costello enjoys locally-sourced ice cream from the University of Connecticut Dairy Bar

Building on the launch of Every Day is a GreenDay last year, in May employees planted new trees around the ebm-papst campus, did a wetlands cleanup, brought paper to a company-wide shredding event and brought in their old electronics for recycling.

Joining the many employees who found ways to save energy on their commute by ride-sharing market manager Todd Cardillo powered his way in with a training run. Todd explains how he and his family are increasing their green activities at home:

Media Coordinator Julie Manning and her husband have been turning their home into an environmentally friendly haven, from recycling old kitchen cupboards for use in the garage, to installing energy-efficient appliances, to state-of-the-art, electricity-sipping lighting systems

Since the company launched its first GreenDay in 2012, Regional Sales Administrator Jessica Chaffin has taken new initiatives to save resources at home and work, including printing fewer documents (or only certain portions of a document), using both sides of a paper and consolidating customer shipments whenever possible.

Beginning this month, ebm-papst employees, partners and customers will be able to stay up to date on the company’s year-round GreenDay and GreenTech activities through the new GoGreen website, courtesy of Manager of Marketing and e-business Jamie Perkins, Marketing Assistant Meghan Finley and Media Coordinator Julie Manning.

Have an idea for our new GoGreen website? Contact us and let’s talk green!