Wieland Werke AG

Wieland Thermal Solutions at the Mostra Convegno: Highest standards for energy efficiency, safety and service

Mostra Convegno Expocomfort Trade Fair Milan, Italy, 18 to 21 March 2014, Hall 24, Stand R12

Wieland-Werke AG, Ulm, is presenting its versatile tube products for air conditioning, refrigeration and heating at this year’s Mostra Convegno Expocomfort, the Milan trade fair for heating, refrigeration, ventilation and air conditioning. Concentrating on energy efficiency and renewable energy technology, the leading manufacturer of semi-finished products offers a wide range of products for industrial applications under the Wieland Thermal Solutions brand. The premium manufacturer’s focus at the trade fair is on K65 tubes for high-pressure piping systems as well as on the manufacture of heat exchangers, e.g. for the refrigerant CO2. Other products on display are inner-grooved industrial tubes, GEWA-safe safety tubes, WRKS heat exchangers for heat pumps as well as cooling coils for solid-fuel boilers. On 20 March 2014, a so-called "K65 theme day”, Wieland employees as well as experts from the cooperation partner IBP will be available to answer questions. 

As one of the world’s leading manufacturers of copper and copper-alloy semi-finished products, Wieland develops high-quality products for air-conditioning, refrigeration and heating applications under the brand name Wieland Thermal Solutions meeting particularly high standards in terms of comfort, efficiency and sustainability. The use of finned tubes with optimised tube geometries enables a compact and more cost-efficient design of heat exchangers that require less refrigerant. With small tube diameters of only 5 mm, Wieland-microgroove sets a new standard for higher energy- and cost efficiency. With the alloy K65, Wieland has created a solution for the environmentally-friendly refrigerant CO2. Efficient drinking-water protection enables water heating with safety tubes and the use of the WRKS heat exchanger in heat pumps results in peak COP values.

K65: High-strength alloy for CO2 applications
Wieland-K65 is characterised by high pressure resistance and also good formability. As K65 system solution for high-pressure applications, consisting of copper tubes and the suitable fittings, this system is suitable for applications with operating pressures of up to 120 bar, for example in heat pumps and industrial refrigeration systems. K65, therefore, particularly lends itself to the use in high-pressure piping systems, e.g. for the natural refrigerant CO2 which is increasingly gaining acceptance for reasons of environmental protection and energy efficiency. Wieland K65 exhibits a much higher thermal conductivity than stainless steel or aluminium and offers superior processing properties. K65 is, therefore, also particularly suitable as tube material for the manufacture of fin coil heat exchangers. The high strength of the material allows a reduction in wall thickness and, consequently, weight per metre by approx. 40 percent compared to copper. Demand for the K65 tubes, available as system solution in the market for two years, has meanwhile increased to such an extent that the manufacturer was hardly able to meet the demand in autumn 2013. Questions regarding the product and service will be answered by experts from Wieland Thermal Solutions and IBP on 20 March 2014, the "K65 theme day”.

Higher efficiency with microgroove
One of the products taking centre stage at the Mostra Convegno is the branded inner-grooved cuprofin tube from Wieland. For this application, copper is the material of choice. It is characterised by particularly high thermal conductivity, good formability and corrosion resistance. The inner-grooved inside surface considerably increases the heat transfer of the tubes. This results in maximum energy efficiency and makes a compact design of the heat exchangers possible. With microgroove, Wieland offers an inner-grooved tube that has a particularly small outside diameter. For air-conditioning and refrigeration systems this means an increased efficiency of heat exchangers and a considerable reduction in refrigerant volume. Since this leads to a significant reduction in material needed for the heat exchanger, the trend is towards increasingly smaller tube diameters: microgroove tubes of only 5 mm in outside diameter have in the meantime set a new standard that is being received in the market with growing interest. The heat transfer related to the copper weight of the Wieland microgroove tubes far exceeds the industry standard. A new product of the cuprofin product range is inner-grooved tubes made of a seawater-resistant copper-nickel alloy. The cuprofin L10 tube is, for example, used in dry expansion evaporators for marine applications.

GEWA-safe: safety through reliable medium separation
GEWA-safe safety tubes are another highlight at the trade fair. These tubes are based on a tube-in-tube solution. Channels between inner and outer tube make an easy control of the leakage gap possible. The good metallic contact of the two tubes results in excellent heat transfer without additional heat transfer fluid such as heat transfer oil. GEWA-safe tubes are used whenever the risk of contamination with environmentally harmful and toxic substances needs to be prevented. Another application field is drinking-water protection according to DIN EN 1717 and DIN 1988-100, e.g. for direct condensation or specific district heating systems.
WRKS heat exchangers: drinking-water protection with peak energy efficiency values
Drinking-water heat pumps with double-wall heat exchanger copper tubes from Wieland reach peak COP values and have for a long time already been meeting the requirements of the EU Drinking Water Directive in force since December 2013. In the heating of drinking water through the heat pump, a compact WRKS heat exchanger with GEWA-safe safety tubes is directly installed in the drinking-water storage tank. This type of direct condensation in the storage tank is the most efficient way of heat transfer, requiring far less refrigerant. The hot gaseous refrigerant condenses directly in the tube or the drinking-water storage tank and enables almost loss-free energy transfer. Moreover, the system’s energy efficiency is increased because the double-tube solution makes a second heating circuit unnecessary. The COP values thus achieved for air/water monoblock heat pumps of 3.0 and more are among the best energy efficiency values in the industry.

Safety heat exchangers for solid-fuel boilers: robust and quiet
Safety heat exchangers made of finned copper tubes are a compact and efficient solution for cooling coils for solid-fuel boilers. As a result of the large heat transfer surface of the finned GEWA-D tubes, the required heat transfer is possible on a shorter tube length and the safety heat exchanger requires less space in the solid-fuel boiler or open fire place back boiler. In addition, the fins of the tube lead to higher stability. Therefore, these heat exchangers are characterised by high levels of design flexibility as well as rigidity. The design can be individually adjusted to the installation space of the solid-fuel boiler and enables top performance in a small space. Safety heat exchangers feature a stable design and withstand the vibrations of the boiler, thus preventing unwanted operating noises. 

Further information: 
Wieland-Werke AG 
Karin Maier, Press Contact 
Graf-Arco-Straße 36  - 89079 Ulm, Germany
Phone: 0049 731-944-2663  
Fax: 0049 731-944-42663 
karin.maier@wieland.de
www.wieland.de

Public relations: 
Press’n’Relations GmbH 
Bruno Lukas  Magirusstraße 33
89077 Ulm, Germany
Phone: 0049 731-9628717 
Fax: 0049 731-9628797 
blu@press-n-relations.de
www.press-n-relations.de

For more information go to www.wieland-thermalsolutions.de.

Background information
Wieland Thermal Solutions is a brand of the Wieland Group and offers a wide range of industry- as well as customer-specific thermal engineering solutions based on in-house research and development. Wieland Thermal Solutions addresses the market segments heating, air conditioning and refrigeration, process technology as well as mechanical and plant engineering. High-quality Wieland products such as inner-grooved and outer-finned tubes, heat exchangers and plain tubes enable the realisation of sophisticated technical solutions for industrial applications. In addition to copper and copper alloys, materials such as aluminium, steel, stainless steel and titanium are used for these products.
The Wieland Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of semi-finished and special products in copper and copper alloys such as strip, sheet, tube, rod, wire and sections as well as slide bearings, finned tubes and heat exchangers. The Wieland Group has more than 30 manufacturing companies, slitting centres and trading companies in Europe, Asia, South Africa and the USA. The Wieland Group achieved a turnover of about 2,837 million euros in the fiscal year 2012/2013 with sales quantities of 449,000 tons. Wieland’s global workforce is approx. 6,700 strong of which over 4,000 are employed in Germany.