Wieland Werke AG

Wieland at the Chillventa 2012: High-performance tubes for air conditioning and refrigeration

Chillventa, trade fair Nuremberg, 9 – 11 October 2012, Hall 6, Stand 210

At the Chillventa 2012, Wieland-Werke AG, Ulm/Germany, presents its range of versatile tubes for the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry. In line with Chillventa’s focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, the leading manufacturer of semi-finished products provides a wide range of products for industrial applications and technical building equipment under the Wieland Thermal Solutions brand. Products taking centre stage at the trade fair are microgroove, a very small inner-grooved tube from the cuprofin family of products, K65 tubes for high-pressure tube systems using the refrigerant CO2, GEWA high-performance tubes for shell-and-tube heat exchangers as well as Frigotec refrigeration tubes. Based on in-depth expertise in thermal engineering, the engineers of Wieland Thermal Solutions develop application- and customer-specific solutions and advise the customers regarding the implementation. For this purpose, in-house test rigs for heat-transfer tests are available. The high-quality tubes are mainly made of copper and copper alloys, stainless steel, carbon steel as well as titanium. In addition to the outstanding material properties, the specially optimised heat-transfer surfaces of Wieland copper tubes ensure maximum energy efficiency. Sophisticated surface geometries, for example, allow for a much more compact heat-exchanger design. Smaller tube diameters are an added contribution to higher energy- and cost efficiency. 

Higher efficiency with microgroove
A highlight at the Chillventa is Wieland’s branded inner-grooved cuprofin tubes. Copper is the material of choice for these tubes, as it exhibits very high thermal conductivity, good formability and corrosion resistance. The grooved inner surface increases the thermal efficiency of the tube, making it possible to achieve both maximum energy efficiency and compact heat-exchanger design. With microgroove, Wieland offers a cuprofin tube that has a particularly small outside diameter. In air-conditioning and refrigeration systems, the use of this tube significantly enhances heat-exchanger efficiency and leads to a substantial reduction in refrigerant volume. The amount of material required for the production of the heat exchanger can thus be considerably reduced which is why the trend is towards increasingly smaller tube diameters: microgroove tubes of only 5 mm in outside diameter have in the meantime established themselves in the market, with their heat transfer capacity far surpassing the industry standard. The cuprofin L10 tube is a new cuprofin product made of a corrosion-resistant copper-nickel alloy. This tube can, for example, be used for dry-expansion evaporators in seawater applications.

K65: High-strength alloy for CO2 applications
At the Chillventa, Wieland for the first time presents the system solution K65 for high-pressure applications consisting of copper tubes and the matching fittings. Based on a high-strength copper alloy, this system is suitable for applications operating at pressures of up to 120 bar, for example in heat pumps and industrial refrigeration systems. K65 is therefore particularly suitable for its use as a high-pressure tube system for the natural refrigerant CO2 . CO2 is increasingly being used for environmental protection and energy-efficiency reasons. Wieland K65 has a much higher thermal conductivity than stainless steel or aluminium and is characterised by superior processing properties comparable to those of pure copper. The material is therefore also particularly suitable for tubes used in fin coil heat exchangers. Compared to copper, the high strength of K65 makes a reduction in wall thickness and, consequently, in weight per metre by some 40 % possible.

Particularly clean: Frigotec
At the Chillventa, Wieland’s Austrian subsidiary Buntmetall Amstetten presents its seamless drawn Frigotec refrigeration tubes which are mainly used for transporting technical gases and refrigerants. Clean and dry inner surface as well as factory-closed ends are outstanding characteristics of the Frigotec tube. The product meets the requirements for air-conditioning and refrigeration as described in EN 12 735-1.

GEWA high-performance finned tubes – compact and economical 
In technical building equipment, energy efficiency and compact design are a particular challenge. GEWA high-performance finned tubes and specially optimised heat-transfer surfaces are a further highlight at the Chillventa. Wieland presents a wide range of tubes which, depending on the application, are made of copper and copper alloys, aluminium, carbon steel, stainless steel, duplex stainless steel and titanium. Due to their excellent heat transfer, the inner-grooved and outer-finned tubes are suitable for a large number of applications such as chillers, industrial heat pumps and heat recovery systems. Shell-and-tube evaporators and condensers with higher efficiency make it possible to achieve a higher coefficient of performance. Moreover, the amount of refrigerant can be reduced as a result of the compact design.

Safety through separation of media: GEWA-safe
GEWA-safe safety tubes are another highlight at the trade fair. GEWA-safe is based on a tube-in-tube solution. Channels between inner and outer tube make 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. GEWA-safe tubes are used wherever the risk of contamination with environmentally harmful and toxic substances has to be eliminated. Another application field is, for example, the protection of potable water according to DIN EN 1717 for heat pump systems.

Thermal engineering and refrigeration laboratories: testing and optimising products 
Wieland combines its proven production technology with development activities in thermal engineering. The company carries out tests regarding the evaporation and condensation of refrigerants – both processes are very important in air conditioning and refrigeration – using test rigs specially designed for this purpose. These tests can be conducted with almost all refrigerants such as R134a, R410A, R407C and R404A.

Further information:
Wieland-Werke AG
Karin Maier, Public Relations
Graf-Arco-Straße 36 - 89079 Ulm, Germany
Tel.   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
Tel.   0049 731-9628717 
Fax   0049 731-9628797
blu@press-n-relations.de
www.press-n-relations.de

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 products made of more than 100 different copper alloys are mainly used in the electrical and electronic industries. Other important sectors are the construction, automotive, air-conditioning and refrigeration industries as well as heating engineering and machine and apparatus construction. In cooperation with its customers, Wieland develops solutions for individual and industrial applications. The Wieland Group has more than 30 manufacturing companies, slitting centres and trading companies in Europe, Asia, South Africa and the USA. Wieland-Werke AG operates four plants in Ulm, Velbert-Langenberg, Villingen-Schwenningen and Vöhringen. Wieland’s branded copper tubes for domestic applications are manufactured in Germany at the Vöhringen (Bavaria) plant. The company’s R&D as well as production and sales are certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001. Moreover, the company has an accredited test and certification laboratory. The plants in Germany are certified according to the international environmental standard DIN EN ISO 14001. The largest production site in Vöhringen is validated according to the European environmental standard EMAS. The Wieland Group achieved a turnover of 3,287 million euros in the fiscal year 2010/2011 with sales quantities of 475,000 tons. The global workforce of the Wieland Group is approx. 6,500 strong of which over 4,000 are employed in Germany.