What owls have in common with sea creatures
The Künzelsau fan manufacturer ZIEHL-ABEGG has fundamentally revised its top seller among axial fans, the ZAplus, and in doing so has also relied on examples from nature.
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"The sound emission and the energy consumption are noticeably reduced", says Dr. Sascha Klett about the further development of the ZAplus top seller among axial fans. The head of development at Künzelsau fan manufacturer ZIEHL-ABEGG explains the benefits for building planners and developers: "In many cases, this eliminates the need for additional sound insulation and noise limits can be met." This will please supermarket operators just as much as operators of systems with recoolers in industry.
The further development will also be presented at HANNOVER MESSE 2023. In this context, Klett emphasises that the improvements actually deserve the term "new development". Because the changes are more of a fundamental nature. As with other solutions before, the Künzelsau developers have once again relied on role models in nature and technically implemented several bionic aspects.
"We reduce the noise by up to four decibels (A)," emphasises board member Klett. For comparison: six decibels (A) is a doubling of the noise. This is achieved with a further development of the well-known bionic fan blade, which is serrated at the trailing edge. This element was copied from the extremely quiet flying owl and technically implemented. What is new is that the leading edge is now also slightly wavy. "Marine creatures served as a model for us," explains Klett. This wavy leading edge changes the separation of the airflow from the rotor blade: the air is moved in a controlled manner for longer. The usual guide wheel for further targeted treatment of the airflow (keyword: throwing distance) has also been refined: 18 struts instead of the usual eleven form the reduced guide wheel. And the intermediate ring has again been bionically optimised, i.e. also corrugated at the trailing edge. "This is directly noticeable in the noise reduction," Klett emphasises.
Technicians, meanwhile, will be amazed at the installation dimensions: the outer dimensions remain standard (1070 millimetres), but the inner diameter has been increased from 910 to 960 millimetres. And there is another change: the rotor and blades previously produced in full aluminium are now replaced by a rotor in aluminium and blades made of high-strength plastic. According to Ziehl-Abegg, measurements in a first customer unit have shown an energy saving of nine percent. Series production will start next summer. Sampling of customers with ZAplus 960 Next Generation is currently underway. ZIEHL-ABEGG has also announced further sizes of ZAplus Next Generation.
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