Sustainable Technologies Demo Center focuses on green systems

The United Association (UA), a multi-craft union, representing plumbers, pipefitters, sprinkler fitters and HVACR service technicians throughout North America, will be showcasing its Sustainable Technologies Demonstration Training Trailer at the 2011 AHR Expo in Las Vegas, which will be held from January 31 to February 2.

According to UA, the trailer, designed to highlight sustainable systems that could be included in a USGBC LEED Green Building Certification System Platinum Rated Building, is fully functional and interactive. AHR Expo attendees can, therefore, experience the system’s installation and operation. Green HVACR, plumbing, fire prevention and energy systems are all featured in the Demo Center, UA added.

It has listed the following specific sustainable technologies that will be demonstrated within the trailer:

• Solar-energy production and storage
• Solar-water heating
• Radiant floor heating system
• Radiant ceiling heating and cooling system
• Geo-thermal heat pump system
• Heat pump water pre-heat system
• Air-purification system
• Desiccant low-humidity system
• Package terminal air conditioner – zone cooling system
• Energy-efficient appliances
• High-efficiency/low-flow plumbing fixtures and faucets – residential and commercial
• Grey-water system
• Rainwater catchment system
• Fire-prevention mist system
• Green building design display
• High-efficiency HVAC motor display

Since the time it was created, almost two years ago, the Demonstration Trailer has visited nearly three dozen states and trained over 2,000 professionals as part of UA’s Green Awareness Training Programme. The trailer has been utilised throughout North America by the UA and has been seen by over 40,000 individuals at various industry events.

Commenting on the trailer, Clay Stevens, President of International Exposition Company (IEC), said: “The UA Sustainable Technologies Demonstration Center will be a valuable addition to the Show. Visitors to AHR Expo will find a wealth of sustainable and energy efficient resources, both on the show floor and in the conference programme.” IEC produces and manages the AHR EXPO.

Stevens added that many exhibitors would be showcasing sustainable products and technologies, including, solar, geothermal, radiant heating and cooling. The event is expected to attract over 1,800 exhibitors from around the world, showcasing innovative new products to over 45,000 attendees and exhibitor personnel.

Highlights their efficacy at Chillventa through a lecture

According to its announcement, Eurammon, the European initiative for natural refrigerants, informed visitors about the environmentally friendly and energy-efficient properties of natural refrigerants and possible areas of application in refrigeration and air conditioning technology, at this year’s Chillventa via lecture presentations.

In the course of the Eurammon lectures titled, Applications with natural refrigerants – country situation and experiences, international experts illustrated the current situation in the use of natural refrigerants, both in the industry and in emerging and developing countries, Eurammon reported. According to it, the presentations demonstrated how the introduction and use of natural refrigerants is affected by general economic conditions and also by efficient initial and advanced training programmes.

The Chillventa presentations can be downloaded at the Eurammon homepage www.eurammon.com.

Claims HG34 CO2 T especially designed for CO2 applications

Touting its theme of “responsible refrigeration”, Bock presented environmentally-friendly refrigeration and air conditioning systems at Chillventa. Held from October 13 to 15 at Nuremberg, the event reportedly attracted a record number of 880 exhibitors and 29,000 visitors.

According to the announcement by Bock, it unveiled efficiency-optimised solutions for different application, such as HC-compressors, to be used with hydrocarbons and ATEX-compressors for use in explosion risk areas. With this as its focus, Bock claimed that it underlined the general theme of the Chillventa – energy efficiency and natural refrigerants.

Bock said that it also presented, for the first time, its new model HG34 CO2 T – a compressor especially meant for transcritical CO2 applications.

According to Bock, the compressor has been designed for higher efficiency of the motor, the valve system and gas flow. With the automatic adaptation of the capacity of the compressor to its current requirements, the system reduces energy consumption by 25% or more, claimed Bock.

Apart from this, another highlight of the its product range was its semi-hermetic efficiency optimised compressors of the Bock e-series, claimed the manufacturer.

In this context, Bock’s Manager and Chairman of the Chillventa Exhibition Committee, said: “The Chillventa 2010 was a great success for exhibitors around the world. We had the right kind of visitors at the booths and very qualified discussions. The atmosphere at the Chillventa is trendsetting for the industry.”

Flow Control magazine recognises Flowserve for product innovation

According to Flowserve, a provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets, it has been named a 2010 Flow Control Innovation Awards winner. Its ISC2 Series Cartridge Mechanical Seal was honoured in the containment award category.

The Flow Control Innovation Awards programme is an annual competition designed to honour the year’s most innovative fluid handling technologies, instituted by Flow Control magazine. Its editors nominated the ISC2 Series in June 2010. Readers were asked to vote for up to five of their favourite products in order to choose the winners, which were announced in the September 2010 issue of Flow Control.

Against the backdrop of winning the award, Tom Ferguson, President, Flow Solutions Group, said: “Flowserve is pleased to be recognised for ISC2 sealing technology, which is a truly innovative, universal seal design. The ISC2 seal is an example of our commitment to provide world-class services and solutions to our customers. We are extremely proud that the readers of Flow Control magazine have recognised us for this accomplishment.”

According to Flow Control magazine, readers were impressed with the ISC2 seal’s innovative features. Readers said:

“The thermal management features of this cartridge mechanical seal are particularly innovative.”

“The product has operated for more than one year in a very harsh environment without leakage.”

“The ability to dissipate the heat away from the seal faces should help increase overall seal life.”

Flowserve explained that ISC2 Series is a family of standard cartridge mechanical seals, designed to meet international standards and fit pump models from global manufacturers across a variety of industries and applications. It claimed that ISC2 seals feature patent-pending thermal management technology and are designed to tolerate short-term dry-run events without overheating, increasing reliability and preventing a common cause of leakage. Dual seals offer enhanced barrier fluid circulation for a high-flow rate and cool running, and single seals include a sizable throttle bushing to help protect against leaks, it added.

According to Flowserve, ISC2 seals are available in a wide range of corrosion-resistant alloys seal face materials, and secondary seals for chemical resistance in most chemical and industrial services. It is available in single pusher, single bellows, dual pusher or dual bellows designs, which enable users to select the optimal design based on the requirements of the application.

Radiant chilled ceilings allow energy-efficient cooling, claim architects

SAS International has announced supplying over 2,000m² of System 330 metal ceilings, incorporating a radiant chilled ceiling solution to Europe’s largest Audi showroom in West London. The ceilings were installed in the three showroom floors situated on the ground, mezzanine and first floors, reported SAS.

According to SAS, Radiant chilled ceilings were chosen not only to provide comfort cooling to large areas of the three dedicated car showroom floors but also because they require minimal maintenance, which is essential in a retail environment, as it can reduce downtime.

Speaking about the finer details of architecture, Sebastien Ricard, Associate Director at Wilkinson Eyre Architects, commented: “The showroom at the West London Audi Building is a dynamic double-height space, minimalist in its palette of colours and materials. The SAS metal ceiling system used follows the same minimalist design logic – flush with an integrated chilled panel system, tapered tiles follow the form of the space and the ceiling, creating a beautifully flat and light surface, allowing energy-efficient cooling.”

Claims that new material will double insulating performance, and reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions

Bayer MaterialScience has said that it is working on the development of polyurethane nanofoams that could lead to, what it claims to be, a quantum leap in thermal insulation performance, several years down the road.

The company said in an announcement that it is focusing its efforts on microemulsions, which react under supercritical conditions (Principle of Supercritical Microemulsion Expansion, POSME) to form polyurethane rigid foams. The aim is to produce rigid foams with pore sizes of less than 150 nanometers in diameter, the announcement said.

Explaining the finer points, Dr Stefan Lindner, a polyurethane rigid foam specialist at Bayer MaterialScience, said:

“Nanofoams of this kind achieve twice the thermal insulation performance of today’s polyurethane foams, meaning that they could, for example, significantly reduce the energy consumption of refrigeration appliances and, in turn, make a major contribution to reducing CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the walls of these appliances could be of thinner design, resulting in more storage space for refrigerated goods.”

According to the announcement, the company is partnering on this research project with Prof Reinhard Strey from the University of Cologne’s Institute of Physical Chemistry, who has applied for a patent on the POSME process. It further added that as part of the collaboration, his working group is engaged in optimising the characteristics of the microemulsions.

Saying that today’s polyurethane rigid foams typically have pore sizes of roughly 150 micrometers, which exceeds the pore size of nanofoams planned for the future by a factor of approximately 1,000, Bayer MaterialScience elaborated that the thermal insulation performance of a polyurethane rigid foam depends chiefly on the size of the foam pores. The smaller the diameter, the lower the thermal conductivity and the better the insulating effect.

To synthesise a nanofoam using the POSME method, carbon dioxide (CO2) and the liquid polyurethane raw materials (polyol and isocyanate) are mixed with the help of special surfactants at a pressure of 200 bar to form a microemulsion consisting of nanometer-sized droplets filled with CO2 and encapsulated in surfactants, said the company. The pressure is then reduced, causing the CO2 to expand and the droplets to become bubbles, still in the nanometer range. At the same time, the polyurethane raw materials react to form a 3D polymer network that is a rigid polyurethane foam.

“One of the trickiest challenges we face is to optimally coordinate the reaction of the polyurethane raw materials with the expansion of the CO2 bubbles by carefully fine-tuning the processing parameters so that nanopores of the targeted diameter result,” explained Lindner. “It’s no easy task,” he admitted.

Dr Wolfgang Friederichs, Head of Global Product Research at Bayer MaterialScience added, “It is likely to take several more years before these challenges are overcome.”

According to a press release by Aldar Properties, dated November 1, the company’s CEO, John Bullough, has announced his long-planned retirement from the company. The announcement said that his replacement would be announced following a board meeting which was scheduled to take place on November 8 and a further announcement would be made at the stage. The announcement, in this regard, is awaited.

For the first time features a B2B matchmaking exercise

Mohammad Al Hussaini

Saudi Build 2010 and Saudi Stone-Tech 2010, claimed to be the biggest business-to-business construction and stone technology event in the region, have recently concluded with 18,000 visitors and 900 exhibitors from 35 countries taking part in it, said an announcement. The four-day event, held at the Riyadh International Exhibition Centre, reaffirmed the status of Saudi Build & Saudi Stone-Tech as the Middle East’s premier construction technology and building material exhibition, while reinforcing the position of Saudi Arabia as a lucrative business destination of leading suppliers and solution providers in the global construction sector, it added.

Saudi Build 2010 – the 22nd International Construction Technology and Building Materials Exhibition, covered the full range of industry topics related to construction material and equipment, air conditioning, electrical, mechanical and civil engineering, concrete and steel technologies, and “green” construction technologies, the organisers said. It also featured The PMV Series 2010, the international exhibition for construction equipment, plant, machinery and vehicles.

Concurrently held, Saudi Stone-Tech 2010, the 13th International Stone and Stone Technology Show, showcased products ranging from marble slabs to mosaics as well as computerised stone-cutting, quarrying and polishing machinery and equipment.

Held under the patronage of HRH Prince Dr Mansour Bin Miteb Bin Abdulaziz, the Minister of Municipal & Rural Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Build/Stone 2010 was inaugurated by Prince Dr Abdul Aziz Bin Ayaf Al-Muqrin. The event featured for the first time a B2B matchmaking exercise, which allowed companies to network with more than 50 industry peers from Europe and Australia, said the organisers claimed.

Prince Dr Abdul Aziz Bin Ayaf Al-Muqrin inaugurates Saudi Build 2010

Commenting on the event, Mohammed Al Hussaini, Deputy General Manager, Riyadh Exhibitions Company, said: “The remarkable success of Saudi Build 2010 has reaffirmed its position as the premier platform that supports the sustainable growth of the region’s construction industry. The business-to-business matchmaking initiative, in particular, was widely appreciated along with the various innovations we have introduced this year. This year’s edition has certainly opened new opportunities and possibilities for local, regional and global industry players, who are now looking forward to take advantage of excellent business networking opportunities of the next edition of Saudi Build/Stone in 2011.”

Giovanni Luca Atena, head of the Italian pavilion, added: “A total of 47 Italian companies participated at the event, including 16 that are under the Italian Trade Commission. I believe that the strong participation of Italian companies manifests a growing focus on Saudi Arabia as an attractive and lucrative market and investment destination.”

Event to target billion-dollar investments in infrastructure projects and machinery

The events arm of CPI, Dubai-based publisher of this magazine, along with other trade and corporate-centric titles, will host Saudi Construction Show 2011, the region’s largest exhibition aimed at the Middle East construction machinery industry in Riyadh, in March 2011. The event will see the region’s leading construction players come together while exhibitors showcase the largest range of construction machinery, equipment, building material machines, vehicles services and technologies available in the Kingdom and the industry.

The show is scheduled to take place in Riyadh from March 21 to 25, 2011. It is expected to attract more than 80% of the Kingdom’s machinery distributors and a large percentage of construction suppliers. More than 5,000 key visitors are estimated to attend the show, which will include a series of conferences, workshops, demonstrations as well as auctions. The event, the first of its magnitude in the Kingdom, will be inaugurated by senior dignitaries from the Saudi Arabian Government.

The event area, spread over 50,000 square metres will be split into five sections:

• Construction machinery and vehicles
• Building equipment and tools
• Building material machines
• Formwork & scaffolding
• Spare parts and fluid equipment

The organisers believe that with over 10 media partners on board, it will give the event and the exhibitors valuable exposure.

“As the fastest growing economy in the GCC, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is on its way to being recognised as one the world’s major investment centres, commented Raz Islam, Sales Director, Saudi Construction 2011 Show. “This growth has, in turn, fuelled several construction projects in the country.

“While the rest of the world struggles to come to terms with the effects of the global recession, Saudi Arabia has remained relatively unscathed, with only one per cent of construction projects delayed. The Saudi Construction Show takes place at a time when hundreds of billions of dollars are being invested in construction projects across the Kingdom.”

According to the organisers, the event will witness a diverse range of exhibitors from tire companies to lubricant manufactures, and from lighting firms to generator businesses. They elaborated that the event, dedicated to the machinery sector, will prove invaluable for customers from across the GCC and further afield.

www.saudiconstruction2011.com, a dedicated web site, has been developed to provide further details. You can also contact Raz Islam, Sales Director, CPI Ltd on +971 4 375 5681, or at raz@saudiconstruction2011.com.

Will provide a forum to discuss latest technologies, best practices and cost and sustainability benefits of district cooling

The Ministry of Electricity and Water, Kuwait, will be organising the Kuwait District Cooling Summit on January 25 and 26, 2011, at the Radisson Blu Hotel, a Ministry announcement has stated. The event will be held under the patronage of H E Dr Bader Al-Shuraiaan, Minister of Electricity and Water. The summit aims to bring together industry practitioners for sharing and discussing the contemporary issues as well as the opportunities and challenges of the region’s district cooling market.

Explaining the rationale behind the event, the announcement said: “For a country that holds around 10% of global oil reserves, it may be difficult to believe that Kuwait faces domestic power concerns. The nation has one of the world’s highest per capita consumption rates of electricity. And during the summer months, when temperatures hover around 50°C, it is estimated that around 70% of energy is consumed by air conditioning units. Because air conditioning is a necessity, and places a heavy burden on the electricity supply, the introduction of district cooling that provides cooling from a central location to various other locations has been introduced as an alternative.

It went on to list the advantages of district cooling as an alternative: the district cooling system is a considerably more cost-efficient alternative to conventional air conditioning units and air-cooled chiller systems. It is estimated that chiller plants account for up to 60% of electricity usage in large buildings. With a district cooling system, building owners can reduce electricity usage substantially. Additionally, there are cost savings and other benefits from reduced maintenance, enhanced efficiency and reliability, space savings, flexibility of air conditioning load and a plant life that is twice that of traditional plants.

According to the organisers, the two-day event will be a forum for senior level decision-makers, engineers, project managers, regional and international experts and industry leaders to discuss the latest technologies, best practices and cost and sustainability benefits of district cooling. It will also provide all concerned stakeholders with an opportunity to meet and network.

The organisers added that the summit would benefit new mega cities projects, urban redevelopment projects, high-rise buildings, ministries, government and municipal facilities, shopping mall owners, schools, universities, and medical centres and master planned communities.