Retrofit measures reduce energy consumption in UK airport by 58%

Mulfingen, Germany, 18 March 2018: After an emergency retrofit measure of the air-handling unit (AHU) fans, the energy consumption in Birmingham Airport, United Kingdom, has been reduced by 58%, said Kurt Bruns, Project Engineer, ebm-papst.

Sharing details of the project, Bruns said: “In February 2017, the motor of the AHUs double axial fan broke down, which resulted in the shutdown of the entire air conditioning system servicing the check-in area of the airport. The airport authorities roped in Munters, who took our help.”

Bruns added that owing to the massive size of the fan, it was recommended not to replace it, but instead, retrofit the system with a new FanGrid design with five electronically commutated RadiPac fans. Such a solution, he said, would not only save energy, but also prevent system failures. “If one fan were to fail, the remaining four could increase their speed, compensate for the loss and continue to deliver the desired air volume,” he said.

Bruns further added that with the compact size of the solution, the FanGrid units could be easily replaced if required, and even effectively controlled. Highlighting the results of the project, he said, “The retrofit measure helped Birmingham Airport to reduce their energy consumption by 58%, with the power consumption being reduced from 24 kW to 6.4 kW.”