Dubai, UAE, 25 March, 2018: AMCA International is placing a lot more emphasis on the Middle East region, said Robb Clawson, Associate Director, Marketing and Communications, AMCA, against the backdrop of the ASHRAE Falcon Chapter Seminar on ‘Advancements in Ventilation System Efficiency and Specification’ on March 21. According to AMCA International, the seminar featured insights from AMCA international members on best practices in the region, as well as upcoming specifications.

Noman Qamar, Project and Technical Manager, Aldes Middle East, shared a presentation on Sand Louvre Sizing and Specifications and AMCA Certification, the association said. As a member of the AMCA Middle East steering committee, Qamar traced the move to develop a certified programme for sand trap louvres and sand removal efficiency, which began in November 2012 until its launch in 2016.

“[The] AMCA certification for sand trap louvres,” Qamar said, “is the new benchmark, because what you see in specifications are far from reality”. Qamar said that the following statement is used for specifying AMCA-certified sand louvres: “Sand louvre[s] shall be tested in accordance with AMCA standard 500-L and licensed to bear the AMCA certified ratings programme seal for air performance and wind-driven sand, in accordance with AMCA publication 511”. Another important point, Qamar said, is the AMCA seal.

Qamar emphasised that AMCA does not allow filters on the back side during testing. “Some manufacturers,” he said, “install bird mesh, a filter and do the testing and then they can achieve 80 or 90% efficiency, but AMCA does not allow anything, just the louvre itself because type of meshes [and] wire size can be different.”

Dipen Patel, Sales Manager Ventilation, Ziehl-Abegg Middle East, shared why Fan Efficiency Grade, as a standard, is becoming obsolete and provided an in-depth talk on Fan Energy Index (FEI). FEG, he said, was first introduced in AMCA standard 205 adapted by ASHRAE 90.1. “As the fan industry is evolving,” he said, “we learn and identify there’s a better matrix to define [the] efficiency of [a] fan”. FEG , he said, is concerned with fan shaft power while the FEI considers the complete system, including the motor and all the drives to operate the fan. More details, he said, can be found in AMCA standard 208. Patel also touched on how FEI will be used and projected requirements by different bodies, once rolled out.

Tanmoy Choudhury, R&D and Technical Manager, Maico Gulf, provided a presentation on Fan system effect and case studies with CFD simulation, touching on different fan types and its operating range, system effects, case studies and simulated report correlation, delving deeper into why fans that have been rated, fail to perform up to rating once installed in the system.

Clawson said that AMCA International has a number of projects in the pipeline, such as its system engineering and technology conference, which has been conducted in Europe and United States and is expected to be rolled out in the first quarter of 2019, in Dubai. Clawson said that AMCA international also aims to have more involvement in The Big 5. The biggest push to represent AMCA International’s interest in the region, Clawson said, is embodied by the presence of Mandar Agshikar, Director, Middle East, who is the face of AMCA in the region. Agshikar said: “We are working very closely with our members. If you see, it was not AMCA technical staff who presented here, it was members of AMCA. They are involved in this technical discussion and what happens inside AMCA. It’s about technology partnership, not just membership.”

Clawson added, “International is not just part of our name, it is something we want people to understand that we are.”

Hannah Jo Uy is Features Writer at Climate Control Middle East magazine. She may be contacted at hannah@cpi-industry.com