VAHTERUS NEWS 3/2012

NEW!

Introduced at CHILLVENTA 2012

exhibitionp. 12

VAHTERUS REFRIGERATION PRODUCTS ARE

GAINING GROUND p. 13

VAHTERUS NEWS 3/2012

Dear Partner

Publisher Vahterus Oy

Editor in ChiefElina Ahola

Lay-outMainostoimisto Tekokuu

Interviews Elina Ahola

Press Euraprint

On the cover Mr. Hideyo Asano

Mayekawa Mfg Co., Ltd

Vahterus OyPruukintie 7

FI-23600 KalantiFINLAND

Tel.: + 358 2 840 70sales@vahterus.com

Vahterus Americas, LLCPO Box 77264

CharlotteNC 28271

USATel.: +1 704 846 5050

sales.americas@vahterus.com

Vahterus Deutschland GmbHMagnolienweg 26

63741 AschaffenburgGERMANY

Tel.: +49 6021 181 700webmaster@vahterus.de

Vahterus Heat Exchangers Shanghai Co. Ltd

Room 816, Enterprise SquareMei Yuan Road 228, Zha Bei District

200070 ShanghaiCHINA

Tel.: +86 21 638 00848*113sales_china@vahterus.com

Vahterus (UK) Ltd12-14 Derby Road

MelbourneDerbyshire DE73 8FE

UKTel.: +44 1332 863175

vahterus.uk@vahterus.com

More news and articles can be found at www.vahterus.com

VAHTERUS&TODAY

Thanks to our customers that this year has gone according to plan and we have experienced strong growth. The economic problems in Europe have not been refl ected in Vahterus’ daily operations. I believe that the development towards the end of the year will be similar to that which we experienced in the beginning of the year, and the activity in the fi eld will continue to improve.

It is important that we are aware of all issues and respond to the customers’ needs in a more e� cient and varied manner. This is what we will do. Together.

VAHTERUS&DEVELOPMENT

Heat exchanger applications in refrigeration are one of the important uses of Vahterus Plate & Shell heat exchangers in terms of evaporators, condensers and oil coolers. We have taken important development steps in Plate & Shell product appli-cations especially regarding heat pumps, where high pressure use and a compact size are important selection criteria. The fully welded heat exchanger structure has major benefi ts both in terms of operating life and overall economy.

Vahterus is also a pioneer in producing fl ooded evaporators. Droplet separation and evaporation can be combined in the same pressure vessel. This innovation is called Vahterus Combined. The improved version is featured in this magazine and will be introduced in more detail at the Chillventa fair in Nuremberg in October.

Production development continues to be strong. We have made a decision to build a new laser technology based cutting line. This technology will speed up the cutting of larger plates, and the cutting and welding quality will also improve. Building of a new 1.400 m2 industrial hall for this purpose is already under way. The hall will be named, as is our custom, after a neighbouring village Kytämäki. We already have buildings called Lahti, Santtio, Kuuantaka, Arvassalo, Puttaa, Vellua and Vahterus as well as the Häähä research laboratory.

VAHTERUS&VAKKA-SUOMI

We usually tell you, dear readers, about other activities in our area. In this mag-azine we will introduce Valmet Automotive, a local car manufacturing company, which has for decades promoted Finnish industrial expertise. Not long ago, we received great news when Valmet Automotive and Mercedes-Benz entered into an agreement about assembling the A-Class in Uusikaupunki. The agreement will considerably increase economic activity in the area and boost the confi dence in the competitiveness of Finnish expertise. We would like to congratulate both parties.

60 YEARSWhen we started Vahterus, I was still in my

thirties. How time fl ies! I would like to thank you all: our customers, Hot&Cold readers and of course our own personnel. Smooth cooperation has been of great importance during all these many years, and especially this year when I celebrated my 60th birthday in August, a great milestone. I was pleasantly surprised and very grateful to everyone for remembering me on my birthday. Celebrating together makes life more enjoyable and after-wards it is easier to get back to work.

Let ’s move forward and be creative together!

Mauri KontuManaging Director

3

MADE BY VACKAFINNAR

SINCE THE MIDDLE AGES SOUTHWEST FINLAND HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT CENTER

OF INTERNATIONALITY, TRADE AND INDUSTRY. IN THESE PAGES WE WILL TELL MORE

ABOUT PRESENT PHENOMENA, COMPANIES AND INNOVATIONS OF THIS REGION.

Valmet Automotive, established in 1969, is an experienced supplier of design and manu-facturing services for the automotive industry. It is one of the leading manufacturers of electric and hybrid cars like Fisker Karma, and quality specialist cars such as Porsche sports cars. The headquarters of the strongly internationalised Valmet Automotive are located in Uusikaupunki, less than 10 km from Vahterus company.

The vehicle parts supply network was vir-tually created out of nothing and even though material suppliers are located around the world, the company still uses local expertise in both parts delivery and di� erent kinds of support services.

According to its new strategy, in addition to assembling, Valmet Automotive has strength-ened its design services and component man-ufacturing, and expanded its services and operations worldwide.

Business strategies include manufacturing and engineering services, roof systems for con-vertibles and business operations services. As a result, automotive industry customers get all services from design to manufacturing from the same source.

The roof business units are located in Osna-brück in Germany and .ary in Poland. The company also has o� ces in Espoo, Finland, and Gothenburg, Sweden as well as units in Shanghai, China and Detroit in the United States.

”We have had to extend our areas of exper-tise, which means getting closer to the cus-tomer,” says Teija Åhlman, Vice-President Communications.

Valmet Automotive has about 1.700 employees, more than half of whom work in Finland. Åhlman praises the car manufac-turing specialists in Uusikaupunki who have been applauded for example by the American Fisker Automotive.

”Finnish working culture is unique. Employees are innovative. When they tell you they have spotted a problem in the manufacturing process, they can usually also o� er a solution.”

The main product of the Uusikaupunki fac-tory is the Fisker Karma, which is a luxury electric hybrid sports car contracted by Fisker Automo-tive of United States. The production of Karma began in the spring

of 2011, and their sales in the United States fol-lowed in late 2011. The car was launched in Europe and Asia last spring.

At present, the production volume is 25 cars a day, but the volume can be increased according to the demand as Fisker Karma continues to conquer the world.

”Valmet Automotive strongly invests in technology. The production equipment of the welding workshop, paintshop and assembly represent the latest technology in the fi eld,” says Åhlman.

“Our design services are also growing fast and already comprise about a fi fth of the com-pany’s turnover.”

During more than 40 years of operations, 1.1 million high quality cars have been manu-factured in the factory and delivered around the world. They include certain models of Saab, Talbot Chrysler, Opel Calibra and Euro-Samara. A total of 228.000 Porsche Boxster and Porsche Cayman sports cars were also produced for Por-sche AG between 1997 and 2011.

VALMET AUTOMOTIVE – THE FORERUNNER

OF ELECTRIC AND HYBRID CARS

services from design to manufacturing from the same source.

spring

4

VAHTERUS NEWS 3/2012

One of Valmet Automotive’s central areas of expertise is manufacturing convertibles. The company manufactured all fi rst and second gen-eration Saab convertibles, and the Porsche Box-ster became another success story. Every third car manufactured in Uusikaupunki has been a convertible.

The company’s internationalisation has its

Expert in convertiblesroots in the 1980s when Valmet Automotive had the exclusive right in the world to manufacture Saab convertibles. A reputation for expertise and quality spread throughout the car industry.

Two years ago, Valmet Automotive acquired the former Karmann’s roof business in Germany and Poland. This made it the third biggest sup-plier of roofs for convertibles, and its customers

include Daimler, BMW/MINI, Renault and Bentley. Teija Åhlman emphasises the fact that in

designing convertibles, the company has spe-cialised both in roofs and body constructions.

“We have developed several convertible concepts that have innovative soft and hard roof solutions.”

Known for its high qualityHappy customers and surveys based on

customer feedback reveal the high quality of cars manufactured by Valmet Automo-

tive. Valmet Automotive’s quality system is certifi ed to ISO/TS 16949 quality

standard, and the company also has the ISO 14001 environment certi-fi cation. Behind the quality there are the workers who show more initiative than in most of the com-panies in Finland and continuously improve their work processes.

Some five years ago Valmet Automotive started a strong stra-tegic reform. The company aimed to improve its development ser-vices that they could be o� ered independently to businesses.

Internationalisation became more important, and the variety of ser-

vices was expanded in general, i.e. the expertise was divided into service packages.

”In the future, the company will try to o� er a full range of services according to

the strategy: concept and process planning, manufacturing and aftermarket support. There are only a couple of contract manufacturers in Europe that o� er all these services to the cus-tomer,” says Åhlman.

”The trend seems to be that the customers really appreciate the fact that the design and manufacturing services are available under the same roof. The design service is also a key to starting the manufacture of new products.”

Bringing a new car into production is usually a long process. However, starting the manufac-turing of the Porsche Boxster only took around seven months. The fast schedule was possible because the car was already in production in Germany.

Once the decision to make a car at Valmet Automotive is fi nalised, the design phase sig-nifi cantly a� ects how quickly production starts. Normally it takes one to two years from the con-cept phase.

“Planning the product and how the ideas will be implemented at the same time shortens the entire process,” explains Åhlman.

5

Vahterus&World

FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Vahterus UK Ltd have teamed up with J&E Hall to supply refrigeration equipment to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) facility and help resolve one of the most elusive quest in modern science.

CERN has built the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator; Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that lies in a tunnel 27 kilometres in circumference, as deep as 175 metres beneath the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland.

The aim of LHC is to allow physicists to test the predictions of di� erent theo-ries of particle physics and high-energy physics, particularly that of the existence of the hypothesized Higgs boson and of the large family of new particles predicted by super-symmetry.

It is also expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, and to advance the under-standing of the deepest laws of nature. It contains six detectors each designed for speci� c kinds of exploration.

J&E Hall special products division based in Dartford, Kent successfully won the project to supply new chiller units, which play a key part in the CERN experiment by cooling

the probes that record the images within the Hadron collider.

The DX Cascade units supplied by Vahterus had a design temperature of - 80 degrees Celsius to +80 degrees Celsius and a design pressure of

25bar. The all stainless steel design of the fully welded PSHE made it the ideal choice for such

an arduous duty.J&E Hall was established in the Town of Dart-

ford in the UK in 1785 and over the years has been involved in many industrial breakthroughs.

In Edwardian times, they were installing C02

refrigerations in ships for transportation of food around the world. In 1903, over 6 million frozen rabbits were imported from Australia to the UK. They also built huge cold storage sites at the docks to house them.

In 1910 they introduced NH3 to the range and in 1984 won the industry queens award for the development of the “hall screw” compressor.

With such a long history it is easy to realise why they have the ability to win contracts with such a high priority.

Both Vahterus and J&E are developing a stronger relationship with each other in the aforementioned challenging project.

Paul ButtonSales ManagerVahterus (UK) Limited

UK

Americas Refrigeration Wheels Keep Rolling in the Americas

Having been working with the refrigera-tion activities in the Americas for quite a few years now, I was asked by Jonathan Pascoe, who heads up Vahterus US based organiza-tion, to write a few words concerning the latest news. From a personal standpoint, con-tinuing support of our refrigeration activities in the Americas has been most interesting and, fortunately, successful through existing and new business in the area. All in all, the year 2012 has started o� very well. Natu-rally, a big milestone for Vahterus has been the establishment of Vahterus Americas in Charlotte, North Carolina; thus providing customers with a local point of contact and presence in the market.

The IIAR (International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration) show in Milwaukee this March provided a launch-pad from which we have seen a great level of interest and demand for our products. One of our latest product, the ‘Combined’, an evaporator with integrated surge drum, was premiered at the show, even though this has been avail-able in the European markets for couple of years already. Supported by our experiences in Europe, together with the multiple ben-

e� ts that the compact nature of the product can provide, the timing for showcasing the product was perfect. Also, we were glad to be able to utilize a technomercial slot during the show, where Jonathan presented Vahterus products in heat pump applications, which created a great deal of interest. Thirdly, we of course made our presence in the USA known and were happy to introduce Elizabeth Corcoran, based in the Charlotte o� ce, as the latest addition to the Americas’ team.

Growing interest for CO2 continues in the American markets with new plants or extensions to existing ones on-going at a consistent pace. Heat pump installations are considered to be the future... How-ever, component manufacturers in the American continent are actively working on new solutions for both applications which hopefully will bene� t businesses, end users and the environment alike. Envi-ronmentally driven decisions by the stra-tegic players e.g., Walmart’s preference to support natural refrigerants, will justly raise the image of overall industry.

Compared to the dispirited economic news worldwide, it is reassuring to notice

that the refrigeration industry again remain more or less stable, even at a point of growth, espe-cially in the Americas. This can be quite clearly noted also as discussing with the customers, be it an OEM, installer or other contact. So refrig-eration business continues ‘as usual’ or even better! That’s seems to be the word from the Land of Opportunity at this moment.

Tanja Välimäki Key Account ManagerVahterus Oy

Vahterus help discover the birth of universe

6

VAHTERUS NEWS 3/2012

China Vahterus China - One year on and many steps further

Germany Vahterus PSHE is becoming even more popular in industrial refrigeration

Vahterus Shanghai was established in April 2011. It has been a great leap from the west coast of Finland to the Oriental Pearl in China. Our global partners have welcomed our local pres-ence, as we can provide closer and faster sup-port to their operations in China.

One example of this is our business relation-ship with CP Kelco (a Huber Company), which is a global leader in the innovation and manu-facturing of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). For many years now, CP Kelco Finland has adopted Vahterus innovative Plate & Shell Heat Exchanger solutions in their Finnish manufacturing base in Äänekoski.

When a new manufacturing base for CMC production was established in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, China in 2009, Vahterus Sales and tech-nical team visited CP Kelco Taixing to support the optimization of their processes.

Since June 2010, we have successfully coop-erated in two projects with CP Kelco Taixing, in which we have delivered four Plate & Shell heat exchangers and one Vahterus System. Both pro-jects were executed with a good delivery record.

After just one year of the establishment of Vahterus Shanghai, we have further strength-ened our cooperation with other global partners including; Spirax Sarco, Johnson Controls and

Lonza Engineering in China.This year, in February, Vahterus has also set up

a manufacturing facility in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province. Matti Kontu (MSc), who has relocated to China from Finland, is responsible for building up operations at the plant. Yonghong Deng and Flora Deng are our � rst Chinese employees at the plant. Yong-hong is responsible for system quality and Flora is in charge of � nance and administration. With an assembly operation in China, we will further strengthen our competitiveness in his region.

Vahterus Plate & Shell Heat Exchanger (PSHE) technology is making its way into one of the world’s most active markets!

Angelina ZhangSales & Project SupportVahterus Heat Exchanger Shanghai Co. Ltd.

Vahterus in Germany started with its main business area of Refrigeration twelve years ago. This market has since been growing for many years and we have built up a lot of regular cus-tomers within this business area.

Two years ago, we agreed that our regular customers, who operate worldwide, would be served directly by our Refrigeration Team in Finland. This allows for more time to � nd new customers and to support those who require intensive support.

Due to the new ways of thinking in terms of environmental protection, natural refriger-ants are more and more in demand, particu-larly by our German customers. Vahterus Heat Exchangers are suitable for all types of refrig-erants, particularly for natural media such as ammonia and carbon dioxide. With more than twenty years experience in building these kinds of Heat Exchangers, we have developed an exceptional level of experience and expertise.

The cost e� ectiveness of a refrigeration plant is also an extremely important aspect which has to be closely considered when planning and developing a plant. Vahterus PSHE has countless bene� ts for advanced refrigeration

applications such as evapo-rators, condensers, cascades, desuperheaters and oil coolers. Vahterus PSHE is effective, durable and versatile due to its unique fully welded plates, and shell construction. This makes PSHE particularly suited to contractors who need com-pact sizes and low refrigerant charges.

Al l of these aspec ts , together with the constantly changing political and envi-ronmental issues, bring new challenges to the Vahterus Deutschland Team.

Daniela AmrheinProcure/Sales Vahterus Deutschland GmbH

7

“I DID NOT THINK THE JOB WOULD BE SO VARIED”

Mikko Susi, Design Engineer

VAHTERUS & MEtored internal inspection and pressure testing are carried out. “Inspections are usually carried out once or twice a week, and they require not only a lot of time spent in the production but also a lot of paperwork,” Susi clari� es.

Mikko Susi has enjoyed his time at Vahterus. The job has proven to be more varied than he expected and there are often many orders in the making simultaneously. “Patience is impor-tant and the ability to visualise items in 3D also makes the job easier,” he mentions. “A lot of the design work is done alone though we do always

check the drawings made by other designers. We also collaborate with sales, production and purchasing a lot.

During bigger projects, more than one designer can work on the same project and on di� erent exchangers. The results will then be combined into drawings that are sent to the customer for approval. Customers’ special demands or wishes are requested beforehand so that drawing approvals run smoothly and the production of the exchangers gets underway quickly.

“We work together with customers; standardised templates have been cre-ated with some of them for design pro-cesses and these are used whenever possible,” Mikko Susi explains. “Orders from some customers include a lot of

special demands that often recur, and those orders are handled by designers who have been designated in advance.”

The 27-year-old Susi, originally from Eura, graduated with a Bachelor’s in

Mechanical Engineering from Turku University of Applied Sciences in

2009 and returned there after his studies. He did his diploma work for Vahterus. Susi’s spare time is spent on outdoor activities with his dog and in the summer boating and � shing on Lake Pyhäjärvi .

Mikko Susi joined Vahterus’ design team in March 2011. He designs all sorts of Plate & Shell heat exchangers. “I mainly design heat exchangers based on the PED+AD2000 and ASME code, as well as both basic heat exchangers and some that are a bit more demanding.”

The ASME design code always requires car-rying out your own strength calculations, in addi-tion to which the exchangers with the ASME U stamp are inspected by an external inspector with the designer. Once a heat exchanger reaches the latter stages of production, moni-

Mikko Susi

8

VAHTERUS NEWS 3/2012

“R&D IS CO-OPERATING WITH MANY PARTIES”

Michael Nganga, R&D Engineer

“I � nd my job very interesting. Everyday new challenges arise especially during the testing of new heat exchanger units. Many times new surprises occur; new things we haven’t even expected during the development stages”, says Michael Nganga, who is working as Research & Development Engineer in Vahterus.

Michael Nganga has studied Metallurgy and Material Science at the RWTH University in Aachen, Germany, and graduated with a degree of Master of Science in Technology. Currently

he works with an MBA Degree at the University of Turku in Finland.

“I believe technical and commercial worlds are not separated anymore so it is important to be interested in business too. It is also easier to meet customers when you have some under-standing, beside the purely technical one.”

On a daily basis, R&D Engineers work closely with customers to be able to improve existing products and also develop brand new ideas. R&D and sales people are supporting each other actively to � nd the best sustainable solutions for customers. Also testing and analyzing new heat exchangers are part of Michael Nganga’s work.

“In my opinion, having a good attitude is the most important thing to have in my work. Beside that you need to be curious to keep your-self updated with the changing market trends, be a b l e

to work in a team, and have the knowledge of heat exchanger applications.”

Having a stress free environment at work plays a key role for Nganga, when asked, how he likes his job. Everybody is respected equally regardless of the working position, and everyone has a good access to the managers.

“All you need to do is just to call or walk into their o� ces. They give both ears attention to their employees, and depending on the scope of the problem, they can solve it immediately or

ask for more time. I believe good working envi-ronment leads to unique ideas too”, he states.

According to Nganga, Vahterus’ worldwide reputation of innovative solutions to global challenges is increasing remarkably. This has been made possible by the good collaboration between the company, and its distributors and customers. United it is much easier to solve even complex problems.

The 29-year-old Michael Nganga has been born in Kenya and beside Finland he has studied and worked in Germany and Sweden. His family includes his wife and their young daughter. “Through the good experience made by my wife, when she � rst came as an exchange stu-dent in Finland � ve years ago, prompted my interest for this country, and as result we decided to move back here”, he explains.

In Nganga’s opinion, the perception of Finnish people being “cold” is not true. “I always explain to people that Finnish are like coconuts. They may seem di� erent outside but when you are patient enough and ready to break through the shell, you

will discover that they are very warm, friendly and social people. Unfortu-

nately some give up before breaking the shell.”In his free time Michael Nganga is involved in

the development of Mentesana University, estab-lished in Ghana, and which is to be expanded to the rest of Africa in the future. Its purpose is to give free education to the poor but talented young people in the � elds of Pharmacy, Medi-cine and Engineering. “And I love cooking at home”, he adds.

Michael Nganga

9

VAHTERUS NEWS 3/2012

When the production of the heat exchanger is � nished, it is often required that exchangers which are damp due to pressure testing with water should be dry from the inside before they are delivered to the customer. Especially in cooling technology applications, the require-ment for the exchangers to be very dry is usu-ally categorical.

Helium vacuum leak testing, which detects possible leaks is becoming more popular, but the test result is not completely reliable unless the exchanger’s dryness can be guaranteed. This can be achieved by vacuum drying.

Vahterus offers equipment for vacuum drying

”The exchanger can be delivered to the cus-tomer either un-dried, hot-air dried or vacuum dried. The latter is the most thorough method out of these,” explains Juha Suominen, HSE (Health, Safety & Environment) Manager.

In vacuum drying, the exchanger’s plate pack or shell side is heated � rst but only one of them is nearly completely vacuumed. As a result, water is vaporised from the exchanger. The drying requirements are de� ned in the sales

order and usually determined in accordance with the medium used in the heat exchanger. One of the many refrigerants, ammonia in particular has particular requirements.

Suominen recommends vacuum drying and nitrogen � lling afterwards if the heat exchangers are kept in storage for a long period of time before they are used or if they are delivered to the customer by sea. Possible corrosion prob-lems are avoided this way.

”Vahterus has its own equipment for drying, and we already use vacuum drying routinely. In the latest expansion, we also built a separate drying room for this process,” Juha Suominen says.

Helium vacuum leak testing for extra reliability

Suominen explains that helium vacuum (HV) leak testing ensures the fully airtight structure of the plate pack. Most of the tests are done on the plate packs.

In addition to HV testing, a helium sni� er (hs) test using half or one bar overpressure can be conducted. In this test, leaks are searched for manually. ”The vacuum test shows how large

TESTING PROCEDURES ENSURE PRODUCT’S HIGH QUALITY

the leak is, but the overpressure test (hs) just gives the location of the leak. However, vacuum testing is much more accurate.”

Helium vacuum testing is based on ASME code Section V, and it is suitable for all Vahterus heat exchangers. It is especially useful for exchangers in which gasi� able mediums are used.

HV leak testing is a moderately demanding method, completed by employees working in the quality department. Each test is also docu-mented. The acceptance limit is based on the ASME code.

”When the test is conducted, a vacuum is cre-ated either in the chamber on the shell or the plate side. The non-vacuumed chamber is � lled with a 0.5 bar overpressure of helium. The test is thus used to measure the leak of helium atoms from the chamber. After a review period of 15 minutes, a leak reading is entered and it is stated whether it is below the code limit which means that the testing is accepted,” says Suominen.

In 2011, 95 heat exchangers were helium vacuum tested at Vahterus. “The biggest bene� t is the fact that the customer and also Vahterus gain more assurance, that the product meets or even exceeds the requirements,” says Suominen.

10

Thank you to anyone attending the Frigair fair

The Frigair trade fair was held on 15-17 August 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Vahterus had a joint stand together with Zonke Engineering. Vahterus Frigair team would like to thank eve-ryone who visited our stand at the fair and were interested in our company and products.

Thank you to anyone attending the AGT fair

The AGT trade fair was held on 25-27 July 2012 in Perth, Australia. Vahterus had a joint stand together with Q-Boss. Vahterus AGT team would like to thank everyone who visited our stand at the fair and were interested in our com-pany and products.

NEWS & EVENTS

Thank you to anyone attending the Achema fair

The ACHEMA trade fair was held on 18-22 June 2012 in Frankfurt am Main, Ger-many. Vahterus ACHEMA team would like to thank everyone who visited our stand at the fair and were interested in our com-pany and products.

PS.You can find Vahterus Stand

from the following exhibitions:

Chillventa - VahterusNürnberg, Germany

9.-11.10.2012Hall 5 Stand 129

Energy Fair - VahterusTampere, Finland

23.-25.10.2012Stand A 126

Off shore Korea 2012 - Vahterus Busan, South Korea

14.-16.11.2012

OSEA 2012 – VahterusSingapore

27.-30.11.2012Stand 1Q5-05

OTC 2013 – Vahterus and Gulf Coast Engineered Solutions, Inc.

Houston, TX, USA 6.-9.5.2013

Stand # 8463

Brasil Off shore 2013 – VahterusMacaé, RJ, Brasil

11.-14.6.2013Tent 3, Stand Ra 73

New production facilitiesVahterus is again expanding its facili-

ties. Like the previous ones, the new building will be named after a neigh-bouring village of Vahterus in Kalanti. The newest hall will be called Kytämäki.

The 6th Vahterus International Sales MeetingThe 6th Vahterus International Sales Meeting is being organized traditionally in the beginning

of September. Numerous of distributors around the world participate in this event. Visiting lec-turers in Sales Meeting are for example General Manager of The Finnish Family Firms Association and Prime Minister of Finland in 2003-2010 Mr. Matti Vanhanen, Dr. Said Jubran al Qahtani from Jubran Holding & Tharawat Engineering Services Co. and Mr. John Wijbenga from Wijbenga B.V.

Vahterus joins the RETA associationRefrigerating Engineers & Technicians Association (RETA) is an international society of individuals

and companies involved in the design, operation and service of industrial refrigeration systems. RETA’s mission is to enhance the professional development of industrial refrigeration operating and technical engineers. Vahterus has now joined the association.

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NEW!

Introduced at CHILLVENTA 2012

Chillventa exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany 9. - 11.10.2012Hall 5, Stand 129

Hot & Cold Topics In Vahterus RefrigerationVahterus Heat Pump Solutions

Vahterus Combined

12

VAHTERUS NEWS 3/2012

Cooperation leads to success The refrigeration system market is changing due to the global

regulations on environment and safety, together with the demand for sustainable and reliable plug-and-play solutions. The use of ammonia, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons is increasing

with the phasing out of synthetic refrigerants. The refrig-erant charge must be minimized and secondary systems are often used to ful� l the demand for low charge primary systems. These developments create greater opportuni-ties for suppliers of components and refrigeration systems.

The concept of combined evaporator was introduced at Chillventa exhibition in 2008. On the 20th anniversary

of Vahterus, Vahterus Oy and Wijbenga B.V. from the Neth-erlands decided to pool their knowledge of refrigeration

and heat exchanger technology in order to develop solutions for the future challenges within the market. After 2 years, this

collaboration has resulted in two even better and innovative solutions and increased sales of Vahterus refrigeration products.

Vahterus is renowned as the innovator and producer of the Plate & Shell Heat Exchanger. Wijbenga specializes in applications

using natural refrigerants for industrial refrigeration, and has repre-sented Vahterus in the Benelux countries for nearly 20 years. Coopera-tion between these two companies ensured the ideal combination for forming a successful R&D team.

The principal goal of the partnership was to � nd a compact solu-tion for the liquid-gas separation in combination with the Plate & Shell evaporators, known as “the Combined”.

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International R&D In the Netherlands, Wijbenga set

up a test rig in its own o� ces to try out di� erent separation systems with water and air. These tests provided fur-ther insight into the behaviour of dif-ferent foam and demister materials and formed the basics for further testing. The results were modelled and trans-ferred to other applications and solu-tions.

At the same time, an ammonia test rig was set up at the Vahterus R&D labo-ratory in Finland. The test rig comprised of an openable shell with a size 3 plate pack, and � nished with 2 piston com-pressors, an extra safety separator (to protect the compressors), liquid level control, a heat recovery system (to create the load for the tests), numerous sight glasses, and di� erent measuring points for temperatures and pressure. With this test rig, it was possible to overload the system and to create the most extreme situations in an ammonia refrigeration system.

Thanks to the sight glasses that were placed in various positions, it was possible to look inside the system. The � rst results of the water and air tests came from a prototype heat exchanger

As a starting point some ambitious assumptions were put forward:

• Reducing the size of the separation area and combining a separator and plates in one shell

• Optimising the heat transfer

• Minimal refrigerant charge

• Safe construction

• Smooth and reliable production with standard components

• Operation with normal control systems

• Attractive investment compared to other solutions

with ammonia. The ammonia test rig brought some exciting new discoveries. No one had expected that the boiling process of the refrigerant would be so extreme, even with a low surface load. Also, the e� ect of � lling material in the “dead” spaces meant that the liquid feed had more in� uence in the boiling pattern than was previously expected. Quick capacity changes made the situ-ation worse. Another eye-opener was the amount of condensate formed in the “dry” suction side during a quick rise of the suction pressure.

Managing challengesAll of these challenges were man-

aged and the system was pushed to its limits, with over 20 di� erent test runs made before the � nal improved design was determined. Some valuable les-sons were learned: simulate a real situa-tion as much as possible as practice can di� er from the theory, and always use lots of sight glasses because “what you see is what you get!” Overall, the team did an excellent job and produced some really exciting results. Numbers of com-bined systems are now in operation in the � eld and are meeting expectations.

Continuous develop-ment

But the story does not end there. With all the knowledge that has been gathered, the next logical step will be to optimise the external circulation sys-tems and reduce the required vessel size for good separation. For opti-mised solutions, there is demand for the combined as well as for the system with external circulation, and the same separation techniques are used and standardised to meet their require-ments. New tests with hydrocarbons and cascades are planned to consoli-date a wide range of solutions for all kinds of applications.

With this combined success, the information gathered during the tests and the products that have been devel-oped, Vahterus retains its role as the forerunner in future heat exchanger technology for refrigeration applica-tions.

Jeroen SchröerManaging DirectorWijbenga B.V.

13

Mayekawa Manufacturing Company was established in 1924 and has ever since expanded its business. The company focuses on compres-sors, refrigerations and heat pump technologies. It has over one hundred small subsidiaries in Japan and 40 extra subsidiaries overseas. Their business is based on the idea of keeping a close relationship with each customer.

The core center of Mayekawa is their Moriya plant, a production and technical research and development base. The plant is an integrated center of R&D, manufacturing, sales, and after sales services. Every department focuses on high quality.

NEWTON3000– COOLING SYSTEM

FOR

COLD STORAGES

Mayekawa’s cooperation with Vahterus dates back to 2003, when Mayekawa decided to use Plate&Shell Heat Exchangers for NH3/CO2 appli-cations. The � rst Vahterus unit was delivered to then in 2004. Since then, over 200 Mayekawa cooling units with Vahterus PSHEs are running in Japan today, and the business has been esti-mated to grow, not only in local market in Japan but also in export as well.

In 2008, Mayekawa started selling the newly developed NewTon3000, a NH3/CO2 cooling system. This compactly packaged semi-hermetic refrigeration compressor unit is designed for cold storage applications. High-e� ciency IPM motor was developed for the use of ammonia, and the high-performance compressor achieved 20 per cent better energy saving results com-pared to HCFC refrigerant application.

A new version of the NewTon was launched in the beginning of this year, having more ben-e� cial features, including Vahterus Plate&Shell Heat Exchangers being used in the system line-up of NewTon R-8000, F-800, C and S.

Compared to the previous version, the new NewTon has about 20 per cent smaller volume, it is relevantly lighter, and has signi� cantly smaller ammonia charge (about 75 per cent less). The new version has also a lower risk for ammonia leakage, and it allows preventive maintenance as well.

Mayekawa’s cooperation with Vahterus dates back to 2003, when Mayekawa decided to use Plate&Shell Heat Exchangers for NH3/CO2 appli-cations. The � rst Vahterus unit was delivered to then in 2004. Since then, over 200 Mayekawa cooling units with Vahterus PSHEs are running in Japan today, and the business has been esti-mated to grow, not only in local market in Japan but also in export as well.

In 2008, Mayekawa started selling the newly developed NewTon3000, a NHsystem. This compactly packaged semi-hermetic refrigeration compressor unit is designed for cold storage applications. High-e� ciency IPM motor was developed for the use of ammonia, and the high-performance compressor achieved 20 per cent better energy saving results com-pared to HCFC refrigerant application.

A new version of the NewTon was launched in the beginning of this year, having more ben-e� cial features, including Vahterus Plate&Shell Heat Exchangers being used in the system line-up of NewTon R-8000, F-800, C and S.

Compared to the previous version, the new NewTon has about 20 per cent smaller volume, it is relevantly lighter, and has signi� cantly smaller ammonia charge (about 75 per cent less). The new version has also a lower risk for ammonia leakage, and it allows preventive maintenance as well.

Mr. Hideyo Asano, Mayekawa Mfg Co., Ltd. & Mr. Akira Shibata, Inscope Japan Co., Ltd.

14

VAHTERUS NEWS 3/2012

The price-winning Sabroe HeatPAC is an industrial heat pump designed to exploit the heat recovery opportunities available in refrig-eration equipment. It uses only ammonia to provide high temperature output, using con-densers on refrigeration systems as the heat source. Designed as a plug and play unit, it can be used with new equipment when setting up a new refrigeration system or retrofitted to existing systems.

As Johnson Controls Denmark say, their Sabroe cascade evaporator option results to exceptional e� ciencies and also the refrigera-tion charge is claimed to be the lowest in the industry – down to 40 g per kW. The cascade connection means that there is no direct con-tact between refrigeration circuit and heat pump circuit. That avoids contamination issues and the

HEATPAC HEAT PUMP by Johnson Controls Denmark

need for an additional heat exchanger based on water circuit.

The compact package is possible thanks to Sabroe high-pressure reciprocating com-pressors, welded plate exchangers, as well as Vahterus Plate & Shell condensers. Together with a � ooded system, this extracts maximum heat pump capacity from the smallest possible footprint.

“The HeatPAC uses the heat from the refrig-eration condensers to deliver hot water at 70 degrees Celsius and above, and in return the process allows the condensing temperature to be lowered on many refrigeration set-ups,” says Christian Per Bunde-Pedersen, Manager in Sabroe Product Development in Johnson Con-trols Denmark.

HeatPAC heat pump can be used in many

applications. For example hot water production for cleaning and heating within the food industry and condenser heat reclaim from refrigeration systems are amongst the most common appli-cations. Upgrading of industrial waste heat and heating based on natural heat sources such as sea water air and geothermal energy are also applications in which heat pumps can bring many bene� ts.

With the increasing demand on heat pumps, Sabroe recently launched a new series of heat pumps using screw compressors. This series enables Sabroe heat pumps to supply hot water up to 90 degrees Celsius. All their latest orders for screw compressor heat pumps use Vahterus PSHE heat exchangers for sub-cooling, con-densing, de-superheating & oil cooling.

In the Cooling Industry Awards 2011, the HeatPAC won the main price. Judges

stated that the heat pump technology is the key for the industrial end-user wanting to save energy, and heat reclaim should be as important a part of the armory for the future as natural refrigerants.

15

Vahterus Oy designs and manufactures fully welded

Plate&Shell Heat Exchangers in Kalanti,

Southwest Finland.

90% of the production is exported all over the world,

mainly to energy technology, process and

chemical industry and refrigeration industry.

Vahterus’ turnover is 24 million euros and the

number of personnel is 170.

SubsidiariesVahterus Americas, LLC

Vahterus Deutschland GmbHVahterus Heat Exchangers

Shanghai Co., LtdVahterus UK Ltd

www.vahterus.com