When it comes to retro­fits, ebm-papst gener­ally assumes the role of supplier of highly effi­cient fans. Super­market chains, office building oper­a­tors and other indus­trial firms enjoy energy savings that are some­times huge, reduced noise emis­sions and the possi­bility of digital inte­gra­tion.

But this retrofit is different. As part of its sustain­ability strategy, the fan specialist has also taken a close look at its own venti­lation systems and decided to upgrade to the latest fan tech­nology at its three German loca­tions in Mulfingen, St. Georgen and Land­shut.

The ebm-papst service center Breuell & Hilgen­feldt handled the plan­ning and design, while Pfänder GmbH was respon­sible for replacing the systems at the Mulfingen loca­tion. At the end of 2022, Andreas Grubert from Breuell & Hilgenfeldt’s tech­nical field service inspected all the venti­lation systems and refrig­er­ating instal­la­tions and iden­ti­fied a total of 261 that were candi­dates for a retrofit.

Special: Customer stories with added digital value!

We open doors for our customers to a world of added value through digital services. Sensors, gate­ways and AI enable real bene­fits for existing and new systems. Energy savings are just the begin­ning – auto­mated data provi­sion for ESG report­ings, Predic­tive Main­te­nance or filter clog­ging detec­tion. Not just dreams of the future.

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The retrofit team

In most AHU systems, older models from the RadiPac EC centrifugal fan series were replaced with the latest gener­a­tion. The latest AxiEco axial fans are now used in the rele­vant rooftop coolers instead of fans from the HyBlade series. By contrast, the “classic” retrofit case – belt-driven AC fan vs. new EC model – only occurred six times.

Of course, this is where the greatest energy savings of around 50 percent can be expected. But replacing EC with EC also makes sense from an energy point of view as savings of up to 12 percent can be made in this area.

To achieve this, the new fans were initially connected to the epCloud plat­form via an Intel­li­Gate gateway. Data such as speed, power consump­tion and, depending on the sensors used, also the temper­a­ture and CO₂ content of the air being moved, for example, is supplied to the plat­form. The fans and their oper­ating data are then displayed on a dash­board that oper­a­tors and service teams can also access on a smart­phone or tablet while on the move.

This led to the devel­op­ment of a digital solu­tion that measures the degree of filter clog­ging without addi­tional sensors and enables customers to better plan service calls. In future, the digital service will also be able to predict the optimum time to change the filter, taking into account both the overall costs of the system and CO₂ emis­sions. This predic­tive main­te­nance saves addi­tional costs, as the fan always runs in optimum condi­tion and the system has reduced down­time.

“Our tech­nology is also great for us,” says Klaus Geißdörfer, CEO of the ebm-papst Group. “And with this retrofit project, we are under­lining our ambi­tion to lead venti­lation tech­nology into a new era.”