© ebm-papst

Testing in China

Germany and the United States have gas labs, and now China has had one of its own since 2018. That enables us to address local require­ments even more effec­tively.


Who knows the Chinese market for heating equip­ment best? The Chinese them­selves, of course. Given that, it was logical for the ebm-papst site in Shanghai to get its own gas lab, in which the inter­ac­tion of the fan, gas valve and venturi, the crucial compo­nents for combus­tion in condensing boilers, can be precisely tested.

Aiming at combusting most effi­ciently

In the past, such tests took a detour via Germany. Ji Wang, the respon­sible appli­ca­tion engi­neer, says: “Now we can system­at­i­cally develop prod­ucts that are an even better fit to local require­ments.” Customers can deliver existing or newly devel­oped equip­ment to the gas lab for testing to assist in the design of gas-air units. The aim is to get the best and most effi­cient combus­tion while also complying with the require­ments of legally stip­u­lated stan­dards.

“Many manu­fac­turers don’t even have the equip­ment needed for performing such tests.”

Ji Wang, appli­ca­tion engi­neer at ebm-papst 

On the three test benches at the lab, the engi­neers measure emis­sions, such as CO2 or oxygen concen­tra­tion, pres­sures and elec­tric para­me­ters such as motor current. Depending on the test stand, condensing boilers with output of up to a megawatt can be tested. The measure­ments help to precisely configure the fan, gas valve and venturi to precisely match the customer’s equip­ment. Test dura­tions vary depending on the task at hand. For adjust­ment of a gas valve, half a day may be enough. Compre­hen­sive tests can take up to three days.

Land­shut served as role model

The Chinese gas lab is based on the one in Land­shut, which has been in oper­a­tion since 2006. “We use the same test methods. The combus­tion tech­ni­cians from Germany helped us with the setup,” says Wang. There is already a tangible example for China’s new inde­pen­dence; thanks to the lab, the engi­neers there were able to develop a venturi specially for the Chinese market. “Now we’re closer to our customers and can react to their needs more quickly,” says Wang.

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