The Project
The demand from both consumers and governments for higher levels of pollution free air has driven a change in German regulations to help to improve the performance of air circulating systems. Enbi’s customer worked with a number of key suppliers, including Enbi, on a new range of high performance systems called “Dezent”. Enbi managed to provide an innovative foam material that would not support the growth of bacteria under normal operating conditions.
The History
Because the environment inside air circulation systems can be very warm and moist, it provides a perfect place for bacteria to grow and multiply. The customer wanted a system that was fit and forget and provided the end user with long periods of time between routine maintenance. With the old systems, the customer was obliged to inspect the system every three months for bacteria. If during inspection bacterial growth was found then a deep clean was needed of the entire system. Because of this the customer wanted to use materials that not only provided the required sealing and damping performance but also had an “in-built” resistance to micro-bacterial growth to avoid the need for the 3-month inspections.
Our Approach
Enbi’s Engineering Team used laboratory services in Germany to test several materials and combinations of materials for bacterial growth. We tested several material combinations until we found a solution which fulfilled the German VDE 6022 and at the same time provided high performing sealing and damping characteristics that were required by the customer. Based on the testing, Enbi presented the preferred materials to the customer for further development trials in house.
Benefits
By using the Enbi material, Enbi’s customer was able to help its customer to extend the service intervals from 3 to 12 months. This significantly reduced the operating cost by more than 20% and reduced system maintenance time. The result being lower operating costs for the end user and more business for the customer of Enbi.
