Special 21st Anniversary Report - Eventful journey

12 December, 2017

Continuing the energy efficiency and safety themes, Sands has seen major growth in the areas of safety- and energy-related products. “This is typified within our air supply range with sophisticated modules able to monitor and record energy consumption, automatically shutting off when the machine is in stand-by mode and even detecting and reporting leakage,” he said. “Monitored mechatronic air supply units have taken away a lot of the complicated work to fulfill safety requirements, conducting all the monitoring and self-test routines as an autonomous unit. The attractiveness of both of these solutions has been proven with dramatic sales numbers: despite these not being low cost solutions, the overall value and cost savings provide a quick return on investment.”

Les Littlewood, sales & marketing director, Albion Valves (UK) Ltd., commented that the building services industry has been put under pressure with fuel saving targets and the task to reduce companies’ carbon footprint, which has in turn put pressure on companies such as Albion Valves to provide more energy efficient products. “This is where intelligent valves such as pressure independent control valves (PICV) and differential pressure control valves (DPCV) have been useful within commercial heating systems because they help to reduce the amount of energy that is wasted,” he said, adding that they are also self-acting valves, with no commissioning required. “Not only does this save energy, but it also saves time,” said Littlewood.

Revell reminds us that the compressed air industry has been subject to changes in motor efficiency regulations, FGAS regulations for refrigerant gases and tighter regulations with regard to waste disposal; whether this be service parts or condensate disposal. “These changes are very much aligned to Atlas Copco’s brand promise of Sustainable Productivity, where we aim to minimise our impact on the environment through lean production of technologically advanced equipment and the reduction of waste throughout its lifecycle,” he explained.

Revell added that health & safety has become the top priority for Atlas Copco and its clients. He pointed out that the company ensures its products and services are designed, installed and maintained with health & safety as a priority. “Besides the legislative requirements, we drive towards ensuring everyone gets home safe every day,” he said.

Kling remarked that Tier 4 emission regulations have had a huge impact on diesel engines, and as a consequence hydraulic motors and systems have had to become more compact and more efficient. “Here at Eaton, we are implementing solutions such as electro-hydraulics and Load Sense to offer greater efficiency,” he explained, adding it is also important to note that while legislation is a driving force, the market had been driving towards more efficient solutions for a number of years.

From an environmental point of view, Cuthbert pointed out that one major area regarding regulation has been concerned with the increased efficiency of engines on mobile machines (Tier 4). “In this regard, hydraulic measurement and control equipment can play an important role in helping keep companies compliant,” he said.

Also, from a health & safety point of view, Cuthbert believes things have moved in the right direction. “Now, there is much greater acceptance and expectation of risk assessment of things within the hydraulics arena than there was a couple of decades ago,” he remarked. “Hydraulics engineers can tend to be fairly relaxed about the fact that we are working every day with pressure vessels that could potentially be lethal. Everything is well engineered for the most part; hence, we have very few accidents within the industry. However, I think there is an increasing awareness and expectation of things such as