HVAC aluminium solution earns gold award for Panasonic

A material substitution project by Panasonic’s air-conditioning business unit led to an aluminium solution from Sapa that saved costs and struck gold for outstanding performance.

Aluminium is replacing copper tubing in industrial A/C units because the solutions can offer more competitive costs and better heat transfer performance. At the same time, the change requires careful planning, material selection and design of the new system.

Consequently, Panasonic’s A/C business unit turned to Sapa to acquire the best support available.

Panasonic’s project team selected the most advanced round tube developed by Sapa, the zinc-coated helical inner-grooved tube. The inner grooving increases surface area and thereby heat transfer potential, and the zinc coating improves the corrosion performance of the tube.

This combination provides an aluminium solution that exceeds copper in key performance indicators such as efficiency, corrosion resistance, weight, and burst pressure, but at a more competitive cost.

Outstanding aluminium
Panasonic acknowledged the work by presenting Sapa’s Precision Tubing plant in Suzhou, China, with its ECO-VC Gold Award for Outstanding Performance.

The award presentation took place at the 2014 Panasonic Excellent Partners Meeting in Osaka, Japan.

“Many companies, like Panasonic, are already harvesting the benefits of their new aluminium solutions, but the best way of making the change is to team with a partner who can provide support every step of the way,” says Hugo Ravesloot, who is responsible for HVAC&R business development for Sapa’s Precision Tubing organization.