AHU Plug Fan Retrofit – Saving Energy, Saving Cost

In the modern world, energy conservation is at the forefront of technology advancement and this is especially important to business owners looking to save energy and costs.

The cost of energy is inevitably going to rise in the Untied Arab Emirates in the coming years, which lends itself for businesses and building owners to explore ways to reduce their energy consumption.

The UAE aims to be at the forefront of the global drive for lower energy consumption. Because Air Handling Units (AHUs) make up a huge portion of energy consumption in buildings, this can one of the first areas that owners can explore.

By conducting an upgrade of existing Air Handling Unit fans to more efficient modern fans, building owners, facility managers and HVAC plant owners can reduce this high consumption and lower costs dramatically. As AHUs are often very expensive to fully replace for modern equivalents a retrofit and upgrade to existing plant enables owners to reach a much lower return on investment compared to a full AHU replacement.

Many buildings in the UAE are reaching their 10 to 15-year milestones (aided by the UAE boom of the early 2000s) which means that many AHU installations utilize old technology belt-drive centrifugal fans. These types of fans can easily be upgraded to a modern direct-drive Plug fan, which allows for much more efficient airflow creation, compared to a centrifugal impeller, as well as utilizing more energy-efficient fan motors.

For example, energy savings of up to 50% can be reached by upgrading from a fixed speed belt driven fan, to a direct drive, variable speed EC plug fan.

This is not a new concept around the world. Qey have been involved in projects in both Europe and the Middle East, but with clients in the UAE looking at new ways to  reduce their energy usage and running costs, the AHU fan upgrade option is one of the best ways to significantly reduce these.

As well energy reduction, there are many other advantages to upgrade AHU fans, such as:

• Fan redundancy, due to smaller multiple fans being utilized
• Extended life span of the fans and motors
• Variable speed further reducing energy usage
• Lower noise
• Higher air quality
• No maintenance
• A measurable return on investment

Qey work directly with ZIEHL-ABEGG to supply their innovative ECbluefin fans into our AHU installations. We can conduct a site survey on existing plant for free, by visiting the equipment and conducting various tests. We may also install energy monitoring equipment allowing us to further gather more accurate data.

This coupled with the original air handling unit design data, allows us to assess whether the air handling units are suitable for a fan upgrade and to ensure the return on investment is acceptable. We can then supply a proposal within 7 days of the initial site survey.

A good return on investment in the Middle East is often between 3-5 years. On very old equipment, we have seen 2 years ROI’s.

The brand of the Air Handling Unit does not matter, as the concept of the upgrade is the same, whichever type of Air Handling Unit it is.

For a free site survey and proposal, get in touch with us on energy@qey.ae or call Jon on +971 50 909 2878.