DCAM assembles ultra-efficient heating pump
Solving the problem of fluctuating production rates and short life cycles
Old heating pumps are secret power guzzlers. Few people think about these hidden “service providers” when seeking to save on electricity. Even with oil and gas heating systems, electric pumps ensure that hot water circulates from the boiler to the radiators and the hot water points. Many old pumps operate round the clock, even if no water is being heated or drawn off. On the other hand, modern, intelligent heating pumps only switch on when they are needed. That represents an energy saving of up to 70 percent. The new generation of pumps - known as ultra-efficient pumps (energy efficiency class A) - uses 400 - 700 kilowatt hours less energy. So it is not just consumers’ electricity bills that go down, but experts calculate that 240 kilograms less of climate-harming CO² per year is released into the atmosphere. Incentive programs have therefore been set up, with the aim of hastening the change to improved pumping technology. New EU directives also aim to ensure that efficient heating pumps are introduced rapidly.
For pump manufacturers this break-through signifies a massive challenge. On one hand the development means that conventionally designed pumps are “out” but on the other it is not yet clear how this new trend will impact the market in terms of production rates and sales figures. The trump card here is flexibility in production. At MOTEK 2013, the international trade show for production and assembly automation, where over 1000 exhibitors and 35,000 visitors will be meeting in Stuttgart between 7 and 10 October, Bavarian automation experts DEPRAG SCHULZ GMBH u. CO. will be providing system solutions to cope with such problems. The automated assembly of control units for modern efficient heating pump technology will be one of the central themes at the DEPRAG stand. Using two highly reliable DCAMs (DEPRAG COMPACT ASSEMBLY MODULE), the mid-sized machine construction company will be demonstrating assembly solutions for flexible, cost-efficient and reliable production processes.
The DCAM was born at a time when mobile phones were still being assembled manually. The company that could produce faster and more cost-effectively had the advantage. The DEPRAG assembly station for industrial production came onto the market and since that time has become established worldwide. Over the past 25 years the engineers at DEPRAG have consistently worked to enhance this much-loved assembly platform. Now the DCAM is even available “off the peg”. It is available in modular form, and has been optimised to ensure that it is even more cost-effective. At MOTEK 2013 DEPRAG will be demonstrating, on two DCAMS, the assembly process for the control unit that forms the heart of an energy-efficient, intelligent new generation heating pump.
