Revolution & The Rebirth of Alumininium in HVAC&R

HIMFR reports that China is a super-producer of air conditioners, with total annual demand of more than 80 million units. It is expected that aluminium will replace copper market capacity on behalf of more than 20 billion yuan. At present, the proportion of aluminium alloy on the market is less than 7%, so the future development space is very broad. HIMFR’s market experts believe that alternative materials will be the inevitable trend for cooling pipeline product development, but currently air conditioner use aluminium alloy.

With materials technology advances and the pressure of the rising cost of copper, the freezer piping industry successfully implemented steel replacement of copper with aluminium. At present, the automobile industry’s use of aluminium depends on the development of auto industry growth. The commercial air conditioning industry is still in the start-up phase, as Chinese and foreign commercial air conditioning companies have started to use aluminium instead of the traditional heat exchanger. As HAIER, MIDEA Air Conditioning and other major Chinese enterprises gradually increase investment in commercial air conditioning, commercial air conditioning aluminium alloy has great room for development.

To reduce costs, many air conditioning manufacturers are struggling to find a new alternative refrigerant pipe, and for refrigeration pipes, the most suitable alternative to copper tube material is aluminium alloy, which is less than 30% copper, making the replacement of significant economic value. According to expert analysis, replacement of copper tubing in refrigerators and freezers is needed for the following reasons: first, by means of the innovation process to ensure that the material characteristics of the steel pipe meet the refrigerator/freezer refrigeration piping products’ technical requirements; second is a huge cost advantage for home appliance manufacturers; third is enhancement of the strength of the internal spatial structure without increased difficulty of assembly.

 

Learn the Advantages of Brazing Aluminum

• Fast & secured joints in 10 secs (4 times faster to braze Aluminium compared to Copper)
• Hence Saving On Gas & Time
• No additional flux, argon gas, wire spool, gloves, shield or electricity required
• Uses the same set of tools to braze Copper

Certificates and Assurance

• ASTM B491/B491M : 2006 ( 7191017704-MEC11/01-TXM )
  
  Test Standard scope includes refrigeration services, gas lines, oil lines and instrument lines
• ASTM B75 : 2002 ( 719191806-MEC10-CYW/CR_1 )
  
  Hydrostatic test was done up to 1000 psi
• BS EN 248 : 2002 ( 7191007742-CHM11-PGK(MEC) )
  
  Conducting and evaluating galvanic corrosion test in electrolytes
• ISO 9227 : 2006 ( 7191007742-CHM11-PGK(MEC) )
  
  Corrosion tests in artificial atmospheres — Salt spray tests
• Burst Test ( 7191017704-MEC11/03-TXM )
  
  Maximum 3900 PSI