Success is in the air WOLF

SUCCESS IS IN THE AIR

WOLF Anlagen Technik is a European leader in air technology, with activities divided into three separate business divisions – Surface Engineering, Heating/Ventilation/Air Conditioning and Agricultural Engineering. Industry Europe finds out more about these three divisions, and looks at the latest technologies from the company.

ITwas back in 1950, in the heart of the world’s largest hopgrowing region Hallertau, that Anton Wolf started a business that dealt with the development and construction of hop kilns. Soon he developed the first German hop-picking machine, followed by the manufacture of air heaters and hot air generators for industrial use – the birth of the air conditioning division. In 1972 WOLF added the production of painting and drying booths for refinishing which led to the Surface Technology division.

The interplay of innovative ideas, continuous product development, advanced manufacturing and production technology and, not least, the commitment and loyalty of employees has enabled the company to grow from a family business to a medium-sized industrial enterprise.

Currently around 280 people, mainly from the region, are looking after customers – from research and development, planning, design and manufacturing to installation and customer service. Planning and construction are located exclusively in-house, and the production is equipped with the most modern CNC manufacturing and processing machinery in conjunction with a CAD-bending cell. The premises cover a total area of around 93,000m².

Hi-tech products for many applications

“We have chosen the motto ‘Spirit of Air’, because the common factor between hop picking machines, air conditioning units and paint booths is the use of air in different ways. The processes range from blowing, extracting, cooling or warming, filtering and cleaning through to drying, moistening and silencing,” explains a company spokesperson.

Air conditioning units are the company’s core products – offered in a very diverse range. There are industrial units for heating and ventilation of large areas such as warehouses, high temperature equipment for process engineering, roof top units, hygiene and refrigeration air handling units as well as full air handling units.

Satisfied customers include hotels, large hospitals, rehabilitation centres, airports, schools and institutes, swimming pools, shopping centres and many more. “We make one of the best ‘weatherproof’ air conditioning units for interior and exterior use, up to the highest class T1/TB1, as well as fulfilling highest hygiene requirements for operating theatres.

“We keep pushing the development of our products, so that we can stay ahead of the field. We also need to look out for constantly changing norms and guidelines that are issued by legislative and professional bodies. When we build a customised system we need to make sure that it is future proof by incorporating the latest knowhow and technologies.”

Showcasing innovative solutions

The company was present at the 2015 ISH/Aircontec show in Frankfurt in March this year, where it presented innovative products as well as individual systems and plant competence. Martin Neubauer, WOLF sales manager, commented at the time: “Apart from efficient

Air heating batteries from Volta

Tradition and experience are the basics of our performance.

Volta GmbH & Co KG Salzstraße 17 D-88145 Hergatz Tel.: (+49) 8385 921 393 0 Fax: (+49) 8385 921 393 20 E-mail: info@volta-gmbh.de www.volta-gmbh.de www.lufterhitzer.de standard solutions, WOLF have got the know-how to advise the customers even for most difficult projects professionally all around buildings, energy and systems technology and to supply the 100 per cent suitable plant solution.” This is a recurring theme for all exhibits and interactive elements

At the show, the functions and synergy of the single components and the processes of an interactive air-conditioning unit were shown as a ‘living’ animation on a large LED-screen. On a touch-terminal, the visitors were able to control the animation and to retrieve background information.

The company also showcased its highly efficient and multi-functional hydraulic station for high-performance cycle compound systems with MSR and special software. Depending on project requirements, the system can be individually adjusted to the customers’ requests and enables an absolute separation of outlet and inlet air. A multifunctional use by additional feeding of heating or refrigerating capacity as well as permanent capacity measuring for capacity recording and automatic capacity optimisation are possible. The extremely compact system with frequency converter regulated highperformance pump enables dry heat recovery coefficients of over 70 per cent and can be used for ecological and economic refrigeration by combining it with other systems, for instance an adiabatic humidification unit in exhaust air.

Furthermore, the functioning exhibit WK-com H demonstrated impressively how efficient technology can be realised with extremely low space requirements, complying with all valid standards and regulations. “The inverter regulated refrigeration technology has got the advantage that we can operate this plant with stepless control and highest efficiency,” said Neubauer. The fan wall with EC technology in inlet and outlet air provides an

energy-saving operation and ensures all plant functions even in case of a fan failure. The complete regulation technology has been integrated into the unit.

Agricultural technology

In the division of agricultural machines WOLF has customers in hops farming worldwide. Currently there is a focus on export markets and on new application areas like tea drying. Well-known customers in the division of surface technologies include major automotive brands, the paint industry as well as paint institutes, but also machine builders and general industry. Within this division there is also currently much emphasis on export activities, but also in industrial coating systems. In air conditioning, which is the strongest in terms of sales, the main market is still Germany – but there are local offices in Austria, Afghanistan, Holland, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

Looking forward

“While the world population is growing, we see potential for growth in surface technologies and in air conditioning. In air conditioning it is working in our favour that automated air conditioning systems have definitely replaced the manual control of room temperatures as a much more efficient method,” says the company spokesperson. “When it comes to growth, we prefer a steady step by step approach, but of course we see that consolidation is happening all over the markets. Acquisitions are part of this, but we cannot say whether there may be one on the cards for us in the future.” n

Jung-Leuchten GmbH

Jung-Leuchten GmbH located in Bodelshausen is very proud to be a supplier of WOLF Anlagen-Technik GmbH & Co. KG for already more than a quarter century and counting. As a innovative and high-performing supplier of industrial lights, along with an experience of over 6 decades, we offer for special requirements a compatible pruduction concept with high quality standards.