International. The fan manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg announced the development of a new generation of radial fans based on the humpback whale, which allow energy savings of up to 10%.
"Our engineers have therefore clearly demonstrated their role at the forefront of bionics and as a leader in ventilation technology," says Chairman of the Board Peter Fenkl.
Ziehl-Abegg offers maximum efficiency of over 70% in its radial fans. Therefore, each approach must be used to optimize this. The angle at which the airflow meets the fan blade depends on the flow volume. The whale has to overcome similar challenges when swimming in the sea: the movement of the fins causes the angle to constantly change. If their pectoral fins were at an angle too steep for the opposite flow this would produce a great deal of turbulence as water passed over them.
"The characteristic features of excessive turbulence are high flow and noise losses," says Dr. Walter Angelis, Technical Director of Ventilation Systems at Ziehl-Abegg. For millennia the humpback whale has optimized the design of its fins. For example, the leading edge of the whale's fins contains bumps the size of a golf ball (technical term: tubers). With its long pectoral fins, a whale weighing 25 to 30 tons can swim very quickly and with great agility. "We have recreated this on the leading edge of the fan blades and implemented it as a wavy profile," Angelis explains.
