Sandvik material help reduce electricity consumption
The number of house-holds equipped with air conditioners are predicted to rize significantly over the next few years. Sandvik's material for the compressor valves help reduce the electricity consumption, and subsequently the CO2 emission reduction.
The United States currently uses more energy for air conditioning than all other countries combined. However, as the temperature and incomes in emerging markets rise, so will the number of air conditioners – and the energy used to run them. Recently, the United States passed the 100 million mark for numbers of house-holds equipped with air conditioners. It's been predicted that China will reach that figure in 2015, up from 50 million households in 2010.
As the consumption of cool air rises, the drive to reduce energy usage has led many refrigerator and air conditioning manufacturers to source alternative high- efficiency materials for new low-energy applications. Many countries have also introduced legislation aimed at reducing energy consumption. In China, a major refrigerator compressor manufacturer had to redesign its compressors to meet the targets. The company looked for a material with high fatigue strength combined with high performance and chose Sandvik Hiflex® Strip steel for the compressor valves. Collectively, it is estimated that this move has helped to reduce the country's electricity consumption by around 25 TWh per year – with the subsequent reduction of CO2 emissions by 225 million tonnes annually.