Project to secure Danfoss' shares in an attractive billion market

-    This is an important opportunity for Danfoss. We believe that with speed control, an integrated solution and ultra-high efficiency, we have the winning formula in the market for pump controls.

This is how it sounds from the director of Technology and Innovation at Danfoss Drives, Niels Gade. Danfoss Drives, together with Danfoss Silicon Power, Center for Industrial Electronics (CIE) at SDU and Fachhochschule Kiel, are partners in the project ‘HiCoMMID’, which has received a grant of DKK 28,921,279 from the Danish Energy Agency.

Billion-dollar industry

The world market for speed-controlled pumps is a billion-dollar industry, which is becoming more and more important alongside increasing urbanisation and more and larger building complexes are being built.

It is therefore also a goal that the ‘HiCoMMID’ project will secure Danfoss a position and conquer shares in an attractive market for speed controls and thus generate growth and new jobs.

‘HiCoMMID’ stands for high efficient, compact, modular motor integrated drives.

-    A large part of the world's pumps still run directly on the grid. The ‘HiCoMMID’ project will develop new solutions that will make it attractive for end-users and OEMs to speed control all pumps, says Niels Gade.

Specifically, the project's ambitious goal is to develop an energy-saving, user-friendly and reliable integrated motor control that is more compact and thus takes up less space than the solutions we know today.

-    And then it must be a low-cost solution. That is a top priority. The solution must be attractive in the market for speed-controlled pumps. The most attractive solution.

Enormous energy savings

You can save energy by speed controlling pumps. It's pretty simple. Reducing the speed of the pump when it is not needed to run at full power reduces the energy consumption of up to 40% in the individual pump. And since pumps account for between 20-60% of the total energy consumption of companies in the oil, gas, food and chemical industries, the total sum of potential energy savings is enormous.

-    By theoretically scaling the 'HiCoMMID' project to the many millions of uncontrolled pumps on the market today, a realistic estimate would be that it is possible to reduce energy consumption and associated climate and environmental impacts by up to 18 TWh/year.

18 TWh/year is more than all Danish wind turbines produced together in the record year of 2020.

Not just the winning formula, but also a winning team

One thing is to have the right strategy, another thing is to bring it to life. But also at this point, the project stands strong. CIE, with its internationally renowned researchers and their deep knowledge, plays a crucial role in the project.

Technologies in the field of electrification and energy efficiency are in rapid development, not least thanks to the car industry, which has developed new technology in connection with the millions of electric cars that will be produced in the coming years.

CIE has supported and worked closely with major players in the automotive industry on several projects.

-    With the technological advances we have worked within this context, we will transfer them to this project. We will hand-pick the best solutions, says the head of CIE, Thomas Ebel.

Also, CIE is developing the framework for the integrated solution concerning finding the optimal size and shape.

-    And then we will develop a hardware solution and a digital twin where we can simulate and predict how we find the most optimal solution concerning thermal, electrical and mechanical interactions, says Thomas Ebel.

At the same time, CIE accommodates unique laboratories where the electronic components are stress-tested concerning reliability and life expectancy.

The ‘HiCoMMID’ project was launched on 15 January 2021. The project runs until December 2023.