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News

• The congress takes off with a welcome expressed to the participants by Prof. Georg Clauss (Managing director of the Technical Academy Heilbronn), Prof. Jürgen Schröder (Principal of the University Heilbronn) and Luc Rivet (General Secretary of the European Lift Association ELA). Dr. Gerhard Schiffner (ThyssenKrupp Aufzugswerke, Germany) who once again has conceptionally prepared the congress and who is in charge of professional issues makes the opening speech and introduces the topics. This year’s congress will cover the following issues: Safety, Sustainability and Technical Innovations.
• The first paper is presented by Beata Pich of the European Commission and covers the recent developments of the European directives relevant for lifts. This paper will focus on the implementation of the new Machinery Directive got in force at the end of 2009 and its practical impacts on the lift industry as well as the forthcoming revision of the Lift Directive. This revision is particularly interesting since it tackles the problem of how the requirements to be met by the protective measures taken against the crushing and squeezing risks in the headroom and in the pit specified in Annex I, Item 2.2, will be changed. Other current topics which are presently discussed in the Lift Directive Working Group will round off the presentation.
• In a combined paper Prof. Anibal T. de Almeida of the University Coimbra/ Portugal and Esfandiar Gharibaan of KONE International/Belgium will present the results of the E4 project (Energy Efficiency of Elevators and Escalators ) and explain possible future consequences for product-specific regulations and their impact on the lift industry . With some 5 million lifts currently running in Europe there is a major energy-saving potential provided the best available technology is used. As only approx. 2 % new lifts are added to the number of existing lifts or replace old units each year, measures taken to improve the energy efficiency of existing installations are more effective and can reduce the strain put on the environment much quicker than measures only applying to new lifts. Different approaches made to initiate new energy-efficiency regulations for lifts and escalators in Europe are presented and the possible future impacts on the products are explained.
• Dr. Christian Studer of Schindler Elevator/ Switzerland explains a highly efficient traction drive system where the performance needed to move the counterweight is tuned in to the performance needed to move the lift car as a function of the load condition. A variable speed transmission is adopted allowing the counterweight to be used as an energy accumulator and the required drive power and energy consumption to be substantially reduced. The technical implementation of this principle and its benefits and disadvantages are discussed.
• Within the scope of the environmental protection management governed by ISO 14 000 companies must view the life cycle of lifts in its entirety, i.e. including material production, material processing, transport, assembly, operation, maintenance, modernization up to the disassembly and disposal. Peter Betz of PE International/Germany will give a practical example to show how an evaluation of the ecological balance is carried out for lifts and which life cycle phases have the biggest environmental impact. Improvements of the ecological balance can be found and implemented making comparative examinations of alternative materials, technologies and/or processes.
• Controlled well ventilation shutters are being used for a couple of years which prevent energy losses by warm air escaping through the ventilation ports. The shutters are only opened if this is absolutely necessary, e.g. in case of a fire inside the building. These controlled ventilation shutters raise a few problems e.g. in connection with the supply of fresh air needed by passengers, the dissipation of heat of the technical equipment installed in the lift shaft and the hygienic conditions especially in low-energy buildings. Guy Stamet of Haus vun der Energie/ Luxemburg has given these issues a lot of attention and will give recommendations on how problems with these shutters can be prevented.
• In the past few years the industrial development methods and practices have changed a lot under the influence of new technologies and production arrangements, specific user and customer demands as well as economical and ecological concerns. How this impacts the lift industry and prompts innovations is explained by Dr. Paula Bello of KONE International/Finland. Case studies from other industry sectors are used to highlight the significance of the different ways of approach. Examples are given showing the effects which industrial developments will have on the future lift industry.
• Gerhard Thumm of ThyssenKrupp Elevator (CENE)/Germany explains the implementation of advanced technologies applied in lift control systems. A new generation of lift control systems will be created treading new functionality and safety paths. The use of an operating system and the consequent integration of energy-efficient concepts already during the planning and design phase is an important issue. The possibilities for optimized software with a guaranteed future which are of growing interest to modern control systems are presented and explained using some examples.
• At the end of 2009 CEN published Amendment A3 of EN 81-1/2 in which the main issue is the demand for additional systems protecting passengers from unintentional movements of the lift car at landings with the doors open. After an 18-month transition period all new lift systems installed as from mid 2011 must be equipped with these protection means. Depending on the type of lift (electrically or hydraulically driven , geared or gearless drive, etc.) several components of the protection means used to detect, trigger and decelerate can be combined. Florian Leutner of Wittur/Austria presents components which can be used for this new safety component.
• The fundamental revision of the EN 81-1 and EN 81-2 standards which is in progress for several years will cause substantial changes of the requirements to be met by some of the lift components and by the overall lift system. Agreement on the proposed revisions prepared in the relevant committees will be achieved until mid 2010 so that they can be included in the two new standard parts EN 81-20 and EN 81-50 and the first drafts of these standard parts will be available. Ian Jones of Otis/UK as chairman of the responsible standardization committee will give a first-hand report on the current status and further road map of the revision and on the most important revision proposals.
• Depending on their nominal speed and their designated use lift systems in Europe are either governed by the Machinery Directive or the Lift Directive. Even though both directives are intended to warrant safe products, different interpretations and conclusions do exist in practice. The Lift Directive is often regarded as being more stringent than the Machinery Directive with respect to certain technical requirements and the conformity assessment procedure. Whether or not this is true or causes different safety levels is analysed by Luciano Faletto of S.A.L.A Consulting/ Italy. Lift system examples are presented and compared under the governance of both Directives.
• The trend towards lighter lift cars to reduce the energy consumption of lift systems causes higher retardations in case of emergency stops. In order to be able to transfer such retardations without slipping ropes, a higher traction ability is required. Both effects can be improved by using a controlled braking system keeping the retardations within certain specified limits. Takaharu Ueda of Mitsubishi Electric Europe/The Netherlands reports on the development of a new brake control system and its performance in case of emergency stops.
• Since the introduction of the MRL lifts more than 10 years ago other possibilities are discussed to optimize the space occupied by a lift system. One of the approaches is the reduction of the dimensions of the headroom and the pit. The size of these two well areas in conventional systems is mainly determined by the permanent safety spaces needed by the technicians carrying out the servicing and inspection work. These permanent safety spaces can be replaced by technical solutions which provide a temporary protection only when servicing and inspection work is carried out. Holger Zerelles of ThyssenKrupp Aufzugswerke/Germany discusses the question how safe permanent and temporary safety spaces are.
• New regulations and technologies will also demand some innovations in the field of remote alarm systems in the years to come. In many countries the classical fixed-line telephone systems are becoming extinct and are replaced by GSM or internet-based systems. The crucial question is how the reliability and safety can be guaranteed by the new systems and how they can be improved. Lars Odlen of Safeline Europe/ Belgium shows how these challenges can be met with respect to remote alarm systems and which innovations can be expected in the years to come.
• For many years the world is targeting to create barrier-free public areas adapted to the needs of the disabled. The new UN convention for the rights of people with disabilities which has to be implemented in all nations is a foundation for the equality of mankind. In Europe, too, politics targeted a barrierfree Europe until 2010 a few years ago. Monica Klenovec (architect and consultant on matters of accessibility in Austria) summarises the status of these developments and explains the legal and technical implementation of needs and requirements.