The magazine of The gea group issue 16 february 2013

the rise of the citiesTackling diabeTessporT goes high-Tech

Welcome to the sixteenth issue of GENERATE, published by GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft.

contact GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft Peter-Müller-Str. 12 40468 Düsseldorf Germany Tel. +49 211 9136-0 generate@gea.com www.gea.com

GEA HEAT ExcHANGERS

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GEA PRocESS ENGiNEERiNG

GEA REfRiGERATioN TEcHNoloGiES

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GEA fARM TEcHNoloGiES

Dear Readers,

The rapid pace of urbanization is one of the most significant megatrends facing the world today. Supporting this growth now and in the future is a challenge for all of us.

While the development of cities has brought prosperity, improved the quality of life for many and encouraged innovation, it has had a negative impact on the environment. our main feature looks at the rise of urban living and how it can continue to grow more sustainably.

At GEA we take our environmental responsibilities seriously and we constantly seek to develop better engineering solutions that use resources more efficiently. our membership of Blue competence, a sustainability initiative of the VDMA – the German Mechanical Engineering industry Association – is an indication of our commitment in this area. You can read all about Blue competence in our question and answer session with Dr. Thomas Schräder from the VDMA.

increasing affluence in urban areas brings with it a demand for more and different foodstuffs. in india, for example, consumption of milk and

milk products is on the rise. The article on page eight looks at how GEA is helping the indian dairy industry to improve its productivity.

one of the world’s most familiar substances is glass. its uses are many, from bottles and drinking glasses to windows and mirrors. Manufacturing it is almost an art form and there are different processes depending on the product. our ‘How to do it’ article reveals the process for making plate glass.

Also in this issue we look at diabetes, an illness that is occurring at an alarming rate. While there is currently no cure for this disease, it can be kept under control with the right treatment. GEA is a world leader in the development of production facilities for the manufacture of insulin.

Jürg oleas chief Executive officer GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft

GENERATE is published by the GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft, one of the largest system providers for food and energy processes with about EuR 5.7 billion revenue in 2012.

listed on MDAx stock index, the company focuses on process technology and components for demanding production processes in various end markets. The group generates about 70 per cent of its revenue from the food and energy industries, both of which have long-term growth prospects.

As of December 31, 2012, the internationally operating technology group had a workforce of about 25.000 employees serving customers in 50 countries. GEA Group is a market and technology leader in its business areas.

FEATURE STORY URbAnizATiOn iS iNcREASiNG RAPiDlY AND AcHiEViNG iT SuSTAiNABlY iS oNE of THE WoRlD’S BiGGEST cHAllENGES

THE fiGHT AGAiNST DiABETES gea innovation aids insulin manufacture

STAR GlAziNG a bright future for a versatile product

HoW To Do iT Manufacturing flat glass

ouT of THiS WoRlD get ready for space-age tourism

iNDiAN DAiRY iNDuSTRY satisfying the growing thirst for milk

ART iN ENGiNEERiNG shaping milking equipment

coNfEcTioNERY cHAMPioN The continuing popularity of the lollipop

WiNNiNG PERfoRMANcE how technology provides the sporting edge

lAST WoRDglobal news from gea

ciTY liViNG expanding the urban landscape sustainably

q&A green engineering

A DAY iN THE lifE nobue beate von Wurzbach, gea’s head of corporate organizational development, on diversity and values

GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 12

diabeTes has been described as one of The MosT challenging healTh probleMs of The 21sT cenTury. iT is Widespread, groWing aT an epideMic raTe and in 2011 killed More Than 4.5 Million people. This is a serious illness. and The scale of The probleM is huge.

Insulin in the

diabetes

war

Worldwide in 2011, there were almost 370 million diabetics. The international Diabetes federation (iDf) estimates

that by 2030 there will be in excess of 550 million – or ten per cent of all the adults on the planet. World Health organization figures suggest that, by then, diabetes deaths will have increased by two-thirds.

But diabetes is not only serious. it is also ruinously expensive. The cost of treating diabetes worldwide in 2011 was an astonishing uSD 465 billion according to the iDf – or 11 per cent of total global healthcare spending. in the uK, the number of prescriptions for treating the disease rose by 50 per cent between 2006 and 2012, and Barbara Young, chief executive of Diabetes uK, recently warned that “we face the real possibility of diabetes bankrupting the National Health Service within a generation”.

Diabetes is a group of incurable diseases in which the sufferer has high levels of blood sugar as a result of disruption to the production, in the pancreas, of the hormone insulin.

There are two main types of human diabetes. in Type 1, the body either does not produce insulin at all, or produces it in wholly inadequate quantities. This type is often inherited and/or genetic. in Type 2, insufficient insulin is produced, or the body’s cells fail to use it properly. Type 2 diabetes is largely the result of lifestyle factors – and it accounts for 90 per cent of all cases.

Undiagnosed Diabetes has traditionally been viewed as a disease of affluence. in most rich countries it is the fourth or fifth leading cause of death. However, 80 per cent of diabetics actually live in countries that are classified by the World Bank as low-or middle-income: and, worryingly, an estimated 183 million people – or 50 per cent of the global total – are unaware of the fact that they even have the disease. in Africa, 80 per cent of diabetics are undiagnosed.

it is from these poorer countries that the bulk of the epidemic increase will come as people live longer and, as a result of rapidly increasing urbanization, eat higher calorie diets while doing less physical activity. Yet the health systems in many of these impacted countries are not currently equipped to meet the rising demand.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is the world’s biggest countries that have the most diabetics. Today’s top three – china, india and the uSA – are also forecast to be the top three in 2030. But the prevalence of diabetes – the proportion of a population

that has the disease – paints a very different picture. four of the top ten are Pacific island states: the other six are all in the Middle East, and the only change over the next 20 years is predicted to be the order in which they appear. Around 20 per cent of people in the Middle East are diabetic. Yet until late last year, there was no insulin manufacturing anywhere in the region.

Life-saving injections of insulin are the main form of treatment for Type 1 diabetes, where they are life-saving. They are also often required in the later stages of Type 2 of the illness. Synthetic insulin has been available since 1921 as a result of Nobel Prize-winning work by a group of canadian scientists. And, until the 1970s, clinical insulin was mainly derived from the pancreases of cows and pigs as insulin from these sources is almost identical to that of humans.

However in 1982, the first biosynthetic ‘human’ insulin was produced using genetic engineering techniques and recombinant DNA (r-DNA) technology. in simple terms, this involves actual human DNA being inserted into host cells – often E. coli bacteria or bakers’ yeast cells. The hosts are then allowed to grow and reproduce normally, and, due to the inserted human DNA, produce a synthetic version of human insulin.

This is the process being used at the brand new, state-of-the-art manufacturing plant built by Julphar (Gulf Pharmaceutical industries) in the united Arab Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. Representing an investment of more than uSD 135 million, this 20,000 square-meter plant is one of the largest insulin production facilities in the world and will manufacture 1,500 kilograms of product a year.

GEA Process Engineering, which supplies specialist GEA Diessel process systems for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, was first approached by Julphar to work on the project in 2006. over the next five years the company was responsible for the planning, engineering, delivery and commissioning of the entire sterile pharmaceutical production system. The plant has 5,000 square meters of clean rooms and more than 17 kilometers of clean pipework.

The GEA Diessel package also included managing the process integration of all the main manufacturing elements such as fermentation, harvesting, chromatography, filtration and freeze drying.

GEA Mechanical Equipment, a world leader in the manufacture of insulin, was also closely involved in the project. its GEA

Westfalia Separator centrifugal technology is central to the production process. The five separators installed at Ras Al Khaimah are used to recover the E. coli bacteria from the fermentation broth, purify the output and concentrate the insulin crystals following their precipitation.

The Julphar plant, commissioned in 2012, can be seen as part of a new wave.

Global market until very recently, more than 90 per cent of the world’s insulin was produced by just three European and American pharmaceutical companies, with the Danish firm Novo Nordisk at one time accounting for around half of global supply. But with ever-increasing demand, increasing supply will surely follow.

A global insulin market worth almost uSD 12.5 billion in 2011 has been forecast, by Transparency Market Research in the uS, to reach more than uSD 32 billion by 2018. companies in india and china are already manufacturing insulin for domestic markets and export.

So where next? Diabetes isn’t going away and can’t be cured. But it can be treated – which presents both a human need and a market opportunity.

high pressure homogenizaTion Manufacturing biosynthetic human insulin involves fermenting cells and then separating them in a high speed centrifuge. The cells then need to be ruptured.

GEA Niro Soavi very high pressure homogenizers from GEA Mechanical Equipment offer a quick and effective method of disrupting the cells that can be reproduced on an industrial scale. The pressure can be varied to achieve the right degree of cell rupture and the equipment can be sterilized without being disassembled.

WhaT is insulin? Insulin is a hormone that is an important part of the process by which living organisms convert food into glucose – the sugar which cells and bodies use as energy for movement, growth and repair.

All animals need it – except for certain insects – and its action is almost identical in creatures as different as nematode worms and humans.

2 GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 3

Glass has come a long way since 4000 Bc when man first discovered obsidian – a naturally occurring

substance produced when the intense heat of a volcano melts sand at the edge of its crater – and used it to coat the tips of spears.

Today glass is a very competitive, hi-tech global industry. its startling adaptability is what makes it so popular. Through subtle alterations in its chemical and physical composition, we can process it into many different shapes and textures. its applications extend to pharmacy, electronics, optics, construction and lighting, among many others. Alkali-barium silicate glass is used to absorb harmful x-rays from televisions. Glass ceramics, very resistant to thermal shock, are ideal for cooker hobs, gas or coal fire windows and even missile nosecones. Glass optical fibers that can guide light and transmit images round corners are used in endoscopy, in changeable traffic warning signs, and are key to telephone and internet technology.

Medical breakthroughs The applications of glass in the field of medicine are many and varied. its pristine and non-porous qualities make it ideal for sterile environments. Biocompatible glass is used extensively to repair and replace diseased or damaged bone, for example. Glass is also playing a key role in the treatment of malignant tumors. As an alternative to external beam radiotherapy, alumina-silicate glass microspheres containing radioactive yttrium can be injected into the bloodstream to attack the tumor in a more localized way.

A newly toughened glass has recently been manufactured to make stronger glass cartridges for EpiPen injectors – used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions. Another new project is evaluating bio-active borate glass for healing large wounds such as skin ulcers. The material has antimicrobial and fibrous qualities and releases bio-active ions. Antimicrobial glass also has the potential to kill bacteria and viruses including MRSA.

Glass and communications But it is perhaps the fusion of new communications technologies with exciting developments from glass-manufacturing companies that will capture the imagination of everyday consumers.

An obvious example is the increasing need for thin but highly durable glass for mobile communications devices such as mobile phones and tablets. When the late Steve Jobs was developing the iPhone, he wanted a touch screen that wouldn’t scratch like plastic but feared glass was still too breakable. Enter corning, the uS-based glass manufacturing leader that produced what came to be known as Gorilla Glass and, in 2012, the 20 per cent thinner Gorilla Glass 2: the resilient but sensitive-to-touch material now used in more than a billion mobile devices worldwide.

Vision of tomorrow Among others, Microsoft has been looking at the possibilities for transparent computer displays. in particular, how glass can be used to project a 3D image that a user can control from behind the image. Transparent or otherwise, glass is playing a pivotal role in ubiquitous computing – in which information processing is thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities.

corning has released a series of visionary videos entitled ‘A Day Made of Glass’ which show interactive touch displays on kitchen work surfaces, car dashboards and wardrobe doors. Each is made of strong but thin glass that can carry complex electronic circuits and nano functionality. Though these applications may not all yet be affordable or scalable, it is clear that glass is the material that will make them a reality in the not too distant future.

Multifunctional glass Still in the world of technology, Google has been working on ‘Project Glass’, a head-mounted display that resembles the frame of a pair of glasses. in place of lenses, the device uses glass and mirrors to project a computer display onto one eye. The technology adds a digital layer to what the wearer sees, and provides internet access using voice commands, GPS and a camera that takes pictures at the nod of a head. fashion guru Diane von fürstenberg’s models wore the devices at New York fashion Week in spring 2012 and they are expected to be on the consumer market later this year or early in 2014.

Meanwhile at the pioneering Massachusetts institute of Technology (MiT), a team has been developing a new glass that eliminates some of the drawbacks we have hitherto accepted as inevitable. Their not yet patented ‘multifunctional glass’ will not produce glare, will be self-cleaning and will also repel water.

The manufacturing process uses a surface pattern of nano-scale cones of glass that are approximately five times as tall as they are wide, resulting in glass which is very clear but has no reflection. This will benefit mobile phone and tablet users trying to read their screen in bright light. And since water will bounce off the surface, it will be ideal for car windscreens, swimming goggles and cameras. its self-cleaning qualities mean it can be used as surface glass to protect photovoltaic cells which otherwise can lose up to 40 per cent of their efficiency in six months because of accumulated dirt.

So the glass of tomorrow can be non-reflective, weather-resistant, self-cleaning and smart. its quality, functionality and, crucially, its affordability are progressing fast. What is indisputable is that its role in our daily lives is growing in importance.

revolutionthe glass

glass is so fundaMenTal To Modern life ThaT MosT of us scarcely give iT a ThoughT. aT besT, We MighT associaTe iT WiTh drinking beer, WiTh WindoWs or WiTh crysTal vases. buT in coMbinaTion WiTh neW Technologies iT Will play a key role in innovaTion over The nexT feW years.

GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 54

in 1952 sir alastair pilkington invented the float process for making clear, tinted and coated flat glass for glazing. There are now around 260 float plants around the world with a combined weekly output of 800,000 tonnes of glass. a typical float plant makes around 6,000 kilometers of glass a year in thicknesses from 0.4 millimeters to 25 millimeters and up to three meters wide. This is how the process works.

MixinG

Most types of commercial glass are made from fine grains of silica (sand), sodium oxide, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide as well as recycled glass. The proportions vary depending on the end product. As consistency of composition is essential to successful glass manufacture, the ingredients for each batch must be carefully weighed and mixed.

FLoat bath

from the furnace the glass is poured onto a surface of molten tin in the float bath where it forms into a smooth ribbon. As it flows along the bath, the temperature of the glass gradually reduces from 1,100 degrees celsius to 600 degrees celsius. Top rollers draw out the glass to the required width and thickness.

gea and glass manufacTure In common with most industrial processes, manufacturing glass creates gaseous pollutants and also waste heat. GEA Process Engineering is the market leader in industrial gas cleaning for the iron and steel, nonferrous-metallurgy, chemistry and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), cement and glass industries, supplying more than 15,000 Bischoff installations worldwide.

One of these is at the AGC Flat Glass Europe plant in Cuneo Italy. The company was so satisfied with the supplied gas cleaning technology that it appointed GEA Process Engineering to install an energy recovery system based on an ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) turbine. The GEA team worked closely with AGC to engineer and customize the unique system for the flat glass industry. It is designed to produce 1,330 kilowatts of electrical energy out of the heat from the exhaust gases into electrical energy without affecting the quality of the glass or the gas cleaning process.

The first installation of its kind, it also reduces CO2 emissions by up to 5,540 tonnes a year. There are three main modules. First the Waste Heat Recovery Unit uses GEA Heat Exchangers to cool down the exhaust gases from the process and transfer the heat to a carrier fluid (thermal oil). Next the ORC module transfers the heat of the carrier fluid to an organic fluid that vaporizes and drives a turbine coupled to a generator to create electricity. Finally, air coolers, also supplied by GEA Heat Exchangers, cool down the water which condenses the organic fluid vapor back to a liquid.

For the GEA team there were the twin challenges of limited space and a tight timescale – the work had to be completed during a planned shutdown. “But the team from GEA was very skilled and experienced, understood our business and our needs and worked with us the whole way to create the optimum design,” says Andrea Angelucci, Engineering Manager at the AGC Cuneo plant. “I am very pleased with the overall result and the way we achieved it.”

The system was commissioned in 2012 and could become the standard for all glass production plants.

CoatinG

Next, coatings made from metal oxides are applied to the cooling glass ribbon. These will change the optical properties of the finished glass, for example to reflect visible and infrared wavelengths. fume extractors draw off the reactive gases created during this process into scrubbing units.

anneaLinG

As the glass ribbon cools it develops stresses that could cause it to break when it goes through the cutter. To avoid this happening the glass is conveyed into an annealing furnace, known as a lehr, where it is reheated and cooled to remove any stress points.

inspeCtion

At every stage of the process the glass is inspected by a laser scanner capable of taking more than 100 million measurements a second across the ribbon. The technology can detect flaws not visible to the naked eye, such as a bubble or grain of sand that hasn’t melted. The data is fed to the cutters so that they can avoid any flaws.

MeLtinG

The batch is melted in a furnace at 1,500 degrees celsius. As it flows through the furnace the molten glass is held at a high temperature for up to 50 hours to allow the trapped air bubbles to escape before being cooled down to 1,100 degrees celsius.

CUttinG

The glass ribbon is fed through computerized cutters which cut the glass to the size required by customers. 7

Making flat glass

6 GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 7

on the rise in india

Milk market

india is already The World’s leading Milk producer. buT as The counTry’s burgeoning Middle class becoMes More affluenT, and requireMenTs for Milk and Milk-relaTed producTs increase, india needs To find Ways of iMproving dairy producTiviTy To keep pace WiTh anTicipaTed deMand.

india is often described as a country of contrasts – the haves and the have-nots, the new and the old.

This dichotomy is equally applicable to the country’s milk industry. india may currently account for 17 per cent of global milk production but of that only a third passes through the organized sector – co-operatives and government and private sector dairies. The remainder comes from the unorganized sector, which effectively means millions of smallholder farmers in rural areas with small herds of cows or buffalo. This unorganized sector accounts for approximately 70 per cent of the milk produced in india. for india to satisfy the demands of its population of 1.1 billion for milk and milk-related products, this needs to change.

Growing demand india’s milk production is growing by four per cent per year but estimates suggest that customer demand is growing at twice that rate. in 2010 india’s Dairy Development Board drew up a National Dairy Plan aimed at doubling the country’s milk production by 2020. There are two key strands to this plan: improving the productivity of the milk animals; and increasing the amount of milk processed by the co-operatives and dairies by growing membership of the co-operatives and the network of milk collection facilities.

Traditionally, the indian dairy system has been based on a low cost – low output model. farmers in largely rural areas kept small numbers of cattle and had low production costs but also low milk yields. The National Dairy Plan aims to teach farmers better livestock management skills and give them access to better feeds. The hope is that the farmers will increase the size of their herds and the end result will be higher-yielding

milk animals. The Government is also involved in a program to improve various indian indigenous breeds.

The second strand in the National Dairy Plan is increasing the amount of milk processed by the co-operatives – and the plan aims to increase the amount of milk handled by the organized sector from 30 per cent to 65 per cent over the next 15 years. one of the keys to making this happen is to provide rural milk producers with greater access to the organized milk processing sector.

White revolution Milk co-operatives are nothing new in india: they were central to the country’s so-called White Revolution which started in the 1960s and helped india become the world’s leading milk producer. The co-operatives set up in Gujarat after india’s independence in 1947 were among the pioneers in the dairy industry. The Gujarat model operated a structure that collected, processed and marketed dairy products at village, district and state levels. in addition the co-operative provided support to farmers in areas such as veterinary care and feed. When india’s Government set up the National Dairy Development Board in 1965 to facilitate growth in the dairy sector, one of its very first actions was to try to replicate the Gujarat model throughout the country. The Gujarat co-operatives subsequently grew to become the Gujarat co-operative Milk Marketing federation (GcMMf), india’s largest food product marketing company. its Amul brand is one of india’s top milk products.

Not surprisingly, the vast potential of the milk industry and associated milk products means overseas companies are vying to either partner up with the country’s key dairy players or build new milk processing centers.

for the GEA Group, india’s milk industry is the country’s most important sector and equipment and technologies from GEA have been in use in the sector for 60 years. All GEA’s businesses are represented and the Group is increasingly marketing itself as a total solutions provider across the country.

Growth of co-operatives GEA Process Engineering india was involved right at the start of india’s milk revolution as a supplier to liquid milk processing and milk powder co-operative plants in Gujarat. As the co-operatives grew in number and expanded their operations across india over the years, GEA Process Engineering successfully won repeat business from its customers. As a result, GEA Processing Engineering india’s milk processing equipment is used in many of the country’s liquid milk dairies and milk powder plants, including the country’s biggest milk powder plant in operation at Mother Dairy, Gandhinagar, which can produce one hundred tonnes of milk powder a day.

As the indian milk industry focuses on improving both the quality and quantity of milk produced by the organized sector, GcMMf’s Amul business became the first dairy company to order GEA Mechanical Equipment’s bacteria removing centrifuge, which improves product safety and shelf life. GEA farm Technologies, GEA Heat Exchangers and GEA Mechanical Equipment are all active players in a sector that is becoming more industrialized.

As well as a demand for more milk, the indian dairy market is also seeing an increased demand for milk-related products like curd, butter milk, india’s drinking yoghurt lassi and cheese. These areas also represent opportunities for all the GEA companies operating in india.

GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 98

half The World’s seven billion people are ciTy dWellers Who accounT for More Than 70 per cenT of global greenhouse gas eMissions. noW, as urbanizaTion conTinues To groW rapidly, The challenge is hoW To achieve iT More susTainably.

GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 1110

By 2050 the number of people living in urban areas is forecast to reach 6.3 billion. What’s remarkable about this

figure is that it’s roughly equal to the total world population for 2002. This means that, if the planet’s human inhabitants reach the predicted nine billion mark, urban dwellers will make up two-thirds of the population, compared with around half today.

Yet, while the new and expanding cities may be good news for future economic prosperity and offer millions of people a better quality of life, unless the urbanization process changes the environmental wound will get wider.

According to the WWf, if we continue to consume resources at the current rate, we will need the equivalent of two planet Earths by 2030. in its ‘living Planet Report 2012’ the WWf warns that the one-way traffic approach of taking what we need and when to satisfy demand for food, energy, housing, transport and other goods and services, is putting a severe strain on the ecosystem.

Alarmingly, the report states: “in 2008, the most recent year for which data are available, our Ecological footprint exceeded the Earth’s bio-capacity – the area of land and productive oceans available to produce renewable resources and absorb co2 emissions – by more than 50 per cent.” it describes how each person’s Ecological footprint depends on a number of factors, including where they live, the amount of goods, services and resources they use plus the waste they generate. To put this in perspective, the report says that if, for example, we all lived like the average indonesian we would use up just two-thirds of the Earth’s bio-capacity.

But if everyone adopted the lifestyle of the average American, four Earths would be required to regenerate our annual demand on nature’s bounty.

Encouragingly, while the inexorable rise in urbanization is a given, the way it will develop now and in the future is under serious debate. “The question isn’t whether to urbanize but how,” said Dr. Michail fragkias of Arizona State university. “unfortunately, today’s ongoing pattern of urban sprawl puts humanity at severe risk due to environmental problems.” Dr. fragkias was among 3,000 scientists and environmental experts who took part in the ‘Planet under Pressure’ conference.

Held over four days in london during March 2012, the conference reviewed the latest research findings on the state of the planet and recommended a series of practical solutions. These included: a set of sustainability goals for all nations; creating a uN Sustainable Development council to integrate social, economic and environmental policy globally; an international research program and providing regular global sustainability analyses.

“in the last decade we have become a highly interconnected society and are beginning to realize this new state of humanity can be harnessed for rapid innovation,” said conference co-chair Dr. Mark Stafford Smith. “But we need to provide more open access to knowledge, we need to move away from GDP as the only measure of progress, and we need a new way of working internationally that is fit for the 21st century.”

The proposals were incorporated into a ‘State of the Planet Declaration’, which set out how current international arrangements were failing to deal with long-term challenges such as climate change and loss of biodiversity in an interconnected way. uN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the publication of the document was timely, coming just two months before the uN conference on Sustainable Development: Rio+20, held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012. There heads of state and high-level representatives renewed their commitment to sustainable development and to promoting “an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for our planet and for present and future generations”.

Then, in September, the uN launched the Sustainable Development Solutions Network which brings together scientists, technical experts and business leaders to tackle the most pressing environmental, social and economic problems. They set up ten global expert groups to support problem-solving in numerous critical areas, including economic growth, reducing poverty, access to healthcare and transferring to low carbon energy.

permanent settlements New technology has always been an essential part of the urbanization story. The first towns were the direct result of improvements in agriculture and transport. Previous settlements tended to be temporary, lasting only as long as the soil produced good crops. The community would then up sticks and move to a new site.

As farming methods became more sophisticated, farmers were able to produce surplus food. This, together with the invention of the wheel, made it practical to transport the surplus from the countryside to the towns.

Because early cities and towns were often under threat of attack they were usually surrounded by walls and towers. The rich and powerful lived in the center, while the poor lived further away, sometimes even beyond the city walls. Many of the ancient cities, such as those in Egypt, Mesopotamia and the indus Valley, are thought to have been built to a plan. However, the credit for inventing urban planning lies with the Greek architect Hippodamus. in around 407 Bc he designed the city of Miletus, in what is now Turkey, using a grid layout. The style was copied for other Greek and also Roman cities.

As cities developed and grew into mercantile hubs people flocked to them, attracted by the promise of jobs and a better quality of life. urban centers drew people from a wide area and from all walks of life, creating a diverse population.

But the biggest upswing in urbanization was sparked by the industrial Revolution as people migrated from the countryside on an unprecedented scale to work in the new factories. unfortunately, employment

opportunities were not necessarily matched by better living standards. By the 19th century many of these new industrial workers found themselves living in crowded slums, breathing air polluted by the smoke from their employment activities.

Gradually, governments and city authorities recognized that urban growth and development needed to be better controlled and healthier environments provided for the workers. An early example of modern urban planning is Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s remodeling of Paris in the 1850s. His solution was to demolish parts of the old city and build wide boulevards. He also set regulations for all building facades, public parks, monuments, sewerage systems and water works. Meanwhile, in Barcelona, engineer ildefons cerdà devised an extension to the city consisting of a series of 550 uniform blocks built around central gardens. Early in the 20th century the uK tried to improve urban life by building so called garden cities. These were specially designed towns that incorporated green spaces.

As urbanization continued to increase rapidly during the 20th century, it gave rise to a new phenomenon – suburbia. The new suburbs tended to provide homes for the poorest while the wealthy enjoyed all the advantages of living in the vibrant city centers. However, this demographic was reversed in the uS in the 1950s and 60s as the moneyed classes sought bigger and better properties outside the city. And, of course, they could afford the travel. This trend has since been repeated in other countries.

Farm oF the FutureFeeding the world when it reaches the expected nine billion in 2050 will require extra land the size of Brazil to grow enough crops.

And, with most of the population living in cities, experts have recognized the need to change current farming practices. A potential solution is the vertical farm where food is grown in and on top of buildings in cities.

Once considered science fiction, vertical farms are becoming a reality, such as the one in a converted meat packing plant in Chicago. So far it has five tenants whose products are sold to local markets and restaurants.

But this won’t solve the problem of how to accommodate dairy herds and other large livestock. GEA Farm Technologies, a leading provider of solutions and systems for milk production and livestock farming, could have the answer to making dairy farming more sustainable.

The company has developed a holistic vision of the ‘Farm of the Future’ that encompasses all the key operations of a dairy farm from animal feeding, milk production, automation and waste collection to training, maintenance and consumption of energy and water.

Norm Schuring at GEA Farm Technologies in the US is VP for the Farm of the Future concept. He says the big challenge for farmers is producing enough high- quality milk profitably against a background of rising animal feed, energy and land costs.

“Farmers are looking for system solutions that will improve their profitability and sustainability,” Schuring explains. “Reducing the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions and achieving higher yields though better animal nutrition and milk handling practices is only possible with sophisticated systems. GEA Farm Technologies’ focus is to research and develop new and creative multi-functional processes, adding revenues to the operation. Energy production, fertilizer value from waste and manure, water recycling and reuse are processes that can add revenues while reducing costs.”

GEA Farm Technologies can provide the expertise and technology that will enable farms to adapt to meet the increasing demand for dairy products in a sustainable and future-oriented way. Farm of the Future was launched at EuroTier 2012, the global agricultural show.

if everyone adopTed The lifesTyle of The average aMerican, four earThs Would be required To regeneraTe our annual deMand on naTure’s bounTy.

GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 1312

Rise of the megacities Today, while the well-established cities get bigger, the developing economies are rapidly catching up. Every two years since 1988, the Population Division of the uN Department of Economic and Social Affairs has issued urban and rural population projections for all countries.

The latest figures, published in 2011, estimate that, by 2020, half the population of Asia will live in urban areas while, for African countries, it will be half by 2035. latin America and the caribbean will also see their urban populations increase. overall, by 2050 the world will be 67 per cent urban, of which developing regions will account for 64 per cent.

one of the most significant landmarks in the urban landscape is the megacity, defined as having a population of ten million and above. in 1970 just two cities met the criteria – New York and Tokyo. Now there are 23: Asia has 13, latin America four and two each in Africa, Europe and North America. By 2025 the number of megacities is expected to grow to 37 – accounting for 13.6 per cent of the world urban population.

The most populous megacity is Tokyo, with 37.2 million, followed by Delhi at 22.7 million and Mexico city, 20.4 million. in fact, if Tokyo was a country it would be the 35th largest in population terms. That’s bigger than uganda, canada or Algeria.

by 2050 The World Will be 67 per cenT urban, of Which developing regions Will accounT for 64 per cenT.

urban groWThThis is the first time in human history that the majority of the world’s population lives in urban areas.

fasT food Today’s urban lifestyles demand a range of processed foods that are easy and quick to prepare yet still nutritious.

GEA companies specialize in equipment and processes to enable manufacturers to improve the quality and prolong the shelf life of their products. From a single machine to a complete production line, GEA Food Solutions is a major supplier of machinery for preparing, marinating, processing, slicing and packaging meat, poultry, fish, cheese and other foods. The company’s test center at Bakel in the Netherlands gives customers the opportunity to try out new processes – for example, a cooker with a high-velocity air flow which ‘fries’ foods without oil so that they are healthier.

High pressure homogenization is an important part of processing beverages, sauces and other fluid products. By reducing and standardizing the particles, homogenization makes for a more stable product and improves both texture and taste. Niro Soavi homogenizers from GEA Mechanical Equipment are used in processing many foods and drinks that are part of consumers’ daily lives including fruit juices, ketchup, salad dressings, baby foods and tomato paste. The GEA Westfalia Separator® prolong system, adapted from a method used to manufacture cheese, has been successfully applied to the production of ESL (extended shelf life) milk. The system reduces the bacteria count by 90 per cent before pasteurization, has a low energy consumption and provides a product with the same vitamin content as traditional fresh milk and a shelf life of at least 21 days.

GEA Process Engineering helps prolong the shelf life of food with its GEA Niro freeze dryers. They work by drying deep-frozen food in a vacuum to vaporize the ice. With this method, products keep their shape, taste and nutritional content, and are light and easy to transport. Freeze drying can be applied to fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood, ready meals and beverages. GEA Process Engineering also supplies TDS process lines used to make many well-known products, including soups, ice cream and bakery items.

Finally, GEA Refrigeration Technologies provides innovative freezing and chilling technology throughout the production, transport and storage of food.

clean air Urbanization is often linked to air pollution, mainly from power plants, factories and vehicle exhausts. GEA Process Engineering is a major player in environmental protection with its Bischoff and Niro technology.

As a full system supplier for the industrial gas cleaning including planning, commissioning and maintenance, GEA Process Engineering is the market leader in the key industries; iron and steel, nonferrous-metallurgy, chemistry and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), cement and glass with more than 15,000 Bischoff installations worldwide. The Bischoff range also includes energy recovery systems to produce energy from the available hot gases.

A unique feature of the GEA Niro technology is the Niro spray drying absorption (SDA) process. Since the 1970s it has been removing acidic pollutants, heavy metal particles and dust from flue gases at fossil-fuelled power stations, waste incinerators and steel plants worldwide. The SDA process also doesn’t generate any waste water.

GEA Heat Exchangers also plays a key role in helping chemical plants to comply with emissions regulations. For example, it supplied two mini desublimators to a chemical plant in Belgium to reduce emissions from naphthalene tanks.

essenTial To urban life Technology from GEA is at the heart of many industrial and processing activities – from power generation to food supply – that are the lifeblood of urban living.

Many of these processes involve transferring heat from one medium to another during cooling, heating, condensing and evaporating. GEA Heat Exchangers has one of the most comprehensive portfolios of heat exchange equipment in the world.

All offer high heat transfer capability, energy-saving potential and enhanced operating conditions. GEA heat exchange equipment is found in power stations, oil refineries, petrochemical plants, gas installations and biomass facilities. It’s actively involved in the renewable energy sector, with condensers at more than 40 solar power installations in Spain. The condensers cool the exhaust steam, generated by the sun, which drives the turbines.

GEA Heat Exchangers plays an important role in producing and storing food and beverages, for instance Ecoflex plate heat exchangers are used in manufacturing cheese and beer, while Goedhart, Küba and Searle coolers and condensers are necessary for storing and transporting fresh produce. GEA Heat Exchangers equipment, including Air Treatment systems and Delbag filters, maintains the correct climate in offices, data centers, hospitals, airports, museums, schools, shopping malls and many other public buildings.

All GEA Heat Exchangers’ technology takes into account ecological and geographical conditions. For example, the company has pioneered the use of air rather than water for industrial coolers. This conserves groundwater, prevents the warming of surface water and is ideal in areas where water is scarce.

The urban landscape can be a problem when it rains. Because the ground, which normally absorbs the rainwater, is mostly covered by buildings and roads, 2H GEOdek® infiltration boxes store the rainwater and release it slowly into the ground. This reduces the quantity of water channeled into the sewers and on to the sewage treatment works. However, during heavy rainfall the water can exceed the sewage treatment works’ capacity. In which case the overflow bypasses the sewage works and is discharged into the rivers. GEA Heat Exchangers provides the 2H TUBEdek® clarifier that improves the capacity of the stormwater treatment tanks handling the overflow.

Public transport is another aspect of urbanization involving GEA Heat Exchangers. For example, GEA Renzmann & Grünewald transformer oil pumps are used to circulate oil in railway traction transformers. The pump’s special design, which avoids any additional sealing and assures a safe and reliable operation, helps the transformers to operate with minimal noise and vibration. In addition, the light weight of the pump helps lower the train’s energy consumption.

International water conservation policy underlines the importance of treating waste water. GEA Mechanical Equipment has supplied decanters to water treatment plants worldwide, the largest being in Singapore. With the aid of 30 decanters from GEA the plant handles around 800,000 m3 of waste water per day.

14 GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 15

Villa flora seTs green sTandardsAmong the things you wouldn’t expect to see at an international garden show is an office building. But that was indeed one of the highlights at Floriade 2012, the World Horticultural Expo, held in the Dutch city of Venlo.

Called Villa Flora and designed by Volantis BV (Venlo) on the basis of a concept from the Dutch architect Jón Kristinsson, the 30 meter-high glass building is the greenest office in the Netherlands. It’s a combination of offices and giant greenhouse that brings together people and plants in a sustainable setting.

As well as being built from recyclable construction materials – known as the cradle-to-cradle principle – Villa Flora is CO2 neutral and uses solar panels to generate electricity. Even organic waste is collected and transformed into biogas which, in turn, produces heat.

To heat and cool the building, an underground long-term heat and cold-storage system with two dual-well systems goes into action, in combination with HVAC systems from GEA Heat Exchangers and a heat pump from GEA Refrigeration Technologies. Cold water pumped upward from one of the wells cools the building in summer. This water absorbs heat from the building with GEA Heat Exchangers´ Fan Coil Units and then flows into the second well system. Until the following winter, the water flows approximately 100 meters to the second well system, where it is pumped up to the building for heating. However, since its initial temperature is not sufficient for building heating, the GEA heat pump driven by a GEA Grasso compressor raises the water temperature to the required level.

GEA Heat Exchangers’ air handling systems also provide a hygienic change of air within Villa Flora. In the offices, air supply flows through outlets in double floors which serve to heat the floor and cool the ceiling. Latent heat accumulators (PCM – Phase Change Materials) balance the internal temperature in the air handling systems.

no to the status quo There’s little doubt that urbanization has brought enormous benefits in terms of greater access to employment, education, transport, healthcare and a whole host of other services. cities are the engines of economic growth that drive global trade and provide the service centers for the information technology industries. As they attract new jobs and investment, cities bring together resources to generate ideas and productive uses of new technology.

However, there are several downsides to urbanization: the loss of arable land, pressure on resources, crime, violence, overcrowding, severe traffic congestion, vulnerability to natural disasters and pollution. And it’s estimated that city residents are responsible for over 70 per cent of fossil fuel-related co2 emissions.

in July 2012, Beijing experienced its worst storm in more than 60 years, with 215 millimeters of rain falling in 16 hours. chinese meteorologists suggested that the effects were made worse because the city acted as an urban heat island. in other words it was higher in temperature than the surrounding areas. Heat from the city pushed up the clouds, which produced more rain as they gained altitude so that the downpour was more locally concentrated.

Worldwide, traffic congestion costs economies an estimated one to three per cent of GDP – a problem that not only wastes fuel and causes pollution, but also time. for example, New York city’s congestion costs an estimated uSD 4 billion a year in lost productivity. Meanwhile in Sao Paulo, Brazil, tailbacks in and out of the city extend on average 180 kilometers at peak times. on a really bad day the jams can be as long as 295 kilometers. The Thai Government’s policy of refunding tax for first-time car buyers has brought five million vehicles to the streets of Bangkok – over three million more than the city can comfortably handle and in the indonesian capital, Jakarta, citizens plan their lives around traffic jams.

Many urban problems are partly due to taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Professor Karen Seto of Yale university, one of the delegates at the Planet under Pressure conference explained: “People everywhere have increasingly embraced Western styles of architecture and urbanization, which are resource-intense and often not adapted to local climates. The North American suburb has gone global, and car-dependent urban developments are more and more the norm.”

The conference revealed that, unless development patterns change, by 2030 humanity’s urban footprint will occupy an additional 1.5 million square kilometers – an area the size of france, Germany and Spain combined.

sustainable solutions But it’s not all doom and gloom. The words ‘climate change’, ‘carbon footprint’, ‘environmentally-friendly’ and ‘energy-saving’ have crept into common parlance as people heed the experts’ warnings against maintaining business as usual.

Exploiting renewable and cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels, such as solar and wind power, is on the increase. So too are initiatives for recycling waste materials and the development of manufacturing methods that use less water and energy and give off fewer emissions.

The uN agency for human settlements, uN-HABiTAT, works with governments, local organizations and the private sector to promote better urban planning and help cities to improve living conditions and the livelihoods of people living on the poverty line. Through regular reports on the state of the world’s cities and the World urban forum, held every two years, uN-HABiTAT galvanizes governments and experts behind the need to create safer, cleaner cities that provide equal opportunities for all.

Green building is another concept that has come to prominence in recent years. Also known as green construction or sustainable building, it involves creating structures designed to reduce their environmental impact throughout their lifecycle from design to demolition. construction materials are sustainably sourced, renewable and recyclable. The buildings usually run on solar power or other renewable energies and include water-saving features, such as ultra-low flush toilets and low-flow shower heads.

More than 80 countries now have green building councils that promote the sustainable urban development agenda among their respective governments and industry experts. These councils’ efforts are supported by the World Green Building council which offers advice and reviews green construction activities globally.

Some of the most radical sustainable solutions are to be found in the so-called eco cities where urban planning is closely linked with environmental management. Germany is one of the countries taking the lead in this direction. for example, in freiburg all houses are built to a low energy consumption standard – some homes actually generate more energy than they consume – and one district is completely car free.

Elsewhere in Europe, copenhagen has won recognition for its environmental policies.

The Danish capital tops the European Green city index, scoring highly in seven out of eight categories, including energy efficiency, transport and environmental governance. copenhagen has set itself the target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2025 and aims to be the best city in the world for cycling.

The above-mentioned index is one of a series drawn up by the Economist intelligence unit. covering 120 cities in Europe, latin America, Asia, North America and Africa, the series is intended to provide a benchmark for urban environmental sustainability. for example, the star performer in Asia is Singapore. its green credentials include a strict urban planning policy, controlling the number of cars in the city, water recycling plants and waste-to-energy facilities. Singapore has also embraced solar power and is helping to develop solar technology to meet the specific requirements of the tropics.

However, the Green city index report points out that the cities highlighted are examples of good practice rather than standard practice. it recommends that cities need to take a holistic approach to sustainable urbanization rather than solving environmental problems individually.

Perhaps new cities like Songdo international Business District in South Korea hold the answer. Built on reclaimed land 56 kilometers west of Seoul and due for completion in 2016, Songdo is the ultimate in green living. Embedded sensors in the streets and buildings monitor everything that helps the city to run smoothly. So, for example, street lights can be switched off in deserted streets to save energy or brightened in busy ones. Radio frequency identification tags on cars transmit data to a central hub so that heavy traffic can be identified and signals altered to ease the congestion.

Songdo is also equipped with charging stations for electric cars and has 26 kilometers of cycle lanes. Green space makes up 40 per cent of the city and there are measures for trapping rainwater and recycling ‘grey water’ from sinks and dishwashers. Even more remarkable is the pneumatic waste collection system that transports rubbish through a network of pipes.

Developments such as this could hold the key not only for new cities but, more importantly, provide a blueprint for improving the existing urban landscape to meet future needs without causing further damage to the planet.

GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 1716

Ready for take-offTouRiST TRiPS To SPAcE ARE NEARiNG THE lAuNcH PAD. SooN THE SKY Will No loNGER BE THE liMiT foR TRAVElERS.

British classical singer sarah brightman, who had a hit in the 1970s with ‘i lost My heart to a starship Trooper’, is reaching

for the stars – literally. she wants to be the first professional singer to try out her vocal

chords in space.

an impossible dream? far from it. sarah brightman is set to blast off to the

international space station aboard a russian soyuz rocket in 2015. she will be the eighth

fare-paying visitor to the station since us billionaire dennis Tito took one giant leap for

space tourism in 2001.

The american company space adventures arranges the trips with the russian

government and the fees – around eur 35 million a head – help to support russia’s space program. Taking off into space is,

for those with a hefty bank balance, the ultimate wild ride.

other companies have now joined the space tourism race. While developing spacecraft capable of taking passengers to the moon

and beyond is the ultimate aim, in the short term, the focus is on sub-orbital flights.

virgin galactic, one of four companies offering the sub-orbital route, has already taken reservations from more than 500

people. among them will be alan Watts from london. he is cashing in the two million air

miles he’d planned to use travelling the world when he retired. his sub-orbital trip will

make him the first frequent flyer in space.

space attractions Meanwhile, earth-bound tourists need not

miss out on space-related activities. The kennedy space center at cape canaveral, where the apollo missions and space shuttles

were launched, attracts millions of visitors every year. for fans of the Tv series, the

‘star Trek’ attraction being built in Jordan promises to “boldly go” where no other

theme park has gone before. king abdullah himself, who gave the green light for the park, is a big fan, having once appeared as an

extra on the show.

indeed, modern technology has brought to life many ideas, such as artificial climates, that

were once restricted to the imaginations of science fiction writers. The Tropical islands

resort in brandenburg, germany is a perfect example of this. built in an old airship

hangar, it boasts the world’s largest indoor rainforest with a constant temperature of 26 degrees celsius. The resort enables people in

germany and nearby countries to experience a tropical holiday without the long-haul travel.

Rise in tourism but, wherever in the world people choose

to vacation, tourism is big business. The un World Tourism organization (unWTo), which measures travel movements in terms of

international tourist arrivals, said numbers were up from 990 million in 2011 to one billion

in 2012. The top ten destinations are france, us, china, spain, italy, Turkey, uk, germany,

Malaysia and Mexico.

over the past 60 years, according to the unWTo, tourism has developed into one

of the world’s largest and fastest growing economic sectors. as an export category it

ranks fourth after fuels, chemicals and food. for many developing countries tourism is one of the main sources of foreign exchange

income and the premier export. as well as attracting visitor dollars, the tourist industry

creates jobs and businesses and encourages development of infrastructure.

historically, tourism in emerging economies has grown faster than that in the more economically advanced countries and the

trend shows no sign of slowing. The unWTo predicts that, between 2010 and 2030, arrivals to emerging economies will increase at double

the rate of that for more mature economies.

since the 1950s when package holidays made foreign travel affordable for more people, the

number of destinations has increased, as has the type of vacation. While the traditional

beach holiday is still high in the popularity stakes, as are the trips to theme parks

like disneyland for those with children, the choices for the intrepid traveler are almost

limitless: walking the inca trail in peru, white water rafting, climbing and cycling holidays, to name but a few.

budget airlines have enabled people to travel more often – and further – for less, while

the internet has made booking transport and hotels, as well as finding the best deals, easier. also, through social websites and

blogs travelers have been able to share their experiences and flag up the best – and worst

– places to visit.

how soon lifting off from earth into space becomes affordable for those with modest

incomes remains to be seen. When asked what was the biggest obstacle to space

tourism, John spencer, founder and president of the space Tourism society, said:

“it’s not the money or the regulations, it’s just doing it.” should off-world travel become a reality, space will truly be, as they say in ‘star

Trek’, “the final frontier”.

gea and The TraVel indusTryTechnology from GEA helps

to keep the world moving comfortably and provides the

right environmental conditions at a variety of leisure facilities.

GEA Heat Exchangers supplies market-leading charge air coolers for

diesel and gas engines and exhaust-gas recirculation coolers that set new

standards in reducing nitrogen oxide emissions. The coolers can be found in

trains, cruise ships, yachts and other marine vessels.

GEA is also renowned for its state-of-the-art systems for heating, cooling, purifying,

humidifying and dehumidifying air in a wide range of public buildings, including airport

terminals, hotels, museums and leisure centers.

Gasketed plate heat exhangers from GEA Heat Exchangers are used to cool machinery in

the automotive and marine industries and for generating fresh water on cruise liners. The company

also supplies Air Treatment Systems to ships.

Also in the marine sector, GEA Mechanical Equipment has a portfolio of high-performance separators for

treating fuel oil, bilgewater, ballast water, sludges, lube and hydraulic oil and for sea water desalination.

GEA Refrigeration Technologies supplies chillers and air handling units for climate control on board cruise ships

as well as refrigeration for storing food and beverages. Air-conditioning technology with GEA Bock compressors in

railways, buses or on ships ensures a consistent, pleasant room temperature any time, any place.

Thanks to the company’s range of GEA Grasso screw compressors and GEA Geneglace snow cannons it’s possible to

create an indoor winter wonderland for skiing, snowboarding and tobogganing anywhere in the world.

18 GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 19

GERMAN MEcHANicAl ENGiNEERiNG KNoW-HoW HAS loNG BEEN REcoGNizED AND SouGHT AfTER THE WoRlD oVER. NoW, AS Dr. thomas schräDer ExPlAiNS, iT coulD HolD THE KEY To A SuSTAiNABlE fuTuRE.

20 GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 21

gea and blue compeTenceGEA Group is an alliance member of Blue Competence in order to support sustainable technology. For example, GEA Refrigeration Technologies has a proven track record in providing energy-efficient and sustainable technology.

Its ‘green’ credentials have won many awards. In 2011 GEA Refrigeration Technologies received the German Refrigeration Prize for the GEA Grasso BluAstrum ammonia chiller in the category ‘Climate-Friendly Application of Refrigeration Systems in Food and Beverage Production’. The company’s Energy Enhancer – a combination of an ammonia refrigeration unit and a heat pump – won the 2012 Dutch Refrigeration Prize. This technology enables waste heat from refrigeration systems to be used in production processes, reducing the use of fossil fuels and cutting CO2 emissions. It is particularly useful in the production of food and beverages.

One of the case studies submitted to Blue Competence describes how GEA Refrigeration Technologies rose to the challenge of providing the two climate zones in one greenhouse at Van der Hoorn Orchids in the Netherlands. One half of the greenhouse needs to be heated to 28 degrees Celsius for young plants and the second zone requires a temperature of 19 degrees Celsius for mature plants.

An electrically-powered ammonia heat pump uses ground water to heat and cool the greenhouse, maintaining the required temperatures throughout the year.

The VDMA, the German Mechanical Engineering industry Association, represents more than 3,000 companies and is one of Europe’s largest industrial networks.

Etched into the glass by the entrance to its offices in frankfurt are the words ‘Wissen für morgen heute nutzbar machen’ which mean ‘Knowledge for tomorrow to be used today’. The statement underlines the industry’s continuing role in providing ground-breaking equipment and technology. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the VDMA’s sustainability initiative, Blue competence.

launched in 2011, Blue competence links all mechanical engineering sectors, from waste and recycling technology to cutting tools. it aims to provide a ‘green’ platform for developing and implementing environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient or resource-efficient products and processes.

Dr. Thomas Schräder is Managing Director for Air Handling Technology at VDMA and was involved in setting up the initiative. Responsible for the day-to-day running and all promotional activities is Judith Herzog-Kuballa from Technical and Environmental Affairs who contributed to the answers below.

Q. Why was Blue competence established?

a. Today there are seven billion people on earth and their quality of life depends on which part of the world they live in. By 2050 the number is predicted to increase to nine billion and most of the additional people will expect a high standard of living which will require more resources. Estimates from the united Nations and other institutions have shown that we would need the equivalent of two and a half planet Earths to provide resources for a lifestyle comparable with 2000 levels in the western world. Production of oil, metals and other essential resources is due to peak and then decline so there is no way we can continue business as usual.

We believe that the mechanical engineering sector is an ‘enabler’ for meeting these global challenges by providing the pioneering technology that will support a sustainable future. However, the industry is not very homogenous and has 38 different specialized branches, offering numerous solutions. The VDMA decided that, in order for the industry to be recognized as an enabler by policy makers and the public, it would need one campaign and one color. We chose blue because it is generally associated with technology and efficiency.

Q. How is it organized?

a. Blue competence has a three-level structure comprising the VDMA, the different trade associations and individual companies or alliance members. The VDMA is the sponsor and governing body and is also responsible for advertising and promotion. The trade associations are also supporting these activities and can define additional technology requirements that are specific to their sector and the alliance members must provide evidence that their components and machines are sustainable.

Q. How many companies have signed up to Blue competence and how do you ensure that they meet its aims?

a. We launched in 2011 and planned to have 300 alliance members by the end of 2012. We achieved that figure by october 2012 – it’s drawn the biggest response of any initiative we’ve had so far.

on joining Blue competence, alliance members are asked to sign a contract committing them to a set of sustainability goals and standards. for example, they

must provide at least one case study that demonstrates the environmental effectiveness of their products and maintain a management system where sustainability goals are monitored in the same way as quality targets. We can seek proof that members are meeting the requirements through on-site inspections. But we have found that members are generally very serious about fulfilling their commitments and success is based on mutual trust.

Q. What are the main challenges for achieving sustainability in the mechanical engineering sector?

a. We are able to offer very efficient products with a long-term payback but they require a higher investment. Generally, customers buy according to price and don’t take into account the costs of using the products over their life-cycle. This is a particular dilemma in the building industry where you have an investor and an end user. There is a lot of mechanical engineering technology in a building – heating, air conditioning, cooling, ventilation, pumps, valves, elevators and building automation systems – and the investor will try to save money on the purchase; but the bulk of the life-cycle costs, the cost during use, will be paid by the building’s user. And these costs are highly dependent on the efficiency of the building technology installed.

Q. What’s being done to change the situation?

a. The VDMA established a building sector group that brings together all the different trade branches. our aim is to improve communication with architects and all industries involved in constructing a building. The Eu policy on environmental protection has recognized that the building sector accounts for 40 per cent of total energy use in Europe. Accordingly, any new legal requirements should be balanced by what is technically possible. Through Blue competence we are accepted by policy makers at European and national level as competent partners in defining the technology best practice to be included in legal requirements. These requirements help support our arguments about optimizing – lowering – life-cycle costs.

The Eu Ecodesign Directive includes requirements on future energy use which covers most of the engineering products supplied to the building sector.

Q. How are the achievements of Blue competence being measured and can you give some examples of successes?

a. The case studies provided by alliance members represent success stories. They show how the companies act sustainably through their products or manufacture of their products. for example, GEA Refrigeration Technologies has developed

a heat pump that converts heat emitted by refrigeration equipment into usable energy and reduces co2 emissions. Kreisel has invented a cellular wheel sluice that reduces the environmental impact of cement production and Kärcher has developed a vacuum cleaner that runs on just 750 watts, is less noisy than standard cleaners and is more than 90 per cent recyclable.

Q. How is Blue competence promoted?

a. Through a comprehensive series of communications involving all three levels. As the sponsor, the VDMA promotes Blue competence via advertising campaigns, brochures, mail shots, social media, fairs and exhibitions and on our website. The site, available in English and German, includes all the success stories from our members. The branch organizations and alliance members can promote their successes in their own marketing activities.

We speak to politicians in Germany and at Eu level and the fact that the export rate for German mechanical engineering is about 75-80 per cent helps to support the message that we are enablers.

Q. Does that mean that Blue competence applies outside Germany?

a. Yes. Membership is available to companies at European level and, if those companies are operating globally, they are allowed to use the Blue competence logo internationally.

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GEA And thE sports industryDifferent GEA companies play a role in supplying products and services that can improve athletes’ performances. For example GEA Process Engineering supplies the Procomac cold aseptic filling lines for sports drinks which are filled in easy-grip PET bottles (with both flat and sports caps) that can be held while running. And before football players even get to the stadia, GEA Refrigeration Technologies is at work on the team buses by supplying GEA Bock vehicle compressors for air conditioning systems to keep the players from German clubs, including Borussia Dortmund, cool and ready to play. GEA Heat Exchangers’ cooling technology helps football fans enjoy food and drink at stadia including Bayern München’s famous Allianz Arena.

When India hosted its first ever Grand Prix in October 2011 at the Buddh International circuit in Uttar, GEA Heat Exchangers’ engine cooling technology helped ensure that there was a secure power supply for the F1 teams’ workshops and kitchens, on-track hospital and the timekeeping and loudspeaker systems.

GEA Heat Exchangers also has a presence in the swimming pools sector, through both its Plate Heat Exchanger and Air Treatment technologies, which supply plate heat exchangers and dehumidifiers respectively for pools at leisure centres and for domestic pools across Europe. The range of products helps ventilate the swimming pool area, reducing moisture and condensation.

Elsewhere, GEA Refrigeration Technologies is a long-time supplier to ice skating rinks through its GEA Grasso refrigeration technology. For example in the Netherlands, it built six of the 17 major skating rinks and is now responsible for maintenance at nine of them. GEA refrigeration technology is also used at a bobsled track in Russia, where it gained special approval to use ammonia as a refrigerant for the first time in a Russian sports facility.

Advances in technology have also made it possible to build an indoor ski slope in Dubai, where GEA Refrigeration Technologies maintains the world- famous Ski Dome at a temperature of just below freezing – quite an achievement when the temperature outside can be 40 degrees Celsius. And GEA Refrigeration Technologies even supplies the snow to indoor and outdoor ski slopes through its range of GEA Geneglace snow cannons.

Technological advances mean that sports professionals are looking for – and increasingly finding – the extra edge that

helps improve their levels of performance.

Many elite athletes across a host of sports have their clothes and accessories such as helmets individually designed after a full body scan shows which contour gives them the most aerodynamic shape. Runners’ footwear is custom-moulded to their feet and there have been advances in the grip, comfort and strength of their shoes. Swimmers’ outfits are lighter, stronger and reduce the drag caused by clothing in the water. Some people believe the technological ‘arms race’ leaves athletes from poorer countries with no chance of getting near their technologically enhanced competitors.

However, once athletes step onto the track in the new stadia, swimming pools and velodromes built for big events they can all benefit from performance-boosting technology. london’s stunning olympic Stadium featured a £1 million state-of-the-art running track with a cushion backing for shock absorption and a solid upper layer that optimized slip resistance, traction and durability. The stadium’s roof was also designed to maximize track speeds. Engineers ran extensive wind tunnel tests to assess the impact of wind in the stadium and decided on a partial roof to minimize wind at track level.

aerodynamic resistance The design team that built the world’s fastest cycle track for the 2012 olympics included olympic champion Sir chris Hoy. The track’s layout was specifically designed to increase the chance of world record times. The temperature inside the velodrome was maintained at 28 degrees celsius, also conducive to fast times because it decreases the aerodynamic resistance faced by the riders and keeps the athletes’ muscles loose and flexible.

Swimming pools can also aid performance by being what swimmers call ‘fast pools’. A pool’s gutters, lane markers and proportions can all be engineered to minimize water turbulence, which can slow down competitors. The depth of a pool is also significant for performance, if it is deep enough to dissipate the downward waves created by swimmers’ kicks before the waves hit the pool’s bottom.

of course it’s not just elite athletes who benefit from advances in technology. Pop-up ice rinks have become increasingly popular in Europe in recent years – and advances in cooling technology mean we can enjoy ice-skating all year round.

Quality surface for sports like football and American football, there is a lot of focus on the hallowed grass turf. Put simply, a quality surface generally produces a better performance. one option currently in vogue in the uS, which turns stadia into multi-functional venues that can host concerts and exhibitions, is a retractable pitch that can be mechanically rolled out of the stadium when required for non-match usage. fc Schalke 04 built the first moveable pitch in the German league in 2010. The sliding pitches sit in a tray containing irrigation and drainage systems that work both inside and outside the stadium.

in the colder parts of the uS during the winter months, heated player benches in American football grounds certainly aid players’ performance through the simple virtue of keeping them warm.

With temperatures hitting 50 degrees celsius in the summer months, the organizers of the qatar World cup in 2022 face an entirely different challenge. As part of their bid, they built a full-scale air-conditioned, carbon-neutral 500-seater stadium that reduced the pitchside temperature to 23 degrees celsius. fifA delegates were suitably impressed and for the first time awarded the World cup to a country in the Middle East. qatar’s organizers subsequently announced plans to build nine fully air-conditioned open-air stadia that will convert solar energy into electricity to cool down both players and spectators. The sustainability of these plans has since been questioned and there are suggestions qatar will use ‘wind towers’, a traditional Arabic cooling method used before the advent of air conditioning.

The jury may still be out on exactly how qatar is going to achieve its goal of cooling down the stadia, but there’s no doubting the importance that technology is playing in designing the stadia of the future.

HeightsTechnology

drives sports

stars to new

Technological innovaTion in sporT is Taking perforMance levels To neW heighTs. innovaTions are in everyThing froM psychology and nuTriTion To fooTWear and cloThing as Well as The sporTs venues TheMselves.

Skiing in Dubai

24 GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 25

no one knoWs Who firsT caMe up WiTh The idea of a sWeeT on a sTick buT The lollipop is a favoriTe around The World. iT even inspired salvador dali To design a brand logo.

I n 2012 a us confectionery company enjoyed the sweet taste of success by breaking the guinness World record for the largest ever

lollipop. Weighing in at 3,175 kilograms and standing 1.8 meters high, it was displayed in san francisco’s Justin herman plaza.

see’s candies made the huge confection, based on its popular chocolate-covered gourmet lollipop, to coincide with national lollipop day on July 20. as these events demonstrate, there is something about the lollipop that captures the imagination. around the world people have dreamed up an almost limitless choice of flavors, shapes and sizes for this treat on a stick.

The Japanese, for example, make a lollipop from ground-up pearls – they are believed to act as an aphrodisiac. another unusual lollipop flavoring, used in china, is black ants which apparently taste like chili peppers. food manufacturer del Monte created a frozen smoothie on a stick modeled on James bond actor daniel craig and there’s even a candy lollipop version of the Mexican drink Mezcal – complete with edible worm.

based, sometimes with ice cream fillings. sticks for the candy versions are usually made from tightly rolled paper coated with wax, while ice lollies have flat wooden ones. finally the whole thing is wrapped in cellophane or printed wax paper.

surreal wrapping and, when it comes to wrappings, they don’t come much better than the one for the spanish brand chupa chups. The distinctive daisy logo was designed by the famous surrealist artist salvador dali. and, at his suggestion, the logo was positioned on top of the wrapping rather than the side so that it would always be seen intact.

With more than 50 years’ experience of providing lollipop manufacturing equipment, gea food solutions knows more than most about creating eye-catching packaging and exciting candy shapes. its aquarius portfolio sets the standard for forming, cooling, wrapping and packaging lollipops. The equipment is available as individual machines, or a complete production line, and in different sizes to suit capacity.

These are, of course, the extreme end of the scale. lollipops are generally fruit-flavored and round in shape, like a ball or wheel. and, like the wheel, the lollipop has the same mysterious provenance in that no-one really knows who invented it.

sugar rush historians have suggested that stone age people used sticks to collect honey from beehives. later, the ancient egyptians, arabs and chinese are believed to have inserted sticks into their sweetmeats – usually fruits and nuts covered in honey – to make them easier to eat.

confectionery started to develop in europe with the coming of sugar during the Middle ages. The sugar was boiled and formed into blocks and elaborately carved sticks were made to spear them. until the industrial revolution sugar was a luxury item, available only to the wealthy. Mechanization made it possible to extract sugar from beets on a large scale. as beet sugar was cheaper than cane sugar and honey, more people could enjoy a sweet fix, especially candy.

The gea aquarius flexformer forming machines can produce between 300 and 2,100 lollipops per minute. They enable customers to manufacture different lollipop formats in one machine, including novelty three-dimensional (3d) versions. for example, gea food solutions engineers worked with Turkish confectionery company sugabee to produce a 3d football lollipop in four flavor/color combinations to match the top Turkish soccer teams. The gea team used advanced cad/caM software to produce the 3d die set for shaping the lollipops.

after forming, the lollipops need to be cooled. The gea aquarius popcooler models cool the lollipops while ensuring that they retain their shape and quality. finally the gea aquarius packaging machines offer different wrapping options to ensure optimized product protection and shelf life.

developments like the 3d lollipop continue to add excitement to the market for this ever-popular sweet treat.

The lollipop really came to prominence during the 20th century as a result of new manufacturing technology. for example, the racine confectionery Machine company in Wisconsin marketed the first automated machine capable of making 40 lollipops a minute; while samuel born, a russian immigrant to the us, invented a machine for inserting the sticks automatically.

Meanwhile george smith from new haven, connecticut, laid claim to inventing the modern lollipop and trademarked the name in 1931. he reportedly got the name from a popular race horse of the time, lolly pop. however the term lollipop actually dates back to the 18th century english term meaning ‘tongue slap’. Whatever the origins, the name has stuck and is often shortened to lolly. sucker and sticky pop are also popular terms for lollipop. The dum dum lollipops brand is so called because it was thought the name would be easy for children to say.

The main ingredients for candy lollipops are hardened sugar, water, corn syrup and flavorings. ice lollipops are frozen water-

Treats on a stick

Contains sugarGEA supplies cooling, heat exchange, evaporation and drying technology for processing sugar, the main ingredient of lollipops. Plate heat exchangers from GEA Heat Exchangers are used to heat or cool, for example, mixed juice or molasses from sugar cane mills and are extremely energy-efficient. GEA Process Engineering has a portfolio of rotary dryers, combined rotary dryers/coolers, two stage dryers and coolers and fluidized bed coolers used in the sugar industry. It also provides systems for dissolving sugar into syrup, membrane filtration for clarifying the raw sugar juice and evaporation plants to concentrate the sugar solution ready for crystallization. GEA Process Engineering’s Courtoy compression technology is also widely used by candy manufacturers to produce single and multi-layer lollipops and other confections.

GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 2726

iN A GloBAlizED BuSiNESS WoRlD, DiVERSiTY iS BEcoMiNG iNcREASiNGlY SiGNificANT. GEA GRouP APPoiNTED Nobue beate voN Wurzbach To PRoMoTE DiVERSiTY AND VAluES THRouGHouT THE oRGANizATioN AND, AS SHE DiScoVERED, PEoPlE ARE BEGiNNiNG To RESPoND.

N obue Beate von Wurzbach loves hearing colleagues talking about diversity and the company’s values, even controversially,

because it means that people are starting to deal with the issue. “i see this as an early success because it’s a sign that the topic is slowly taking hold within GEA. But there is still a way to go”, she says with the smile of someone who relishes a challenge.

As GEA’s Head of corporate organizational Development, based at the headquarters in Düsseldorf, she is responsible for driving the diversity and values agenda throughout the business. She is the first to admit that introducing what may be considered “abstract” areas in the technology-driven world of mechanical engineering is not straightforward. “Even though there is a strong business case for diversity, there is still a lot of promotion that needs to be done and you can always try to do things better”, she says. it’s her job to systematically manage this part in order to serve the company’s goals. And speaking to her leaves you in no doubt about her commitment to that.

After working for another mechanical engineering company she joined GEA in 2006. “i’d been working in business development and marketing and wanted to make a career switch,” she explains. “But when i was offered the position of Head of Strategic Marketing within GEA Mechanical Equipment, i rediscovered my interest in the sector!”

The move to her current role began in 2010 with an invitation to join a working group of colleagues from around the GEA Group to look into the issue of diversity and recommend appropriate strategies. one of the proposals was to set up a diversity management function and von Wurzbach was offered the job.

“As i am half German, half Japanese, grew up in italy, studied and worked in the uS, as well as in Spain i fulfill a lot of diversity criteria,” she says with a smile. “We live in an interconnected world and diversity is a global issue, although the focal points vary.”

A few months after assuming the position as Head of corporate Diversity Management in 2011 her remit was expanded to include promoting the newly-established GEA Group values of excellence, passion, integrity, responsibility and GEA-versity. With the addition of the ideas and improvement management function ‘i2m’ in May 2012, the department was renamed corporate

organizational Development. Besides managing each topic separately her long-term aim is to make them more interconnected.

The values were launched to staff at a series of cascading workshops. A key part of von Wurzbach’s role now is “making the values come to life”, which, she says is “the most difficult and trying part of the exercise: it means to manage the values message across all segments and to get it into the heads and hearts of staff.” A steering committee, involving representatives from all segments of the GEA Group meets regularly to agree strategies and actions.

for diversity she initially began by examining the status quo, developing a diversity concept for GEA and is now specifying measures and concrete objectives to be achieved at the various levels within the Group.

She admits that it won’t all happen overnight. “corporate cultures and organizational structures are man-made and man-driven and changing them requires commitment. This is a long-term project and i find the topics relevant and the challenges positive. our management is committed to values and diversity and is driving them from the top.

“Some people are acting as champions and some managers are saying that diversity is a good thing for them and their staff. These are signs that we are heading in the right direction. Diversity can definitely be a success factor.”

Having lived in different countries von Wurzbach has developed an international circle of friends who she keeps in contact with in her spare time. She also enjoys travelling with her family, mountain hiking, literature and “having fun with my almost four-year old son”.

Walking the talk

GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 2928

At first glance this looks like a close-up of the inner workings of a locking mechanism. But it is actually a bending tool of a bending machine used in manufacturing various types of milking equipment. its primary

application is for bending flat steel of varying thicknesses through a 90 degree angle. But it can also be used to shape plates and wires into a number of semi-finished products.

GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 16 3130

GeNerate is the magazine of the GEA Group. Published twice per year, it is distributed across the world.

imPriNt

Publisher GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft Peter-Müller-Str. 12 40468 Düsseldorf Germany

resPoNsible for eDitorial coNteNt isabel blank

PhotoGraPhy cover, feature: Gareth Sambidge Page 20-23: James Bell Page 28-29: orde Eliason

ProDuceD by merchantcantos www.merchantcantos.com

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GEA exclusively uses paper from certified sustainable forests.

coPyriGht © 2013 by GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft, Peter-Müller-Str. 12, 40468 Düsseldorf, Germany. Reprinting only with the permission of the publisher. The contents do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.

coNtact for any questions or suggestions contact: generate@gea.com

former issues All former issues of GENERATE will be found on www.gea.com

gea acquires neW zealand-based milfos inTernaTional

GEA has increased its expertise in pastoral-based dairy farming with the acquisition of the Milfos International Group.

Based in Hamilton, New Zealand, the company is a leading designer and manufacturer of innovative dairy technologies. It provides a complete range of milking, cooling, stalling and automation equipment, along with service programs focused on grazing farm applications.

Milfos, formed in 1987, has more than 100 employees and exports to more than 20 countries. It will be integrated into GEA Farm Technologies.

chillers cool more cosT-effecTiVely

GEA Heat Exchangers has launched new air-cooled chillers that enable customers to save on energy costs.

The GLAC-CD range, which replaces the GLAC 0152-1204-BD models, is available in various sizes and is ideally suited to small and medium-sized HVAC systems, facilities with low-volume water systems and refrigeration ratings of 40-350 kilowatts. Micro-channel heat exchangers, which offer a superior performance to classical Cu-Al heat exchangers, are used as condensers.

These heat exchangers transfer heat more effectively, are more energy-efficient and are more resistant to corrosion.

gea supplies World’s largesT VorTex dryers To china

GEA Process Engineering has been awarded the con-tract to supply two GEA Niro SWIRL FLUIDIZER™ dryers to Qinghai Salt Lake Haina Chemical in Xining, China.

The GEA Niro SWIRL FLUIDIZER™ is a vortex type dryer for production of fine powders from viscous slurries, pastes and other products that are difficult to disinte-grate in a single step. The dryers for Qinghai Salt Lake Haina Chemical will each have a capacity to produce more than nine tons per hour. Due to be in operation in July 2013, they will not only be the largest GEA Niro SWIRL FLUIDIZER™ dryers supplied but also the world’s largest of this type of dryer.

Qinghai Salt Lake Haina Chemical, a subsidiary of the state-owned Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Group, is exploiting the Qinghai provinces’ extensive magnesium-based mineral and energy resources. The company’s integrated industrial complex includes several other GEA Niro plants.

medal Wins for gea dairy innoVaTions

The EuroTier exhibition in Hannover – the global showcase for domestic livestock management – was a major success for GEA Farm Technologies.

Exhibition host Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesell-schaft (DLG) awarded the company’s DairyProQ a gold medal and the Deutsche Landwirtschaftsverlag (dlv) named it ‘innovation of the year 2013’. DairyProQ is the world’s first milking cluster module. It provides a continuous and efficient process and can be fitted to various types of milking parlors.

Another GEA Farm Technologies innovation – the DairyProView – was awarded a silver medal. Dairy-ProView is the first software to allow comprehensive monitoring of a dairy farm’s entire operations.

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