SWEP's Shwan H Lamei, Area Sales Manager, Middle East, says that when it comes to brazed plate heat exchangers, the region is in a conversion phase.
We have been in contact with all the major players in this region, he says. We can clearly see that customers are more and more interested in converting from shell and tubes and PHEs to our brazed plate heat exchangers.
We have been quite successful in encouraging customers to switch from shell and tubes to our evaporators, he says. I am also very happy that we have been able to increase our sales, at a time when the total market has been significantly reduced.
The major concerns in converting to brazed plate technology in the Middle East are identical to those experienced in Europe - and other now mature markets - 10 to 15 years ago.
In every emerging market, conversions are slow to begin with. However, we definitely see a more rapid growth phase for our solutions ahead of us, Shwan says. The feedback from our existing Middle East customers shows that they appreciate benefits such as compactness, improved efficiency, smaller refrigerant charge and reduced maintenance the same advantages that have made BPHEs the preferred technology in other parts of the world. With environmental awareness on the rise in the region, there is also a match with our optimized solutions for newer, more environmentally friendly refrigerants.
SWEP is also in touch with customers regarding district cooling in the Middle East region. There is particular interest in BPHEs that enable developers to reduce the size of ETS rooms and give utility providers higher operational dependability. Shwan says this is a large market with a promising long-term outlook.
In terms of applications, SWEP's focus in the Middle East is on air conditioning, process industries and district cooling, he concludes.
