Biddle ... building on innovation.
Biddle targets niche markets in Mideast
01 April 2005
Following its participation at last year’s Big 5 show in Dubai, Dutch manufacturer Biddle has become convinced that its high-quality climate equipment can be of great benefit to the Gulf region and has charted out an ambitious plan of expansion in the region.
Having gained broad experience in the cooling and freezing industry in Europe, especially over the last few years, Biddle has now turned its focus to countries where the climatic conditions are quite the opposite – the Middle East.
“There’s a huge potential for our products in this booming market,” says export director Rob Schomaker, “and if value is attached to high quality in the Gulf, Biddle products will be an obvious choice. The key contacts made by the company in the markets of the UAE and Saudi Arabia at the Big 5 has helped us identify a strong market in the region,” he adds.
Biddle specialises in the manufacture of heating, cooling and climate separation and has become a major player in this industry by continuously introducing innovations. Biddle’s product range includes comfort air curtains for public buildings and shops, air curtains for large chill rooms and cold stores, as well as combined air heaters/coolers for shops and offices, and high-quality fan coil units for public buildings, offices, banks, hotels and houses, says a company spokeswoman.
Biddle owes its strength to a large R&D department that collaborates with many independent research institutes and universities, which has resulted in several patents registered in the company’s name.
Biddle has built itself on the pillars of quality, innovation and knowledge, gained from providing thorough and customer-specific advice and durable products and the use of high-quality components. In developing new products and technologies, Biddle also works closely with technical universities. This has allowed Biddle to build a good reputation across Europe, especially following the invention of the – patented – rectifier technology and multi-air stream technology, which have taken shop and cold store air curtains to a higher level.
Until now, the sales area mainly covered all of Europe and Canada but in the last few years Biddle has been increasingly exporting its products to other markets, she says.
Air curtains
Biddle’s air curtains, which are suitable for airports, shops, banks, industrial buildings, offices and other public buildings, have been used by clients such as Ikea, Carrefour, and the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, among others.
“In most of these cases, air curtains are used to prevent warm air from escaping the building each time the door is opened, and heat up the cold outdoor air before it enters the building,” she says.
She continues: “Also in reverse situations such as occurring in warm countries, Biddle comfort air curtains offer many benefits. A warm climate requires a cooled indoor space, and an air curtain without heating can support this requirement in two ways. Firstly, the air curtain prevents air in a cooled room from mixing with the warmer outdoor air each time the door is opened. Secondly, the air curtain ensures that the existing air-conditioning unit is less burdened. The air curtain gently discharges cool air through the patented rectifier. This air stream is nearly laminar, ensuring that warm and cold air is kept separated at a minimum air velocity. The low loss of cooled air allows the cooling unit to operate at a lower speed, thus minimising the temperature difference between the indoor and outdoor climates. This results in a much more comfortable (working) environment.
“The very combination of an air-conditioning unit and a Biddle comfort air curtain creates a comfortably, cooled room. An air-conditioning unit blows out cool air to a few areas in the room. An air curtain sucks this cool air, thus increasing the recirculation effect and enhancing the mixture of air. In short, an air curtain prevents large temperature differences, which means that the comfort in the building is maintained at the desired level.”
Low humidity
“Another benefit of the Biddle air curtain with its unique rectifier technology is that it keeps humid air out, which prevents the build-up of excessive condensation on the air-conditioning unit. Often, such condensation causes problems on days with high humidity. The laminar airflow of the air curtain minimises the mixing of inside and outside air (by returning the convection flow into the building), thus supporting the indoor humidity control equipment. In addition, fumes from street traffic are kept out as well, ensuring a healthier indoor environment,” he says.
“By using the Biddle technology, you do not only add comfort to your building climate but also save substantially on your energy bill and you are able to reduce the excessive investment in cooling equipment,” adds Schomaker.
Chill rooms
“Besides the comfort air curtains, Biddle has also developed exclusive air curtains that are designed for climate separation in extreme situations such as chill rooms and large cold stores. For such environments, with their large temperature differences, Biddle offers the efficient MAT (multi-air stream technology) air curtain.
“Discharging three air streams, the cold store air curtain produces a screen between the cold store and the ambient area. The unit sucks air from both rooms, after which the two streams are mixed with a middle stream, are re-discharged simultaneously. The middle stream has a low relative humidity level, so it can take in moisture from the hot ambient-area stream. This prevents the colder cold-store stream and the warmer ambient-area stream from mixing – and misting from occurring. The rectifier technology ensures that the air streams are discharged as a straight bundle, and at the same speed. The benefits are obvious – excellent climate separation with no misting or ice formation in the cold store; the entrance remaining clear so that fork lift truck drivers can drive fast and safely; and eliminating the need for those unhygienic plastic strip curtains.
“In addition, the use of a cold store air curtain yields substantial energy savings. The Canadian company McCain – a supplier of potato products – and Heiploeg – Europe’s largest shrimp supplier – have been satisfied users of the cold store air curtain for many years,” says Schomaker.
Product offering
Biddle’s products are characterised by components that have a long life, are easy to operate and energy-efficient, require little maintenance, and are quick to install, says the spokesman.
Apart from its standard product range, Biddle also provides tailor-made solutions and focuses, in particular, on companies that attach value to durable and exclusive products. “Based on many studies and many years of practical experiences, Biddle knows that effective climate separation is more than just blowing air down a doorway,” Schomaker concludes.
