Dr. Houska Preis 2010

Austrian Science Award recognises the outstanding productivity and economic efficiency of MAG equipment.

 In cooperation with researchers at Graz University of Technology, MAG has optimised the flow design of its enamelled wire plants. The results are spectacular savings in energy expense, an unrivalled increase in productivity and the renowned Dr. Houska Prize, awarded for commercially beneficial research findings.

Enamelling machines consume huge amounts of electrical energy, as the hot air used for drying and curing the enamel on the wire is produced by electrical heating. A team of MAG employees and researchers at the Department for Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer of Graz University of Technology in Graz set out to save a significant share of energy in the production of enamelled wire.

Thanks to the revolutionary optimisation of the wall geometry in the compartment of the drying and curing zone, the improved machine achieves significantly higher wire speeds at the pre-defined enamelled wire temperature for optimum enamel curing. Expressed in numbers, this means a productivity increase of 22% for wires with a diameter of 0.5 mm under standard conditions; for thicker round wires with diameters of up to 1.2 mm, the increase was as high as 46%.

The most important success of the project, however, is not only the increase in output of enamelled wire, but the fact that the increase is achieved at reduced specific energy consumption. Not only MAG customers profit from the practice-oriented research project, the company itself was awarded the Dr. Houska Prize, an Austrian science and research award.

Facts worth knowing about the Dr. Wolfgang Houska Prize

The prize of the private B & C foundation was first awarded in 2005, setting a milestone in the Austrian award sphere in the field of science and research. The award is dedicated to practice-oriented research projects. The Dr. Houska Prize is endowed with a total of € 230,000 (1st prize: € 100,000, 2nd prize: € 50,000, 3rd prize: € 30,000). Eligible for the prize are research projects that can be implemented at the industrial/commercial level and be practically applied by Austrian companies.