They are called Mundaka, Uluwatu, Cloud Nine or Puerto Escondido: longing beaches all over the world that magically attract surfers. Here the chance of the perfect wave is particularly high. Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to live close to the sea. But in order to be able to enjoy the possibility of the perfect wave and surfing anywhere in the world, the Wavegarden engineers are building artificial surfing lagoons. The Spanish company already operates six surf parks on four continents.

Surfing with a view of the Matterhorn

More than a decade ago, they devised the first such surfing facilities with a great deal of ingenuity and a love of experimentation. Numerous optimizations and patents led to the current generation Wavegarden Cove (bay). Up to 1,000 perfect waves can be generated per hour. The height, shape, power and frequency can be varied at the push of a button: from gentle waves for beginners to two meter powerful tube waves for professionals. Today you can even ride supertubes like the one in the Portuguese Playa de Peniche: for example in a Wavegarden facility in the Swiss Alps – with a view of the Matterhorn.

Each Wavegarden Cove surf lagoon consists of a fan-shaped lake divided in the middle by a bridge with the wave generation system: up to 56 wave modules will be installed there. Precisely calculated water movements are generated by electromechanically precisely clocked forward and backward movements, which run out into the lake as waves. When the question of how to equip the control cabinets came up, the answer was the AirStream wiring system. Because it allows the required compact control cabinets to be implemented: with up to 30 percent less volume thanks to the ductless principle. A comparable assembly of components can only be implemented with a mounting plate solution in noticeably larger or more cabinets.

Plug & Play in the control cabinet

For current orders, Lütze Spain delivers the pre-assembled AirStream frames from Barcelona to the distributor. The latter can immediately equip them with the components, since nothing needs to be mechanized by hand. The control cabinet is completed in a short time and is delivered to the destination, where fitters then make the connections with the prepared connections.

The organizational work on this project is also simplified: around ten item numbers are enough to order the required AirStream frame material. With conventional mounting plates including wiring ducts and mounting material, much more would have to be listed.

Control cabinets for energy and drive technology

Each project is divided into two groups. For each group, Lütze creates the frames for the control cabinet with power distribution (five row cabinets) and for the servo drive cabinets (eight row cabinets). There are also around 50 AirStream Compact frames for extra-small cabinets in the particularly cramped areas of the wave bridge. Even with this mini solution, three rows of rails can be placed for component assembly - while other wiring types only allow two rows.

AirStream plays out another system strength: the homogeneous climate in the control cabinet. The air circulates relatively freely without any ducts, which avoids hotspots and reduces the need for air conditioning. Important benefit as some of the current and planned assets are located in hot regions such as Australia, Brazil or Southern California. In addition, the 48 frequency converters responsible for the mechanical paddle movement produce plenty of heat: in a relatively high packing density, this almost reaches the fan heater level in the control cabinet. Wavegarden is currently growing with more than 60 projects on five continents in various stages of construction or development - the AirStream wiring system from Lütze is still part of it.

Author
Martin Brinkmann, CEO, Lütze Spanien