University of Ontario, Institute of Technology (UOIT) Climatic Wind Tunnel (CWT)
 Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE)

Berg Chilling Systems is located in Toronto, Canada and has been in operation for over 35 years.      Our operations management system is ISO 9001:2000 compliant and has been audited and registered by Intertek group - global testing, inspection and certification services.      We design and manufacture our system solutions in accordance with CSA b51 & b52 and ASME b31.1 & b31.5 and have been audited and certified by TSSA, Technical Safety and Standards Authority.      All of the electrical components we use are CSA / ULC approved and our designs are to Canadian Standards Association standard c22.2 no.14-05 and underwriters laboratories standard ul508a, our electrical/control system design process has been audited and certified by the Canadian Standards Association.

     The of University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Climatic Wind Tunnel (CWT) is a key component of a major new initiative to aid indigenous Canadian Automobile research and development. It is the centerpiece in the Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE), funded largely by the province of Ontario, with significant help from the Canadian federal government. The investment is also supported by major contributions from the university itself and General Motors of Canada, the anchor tenant. It is part of a much larger re-investment initiative struck between General Motors and the Canadian governments under the beacon project, first announced in 2005. It was designed to help underpin the automotive manufacturing industry and its supplier base in Ontario by establishing an Automotive Innovation Network (AIN).

     Berg Chilling Systems supplied 6 independent process chillers, cooling packaged units.

     Three of the units are designed to work in tandem at a single temperature condition. the total capacity and hp for these process chiller units, 150 tons of refrigerant (tr) at 200 horse power (hp).

     Three units operate over a range of temperatures. the capacity and hp change with the conditions.

     At the highest temperature the total capacity of all three process chiller units is 730 tons of refrigerant (tr) at 550 horse power (hp).

     At the lowest temperature the total capacity of all three process chiller units is 210 tons of refrigerant (tr) at 830 horse power (hp).

     The total capacity for all Berg supplied components is 877tr using 766hp or 358tr using 1029hp

     A summary of the wind tunnel output nozzle size, wind speed and temperature simulation envelope for climatic testing is as follows:

nozzle size (m2)	wind speed (kph)	temperature (°c)
9.3 and 7.0	0 to 80	-40 to -35
	0 to 115	-35 to +10
	-16 to 201	+10 to +60
7.0	-16 to 241	+25 to +60

     In addition, there is provision for future aerodynamic testing by achieving higher wind speeds in the nominal and maximum nozzle sizes, given in the table below:

nozzle size (m2)	wind speed (kph)	temperature (°c)
9.3	260 (max, continuous) 280 (intermittent, 10 minute)	25
13	230 (max, continuous) 241 (intermittent, 10 minute)	25

     To facilitate the making of snow, hail, freezing rain and other Canadian as well as global atmospheric weather conditions a Carbon Dioxide (CO2) refrigeration package unit chiller was used.

     There are two configurations of snow simulation possible: frontal and overhead. in both cases, snow guns are used to create the snow, as shown in the following table:

gas tank and differential cooling cooling water system to provide cooling during high load.

     A steady state temperature process control cooling system designed for thermal testing by Berg Chilling Systems, with higher intermittent values possible.
The range of humidity control will be according to the following table:

Temperature Range (°c)	Relative Humidity Range (%)
-20 to 0	50 to 80
0 to +5	10 to 80
+5 to +40	5 to 95 (at reduced heat load)

Refrigerant charging system, two charging systems, one for r134a, the other for co2.

     ACE is at the center of this network. The specific need for the CWT was to provide automotive manufacturers (OEM’s) and tier 1 suppliers with an independent test capability, to validate prototype car and truck thermal operation under a full range of climatic conditions. traditionally, General Motors, as many of their competitors, have maintained outdoor cold weather test facilities in northern central Canada, within a 1000 km radius of the automotive hub situated around Detroit.

     These are positioned at the very extremities of road networks leading into the northern communities. In an effort to expand and build on this expertise and bring the test and development activity indoors under highly replicable conditions operating throughout the year, the climatic test facility described was born from the needs and desires of 21st century automotive development.

     Aiolos Engineering Corporation, an international supplier of design, construction, and commissioning services of climatic and other facilities for global customers, and Berg Chilling Systems has worked collaboratively with UOIT on all aspects of facility realization, from test definition to design, construction, and subsequent commissioning.