By Kang Seung-woo
LS Metal has developed a high-strength alloy tube that can improve the performance of copper tubes in heat exchangers, a crucial component of air conditioners.
A high-strength alloy tube / Courtesy of LS Metal
The LS Electric subsidiary introduced the tubing, Thursday. It combines a small amount of tin with oxygen-free copper tubes.
According to the company, the new fabrication significantly enhances tensile strength and heat exchange efficiency while minimizing corrosion. This allows a 24 percent reduction in the outside diameter of copper tubes compared to conventional ones.
Heat exchangers, vital components in air conditioners and refrigerators, primarily use copper pipes, renowned for their excellent thermal conductivity and workability. However, the recent surge in copper prices, surpassing $10,000 per ton, has significantly increased production costs and, consequently, the prices of air conditioners, putting profit margins at stake.
The new tube, with its tin alloy composition, offers superior corrosion resistance and a tensile strength improvement of over 15 percent compared to traditional copper tubes. This leads to substantial production cost savings and a significant reduction in copper usage.
Additionally, the tube maintains excellent thermal conductivity, retaining the benefits of traditional copper tubes while enabling thinner production, thereby enhancing both energy efficiency and cost competitiveness.
Given the current trend toward eco-friendly refrigerants due to environmental and greenhouse gas emission concerns with traditional refrigerants like Freon and HFCs, LS Metal’s high-strength alloy tube is designed to withstand high pressure and offer high corrosion resistance, making it suitable for eco-friendly refrigerants.
Leveraging these advantages and its manufacturing expertise, LS Metal has obtained patents for the high-strength alloy tube in countries including the United States, Malaysia and Vietnam, with patents pending in the EU, China, India and Thailand.
“In the current situation where demand for air conditioners is rising due to fluctuating weather conditions, production costs are also increasing with the surge in copper prices. Therefore, we have developed a high-strength alloy tube that is both eco-friendly and highly efficient. We aim to aggressively target global market segments, providing solutions that can maximize cost and energy efficiency across various industries,” an LS Metal spokesperson said.