The Group’s Commercial Branch – WEG Nantong (China) played an essential role in this supply of low and high voltage special designed motors, which will work below sea level applied to smoke extraction ventilation systems. The supply package consists of 207 pieces of smoke extraction motors with outputs ranging from 15kW to 500kW and voltages from 380V to 6kV. WEG low-voltage motors are mainly used in the tunnel jet fan inside of the Zhuhai tunnel section, distributed throughout the tunnel, while WEG high-voltage motors are basically used in the axial fan of engine room located on east and west two artificial islands.

The Smoke Extraction motors are designed to ensure the air circulation in closed environments. Under an emergency, they withstand operation at high temperatures of 200 ºC, 300 ºC or 400 ºC for up to 2 hours and ensure fast smoke extraction and heat, besides delaying the fire propagation, allowing free access to the emergency exits.

WEG Nantong’s team sold the package to Shanghai Kruger Ventilation Co. Ltd., an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) that produced the complete ventilation system for the tunnel.  The engineering company in charge of this job was the China Railway Construction Electricity Bureau Group. The customer’s decision for choosing WEG smoke extraction motors for this project was the company’s large reputation in the fan and exhaust industry. In addition, the full commitment of WEG Nantong’s team in order to meet the entire customer needs with technical details and cost effective products was a key factor to select WEG products. 

About the HZM immersed tunnel

This project, which officially got into operation on 24th, Oct 2018, consists of a series of bridges and tunnels crossing the Lingdingyang channel (50 kilometers). The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Link (HZM Link) is a three-lane high-speed connection crossing the Pearl River delta between Hong Kong and the city of Zhuhai (mainland China) and Macao on the western side. The HZM Link tunnel is located under two major navigation channels between two artificial islands. There are connecting low bridges to the two artificial islands. The top of the tunnel is placed 28 meters below water level making the tunnel very deep. The combined width of the two navigation channels is 2810 meters. In addition to the specific hydraulic requirements to reduce the blocking effect by fixing the location of the island, the overall length of the tunnel is around 5.5 kilometers.