UL Solutions and Midea Signed MOU on Modeling and Simulation

On Oct. 13, 2023, UL Solutions signed a memorandum of understanding with GD Midea Air Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd. Both parties will cooperate comprehensively and strategically in the areas of modeling and simulation, testing and certification for residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pump products, and a laboratory data acceptance program.

David Wu, regional vice president of UL Solutions and general manager of Mainland China and Hong Kong, and Miao Xiongwei, director of Research and Development (R&D) of GD Midea Air Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd., signed the strategic cooperation agreement as representatives of both parties.

Other attendees from UL Solutions included Zhu Xiang, senior director and general manager of the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions for the UL Solutions Appliances, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and Lighting division; Victor Yuan, product manager of the Asia Pacific region; Majji Rao, simulation expert; and Sachin Rai, artificial intelligence (AI) and simulation engineering leader.

Additional attendees from GD Midea Air Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd. included Li Jinbo (Kimble), director of the Innovation Research Institute; Jin Yueqian (Mark), simulation technology research leader. Other important guests also attended the signing ceremony.

Modeling and simulation (M&S) is widely used in the manufacturing industry. In the field of home appliance innovation and R&D, Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) simulation technology has become an indispensable tool. It empowers engineers to consistently evaluate and optimize the performance, safety, reliability and manufacturing costs of home appliance products in advance so these products can be more competitive in the market.

For home appliance manufacturers, building the trustworthiness of a model is always a significant challenge. This depends on the simulation results and the entire modeling and simulation verification process. To address this challenge, UL Solutions established an independent model verification and validation (IMV&V) process that helps support the integrity of various modeling and simulation predictions.

UL Solutions’ simulation modeling, testing and certification provide a new approach for the third-party testing, inspection and certification (TIC) industry. In product design, this improves development and certification efficiency. It also helps to reduce the time spent building physical test prototypes and the use of laboratory resources such as water, electricity and gas. More importantly, the flammable refrigerant leak simulation allows HVAC manufacturers to gain a clearer understanding of the risks associated with the leakage of flammable refrigerants in their products and enables them to develop reliable mitigation plans. Through the IMV&V process, UL Solutions can assist customers in bringing air conditioning products with low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants to the market and help HVAC manufacturing companies achieve their goals of becoming carbon neutral.

“In recent years, Made-in-China products have been rapidly upgraded to firmly follow the dual-driven path of quality improvement and technological innovation,” said Xiongwei. “Midea, as a representative in the home appliance manufacturing industry, has always strategically focused on technology leadership, direct user engagement, data-driven approaches and global breakthroughs, with a spirit of open collaboration and mutual benefit. With a focus on digital simulation and product quality enhancement, this collaboration with UL Solutions is expected to strongly boost Midea’s product capabilities and help Midea become a globally recognized brand.”

“UL Solutions has been dedicated to safety science research and innovation for over 100 years. Modeling and simulation for compliance in the TIC industry is one of our innovative directions,” David said in his speech. “We look forward to our future cooperation with Midea Air Conditioning. By leveraging our advantages in safety science and simulation, by deeply integrating with the needs of Chinese customers, by supporting and jointly addressing challenges in safety, performance, quality and more during the process of revolutionary innovation in product technology, we will help Chinese manufacturers to achieve their goals in the market."

Learn more at the UL Solutions Testing, Certification and Advisory for Low GWP Refrigerants page.