Cold Link Africa Jan/Feb 2017 | Page 24

EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN

Chillventa 2016 – an overview

By John Ackermann

For three days in October , Nuremberg took centre stage of the international air conditioning , refrigeration , heating and ventilation industry .

The eight exhibition halls of Chillventa 2016 and the many industry forums , product launches , skills competition , company celebrations , and association meetings , all on a single site , brought value for money to the 32 000 plus visitors . With 982 companies exhibiting , Chillventa showcased the latest in competitor products and services .

Nuremberg , with its walled inner city and wealth of German history , has an appeasing attraction to out of town visitors . For international visitors , Nuremberg is situated on an extensive network of rail , road and air connections to European cities and overseas destinations . With so many industry role players converging on
Chillventa — held every alternate year — it is often a time to renew old acquaintances and build new memories .
‘ Less energy input and less impact on the environment ’ was a common focus of many exhibits throughout Chillventa ; in particular , halls 5 , 6 , 7 , 7a , 8 and 9 , which focused on refrigeration , insulation and industry associations . Manufacturers of compressors , valves , controls and supermarket vending cabinets all had new products specifically for CO 2
, R290 or ammonia . One system used the most basic natural refrigerant : water ( R718 ).
At the eurammon natural refrigerant forum , Bernd Kaltenbrunner , chair of eurammon , commented , “ At the first Chillventa in 2010 , CO 2 was not prominent among exhibitors . Today , CO 2 as a natural refrigerant with zero ozone depleting potential [ ODP ] and a global warming potential [ GWP ] of only 1 , is promoted throughout the show . Sourcing of components , compressors and all controls for subcritical or trans-critical CO 2 systems is no longer a problem .” Low GWP refrigerants were high on the promotion list by all of the refrigerant traders , and most were confident about the inclusion of HFCs in the Montreal Protocol ( which has since been realised ).
and techniques in recycling , recovery , reclaiming and leak detection were promoted alongside refrigerant and refrigerant cylinder management systems .
A-Gas set a new trend with their Gas- Trak Online ( GTO ) to track cylinders , calculate GWP , and report on refrigerant usage . The GTO is available as a web portal or a mobile app , providing realtime tracking of a fleet of cylinders in use by a team of service technicians . At a
click , a service manager can view the amount of refrigerant on hand and the monetary value tied up in cylinder deposits . Converting refrigerant leakages to global warming impact is easily done with the GWP calculator , which is part of the GTO .
Bernd Kaltenbrunner , chair of eurammon .

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Refrigerant cylinder tracking Having low GWP refrigerants is only one of the steps towards a lower global warming imprint of all air-conditioning and refrigeration systems . New products At the A-Gas stand , promoting GTO .
All about refrigerant alternatives at Chillventa .
www . coldlinkafrica . co . za COLD LINK AFRICA • January | February 2017