ISSN 2412-7779
REGULARS
CONTENTS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
VOL. 03 - NO. 03 | JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2018
REGULARS INTERNATIONAL NEWS EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
3 9 Global refrigeration headlines from IIR 31 Puregas awards partners
45 Products 15 Carel wins international RAC Cooling Industry Award 33 New standards in vehicle thermal efficiency
47 Letters to the editor 15 Another achievement for Carel’s innovative Heez 34 Pre-register for FRIGAIR 2018 and win
51 Word search 16 Download (free) IoR copper guide for refrigerant pipework 35 2017 WorldSkills international competition raises the bar
36 OTTC hosts first artisan’s round table
Editor’s column
NEWS ASSOCIATIONS 37 A-Gas demonstrates Rapid Recovery to local contractors
4 Phoenix Racks changes name to SCM Ref Africa 17 Contractors cannot stop working if not paid 39 Refco celebrates 45 years of quality manufacturing
5 Afrox opens custom container welding school 19 Adjustment for SA pome export because of drought 6 Brenntag SA strengthens local chemical distribution 7 In memory of Roger Lassen and Peter Smith PROJECTS 8 In memory of Dave Donald 21 New cold rooms for MassFresh Meat 26 Bosman trials alternative cooling solution for barrel room
FEATURES
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Phase out of R141b: major step in SA’s HPMP
Change is in the air
T
he severe drought that has plagued
many parts of South Africa and its
neighbouring countries during the past
12 months, has changed attitudes as to how
the natural resources of our planet are
utilised. Natural water has become a prized
commodity with unpredictable sustainability.
While parts of the region experience
drought, other parts have floods, causing
damage and even loss of life.
Climate change is no longer questionable,
but rather a challenge to humankind’s
resilience and innovation in planning new
lifestyles. It is of no use to wait until the
rains come to fix a leaking roof, or to cut a
firebreak when the fire is raging, or to build a
storage dam when the taps have run dry.
The performance of the South African
team at the 2017 WorldSkills competition
has drawn attention to the level of training
that is required to provide all the skills for
our growing economy. Without a skilled
workforce, our struggling economy will not be
able to attain and sustain growth.
The turmoil in the political arena, the
high level of corruption in government, and
the lack of good national and provincial
governance, should not overshadow skills
training in all sectors of the economy,
including agriculture, tourism, manufacturing,
engineering, financial services, health care,
transport, and communications.
Hands-on skills can only be acquired by
training and repetitive implementation.
All new developments in the form of
hospitals, motor freeways, shopping malls,
food processing plants, schools, office
blocks, communication networks, logistics
hubs, farms, housing developments, hotels,
supermarkets, and so on, will need skilled
people to maintain and repair them.
Without such hands-on skills, the
mentioned developments become
dysfunctional, the quality of service
deteriorates, and they eventually become
‘white elephants’.
Indications are that 2018 will bring exciting
challenges to the refrigeration and air-
conditioning sector in South Africa. Europe
is rapidly cutting back on HFCs that have
a high global warming potential. New
refrigerants are being introduced, and even
R404A, which is widely used in South Africa,
is undergoing shortages in supply. As a
major supplier of equipment to South Africa,
European trends have a vast impact on the
local market.
Similar changes in supply and pricing
of refrigerants as those in Europe can be
expected in South Africa.
Amendments to SANS 10147 are on the
cards, and the Department of Environmental
Affairs plans to add further requirements to
the HPMP that was gazetted on 8 May 2014.
Any changes to SANS 10147 and the HPMP
will influence all sectors of the industry as well
as users of refrigeration and air-conditioning
plants and systems. As to a fair and
transparent enforcement of the present and
future regulations remains to be seen.
The much-talked-about acquisition of
TecsaReco by the Beijer Group could change
the entire landscape of the wholesale
market. With Metraclark and TecsaReco in
the same group, there will undoubtedly be a
ripple effect and it will be interesting to see
how this plays out.
The South African table grape season,
although off to a late start in the Orange
River region, promises to be a bumper crop
despite the drought in some regions. The
harvesting of export table grapes, which
starts in November in the Orange River and
extends through to March in the Western
Cape, is a significant contributor to foreign
revenue and also a huge user of refrigeration
systems. Each yea r, new techniques are
implemented to improve the production rate
of pack houses and reduce the cooling times
of fruit.
The requirement of sterilisation (steri)
treatment of grapes by certain markets,
for example the US and China, presents
new challenges in the supply chain.
Indications are that this treatment will
only be done at approved facilities in
the Cape Town area and at Coega (Port
Elizabeth).
The extensive new Shoprite/Checkers DC
in Brackenfell is to come on stream early in
2018 and is probably the largest refrigeration
project done in South Africa during 2017.
More projects of that nature will certainly
boost our industry.
Happy reading. CLA
COLD LINK AFRICA • January | February 2018
EDITOR’S COLUMN
John Ackermann
Editor | [email protected]
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
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