Cold Link Africa June 2019 | Page 23

EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN Kingspan looks to mitigate fire risk in cold stores By Ilana Koegelenberg T Kingspan South Africa hosted a fire and life safety seminar event on 11 April, focusing on cold stores, façades and roofing to demonstrate how their patented Quadcore insulation product material holds up in the face of disaster. his well-attended event took place at The Westcliff Four Seasons Hotel in Johannesburg, gathering interested stakeholders from around the country for an informative seminar programme that concluded with an exciting live demonstration. Tammy Grove, Kingspan South Africa manager, formally kicked off the event by introducing the local team, supported by a technical department in Istanbul. She then introduced Jim Loughran, Kingspan Insulated Panels managing director for Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Central Asia, who said a few words in opening. FM APPROVALS AND RISK Loughran handed over to Rüediger Dederich from Germany, FM approvals senior engineer for business development. Dederich’s talk centred around creating a safer building envelope by using FM- approved products. (FM approvals is the independent testing arm of international insurance carrier, FM Global.) Dederich shared some of the company’s history, looking at where it started and how it grew into the global company it is today. He spoke about the type of industries the firm insures, and the true impact of loss. He then moved onto the building envelope, looking at the risk of various factors, particularly focusing on fire. He explained a bit more around how FM approval tests work for sandwich panels, before closing off with a few slides on why FM approvals are important to mitigate risk, amongst other things. Dr Philip de Vos of Devotec South Africa presenting on South Africa’s fire regulations and the impact on cold stores. FIRE AND COLD STORES A captive audience for Rüediger Dederich’s presentation on FM approvals. Before the coffee break, Dr Philip de Vos (Pr. Eng) of Devotec South Africa shared his interesting presentation on South Africa’s fire regulations and the impact on cold stores. He started by looking at the National Building Regulations, SANS10400, Part T, which deals with fire, as well as the deem- to-satisfy rules in relation to storage. He explained that these regulations aren’t comprehensive and leave a lot of grey areas. Dr Vos then moved on to looking at cold store fire risks and how to moderate them. He shared various interesting photos The Kingspan team up front with guests from all over the cold chain in attendance. COLD LINK AFRICA • June 2019 of real-life fires in cold stores, showing the devastation, particularly in terms of the insulation burning. He looked at the limitations of a sprinkler system in a freezer store, discussing alternative design solutions for minimising fire risks, including using Kingspan’s panels. He closed off by discussing the Karan Beef project in Balfour, where Kingspan Quadcore panels were used. MODULAR APPROACH TO COLD STORES After the coffee break, Cem Sungar, Kingspan marketing manager, shared a presentation on the modular approach Kingsley Stinson, export director of Polidoor by Kingspan, talking about their product range. www.coldlinkafrica.co.za 23