EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Key progress made in
SA HFC phase-down
By John Ackermann
he number of delegates at the
opening far exceeded all
expectations to the extent that the
conference room at the Premier Hotel in
Sea Point was cramped.
In March 2018, Cape Town was about to
become the world’s first city to have zero
potable water. There was panic and many
contingency plans were made. How would
zero refrigerant day impact on modern life
whether it occurred in 2030 or 2050 or 2080?
In short, many foods would not be
available, no deep level mining, no
operations in hospital theatres, no vaccine
distribution, no international trade in
perishables, no mortuaries, no ice for those
drinks, etc. Although essential for human
life and for the economy, cooling and the
refrigerants used negatively impact on the
environment.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
The delegates were from national and
provincial government departments,
refrigerant suppliers, contractors, South
African Bureau of Standards (SABS), a
strong foreign delegation, United Nations
Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO), training providers, equipment
suppliers and a large contingent from the
convenors, Department of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF).
The opening was done by deputy
director in DAFF, Mark Gordon. He shared
steps that DAFF will take to implement
the Kigali Agreement stating that the
Montreal Protocol (MP) is the best example
of what can be achieved when people
come together, specifically, the role of
collective effort which results in coming
up with new ideas and innovations. Said
Gordon, “Implementation will require
plans and surveys to establish the HFC
baseline in 2024. Partnerships are vital for
implementation of the Kigali Agreement.”
Yury Sorokin from UNIDO said that the MP
provides sustainable solutions to protecting
the ozone layer. Once a decision has been
made, efforts must be made to make it
happen. “South Africa has been the most
efficient country in the implementation
of the MP and largely due to the close
involvement of government and industry.
It has been a pleasure to monitor the
progress made in this regard during the last
10 years,” said Sorokin.
SOUTH AFRICA AND THE KIGALI
AGREEMENT
Margaret Molefe from DAFF said that
under the Kigali Amendment, South Africa
needs to address the problem created by
manmade HFCs. “Some HFCs emitted
14 800 tonnes of greenhouse gases as that
of CO 2 and needed to be phased down.
All parties including South Africa have
accepted the Kigali Amendment. There
are no rules adequately in place in South
Africa to prepare for the phase-down
of HFCs. The country needs to design a
system to provide certainty to meet its Kigali
Amendment obligation.”
Agustin Sanchez-Guevara, national
coordinator, Ozone Protection Unit
in Mexico, clarified that HFCs will be
phased down and not phased out as
with HCFCs. “South Africa and Mexico
are far ahead in the implementation of
the Hydrochlorofluorocarbons Phase-out
Management Plan (HPMP).”
According to him, the MP has had more
impact on mitigating climate change than
any other agreements. Changes from
R22 and R410A is not a real problem. Low
GWP alternatives to HFCs are available
for all applications of refrigeration, air
conditioning and heat pumps.
The Kigali Amendment came into effect
on 1 January 2019 after being ratified by
at least 20 parties. Ratified in 2019 in South
SOUTH AFRICA AND NATURAL REFRIGERANTS
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South Africa has over 3500 ammonia plants operating
The Open Trade Training Centre (OTTC) college has been a specialised college in
the training of ammonia skills since 1972
the first CA ammonia store was operational in 1937
CO 2 cascade systems in supermarkets made a slow start in 2008. The number of
trans-critical installations now exceeds 300
Many R290 systems are in operation as bottle coolers, large vending cabinets in
supermarkets and even a refrigerated vehicle
R600a domestic refrigerators are operating in many homes and as vaccine fridges
The fleet of refrigerated vehicles with liquid nitrogen systems exceed 300 and
freezing tunnels have been in use for over 30 years
References:
1.
Ilana Koegelenberg.
32
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
T
A two-day workshop in Cape Town brought together industry and government representatives
and stakeholders to discuss opportunities in phasing down HFCs under the Kigali Amendment to
the Montreal Protocol.
Presenters at the Kigali Amendment Workshop. From left: Agustin Sanchez-Guevara from
Mexico and Kivanc Aslantas from Turkey.
Africa, it puts a worldwide phase-down of
HFCs mainly used in the air conditioning
and commercial refrigeration sectors. “The
Amendment will freeze the consumption
level of HFCs in South Africa as an article 5
(developing) country by 2028. The current
target figures state that the country should
be phased down to 85% of calculated
base line by 2047 on both the import and
export of HFCs. Recycling of HFCs will be
permitted,” she said.
The Amendment will be implemented
by the allocation of permits for imports
and exports of HFCs. “Two levels of permits
are envisaged: mainly, grandfather (those
that imported HFCs between 2014 and
2019) and special permits. Those that want
to be considered under the grandfather
allocation need to submit applications to
DAFF. Molefe emphasised the importance
of providing accurate information as this
will help to monitor the progress. Natasha
Kochova from UNIDO shared the same
sentiments, stating that this is also a
global problem. “Governments need to
implement energy rating and efficiency
regulations. One of the challenges going
forward is the lack of monitoring and
analysis of performance,” she said.
Lubabalo Maweni deputy director
from DAFF shared that the change by
some sectors to natural refrigerants is
encouraging, in particular those users that
have converted to CO 2 as a standard
while others have changed to R290 and
HFOs. These initiatives are welcomed as a
step in the right direction for the country
to implement the time frames and targets
of the Kigali Amendment. Noluzulo Gwayi
also from DAFF, added that it was industry
that had to take the action and not rely
solely on government to implement
the Amendment.
INSTALLING CORRECTLY
Barney Richardson from SARACCA
addressed the registration of persons
as required by the Pressure Equipment
Regulations (PER). “All persons that repair,
install, maintain, design or service systems
operating at 50kPa are to be registered as
being competent to do so. The Department
of Employment and Labour (DEL) has
mandated SAQCCGas to manage and
maintain the required register. Refrigeration
and air conditioning installations fall within
the 50kPa limit and SARACCA have been
appointed to manage the registration
of persons in the air conditioning and
refrigeration (AC&R) industry.”
There was much debate about the
longstanding issue around re-registration
after three years. Richardson felt that
because of new technologies taking
place and with new refrigerants being
introduced at a rapid pace, specific testing
was required for renewals after three years.
Administrative problems are encountered
with renewals as card holders change their
contact details or employers, and do not
keep SARACCA informed.
According to Grant Laidlaw, principal
of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Academy (ACRA), implementation of
COLD LINK AFRICA •
March/April 2020