Cold Link Africa March/April 2021 | Page 34

FEATURE

INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN

is always going to be less than what your

the three main energy sources and

and CO ₂ installations will be one of the

required tools like computers and software .

system will require so you will never end

there are different relationships between

most interesting fields to be developed in

The refrigeration system then is the ‘ odd

up in a situation where you have ‘ excess

options , so a variety of configurations

future . We can use CO ₂ directly at very

service out ’ because it ’ s not consistent with

electricity ’, so , you shouldn ’ t even think

using PV , Eskom and generator sets .

low temperatures in a direct expansion

the rest of the business ‘ suppliers ’.

twice about this ,” Kriel adds further .

Generator sets in our minds are already

( DX ) system and you could use CO ₂ as

Solar panels provide the backup energy and are included as a costsaving mechanism and also lower a facility ’ s carbon footprint . This element in particular has slowly started to be brought into the legal framework in the country . In other countries carbon reporting and penalties are already a lot

a part of a facility design and the client really just needs to decide how much of the facility must be able to be run by generator , such as the critical areas .”

Trends in terms of refrigeration itself is the move towards natural refrigerants . “ This move is going to become , in the next 10 years , the norm . We will be using refrigerants

a brine solution if you don ’ t want to use ammonia in your cold space because of the effect that it usually damages produce if you have a leak , as an example .

A combination of refrigerants can be something that can have a lot of legs in terms of trends for the future .

Waste heat recovery is another trend being widely adopted for a variety of applications .

stricter than we have here .

that are low in global warming potential

Full CO ₂ solutions are also gaining

In this country you also cannot go

( GWP ). At the moment there is nothing from

popularity around the world and is still

With the cooling service model added ,

without a generator , especially if you have

a synthetic point of view that even remotely

a relatively new technology according

everything in terms of operational costs

a product that is extremely temperature

gets close to what you have in the natural

to energy efficiency . There are also not

can be billed at the end of the month .

sensitive , obviously some products are

refrigerants . CO ₂ has a GWP of 1 , and

many technicians in South Africa that

This model has gained particular ground

less sensitive to fluctuation such as juice

ammonia has a GWP of 0 , propane has a

understand and can work on these

because companies don ’ t necessarily

concentrates , but if your store is going

GWP of 3 . The next best refrigerant GWP

systems . The systems further have a many

want to employ specialists to look after their

to hold vaccines it would be critical to

are in the hundreds . Natural refrigerants do

components , and this could lead to the

systems . The whole world is moving towards

have consistency . It is unfortunate that we

have their own types of challenges that

risk in failure ratios .

a ‘ utility model ’ and this structure is very well

regularly get reminded from government

need to be considered . The most obvious

Another trend gaining popularity is what

suited , in fact , to the entire cold chain . The

that we will continue to have power

is that propane is extremely flammable ,

is known as CaaS or ‘ Cooling as a Service ’.

utility model simply allows a company to

interruptions , and not to mention the factor

and you can ’ t really use this as a

This model essentially means that operators

focus on its core business strategy .

that is too often overlooked – being the

refrigerant in very large applications with a

don ’ t own anything in principle . This falls

Waste heat recovery is another trend

age of our infrastructure where we see

wide range of temperature requirements .

more in line with the other general strategic

that can be used to generate hot water

many failures these days .

Ammonia in South Africa has been used

principles in owning a typical cold store .

and even clean in place ( CIP ) systems . It is

Another consideration for your facility

for around 50 years and we in fact have

Operators don ’ t own the building – they

a great way to increase efficiency and in

could be thermal solutions such as ice

the highest number of expertise in the

have a long-term lease with the developer ,

cold store there are a lot of opportunities

storage system albeit it that these are

world in terms of ammonia installations –

they usually don ’ t own the land , they

to use this method in other applications

limited in their application , but still a

we have excellent engineers , technicians

don ’ t own the equipment as these are

like underfloor heating through a glycol

consideration in managing energy costs .

and suppliers , so ammonia is just a logical

also rented , they don ’ t own trucks that

pipe system and managing humidity

Schoeman adds , “ All the recent

choice ,” notes Kriel .

move product and don ’ t even own the

in voids rather than dumping it into the

designs that we have done for these types

CO ₂ is extremely efficient at low

product . What is left is the furniture , labour ,

atmosphere – after all , you have paid for

of facilities include integration between

temperatures and combining ammonia

managing a process and of course the

the generation already .

CLA