INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
Local refrigerated distribution to gain from GIZ project
# GIZ
By John Ackermann
It was recently announced that the GIZ project, aimed at improving transport costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in South Africa’ s transport sector, has been extended to November 2016.
The GIZ project was started in 2013 and was set to end in October 2015. At the GIZ Transport Refrigeration Project Steering committee meeting held at Kempton Park on 16 February, Michael Schuster, who has locally manages the project, announced that the German Environmental Ministry has extended the project period to November 2016.
The February meeting was convened to update industry on the status of the primary sub-projects like:
• The establishment of a thermal test chamber for refrigerated / insulated vehicle bodies.
• Design support to local refrigerated vehicle manufacturers by European manufacturers to improve thermal efficiency of insulated bodies.
• Conversion of a Transfrig transport refrigeration unit to a charge of hydrocarbon R290.
• Development of training courses on refrigerated transport technologies.
• Transfer of overseas knowledge of innovative technologies in cold chain logistics.
Thermal test chamber Planning of the thermal test chamber has entered its final stages and Schuster estimated that the first test can be done in October 2016. A contract has been awarded to the South African Bureau of Standards( SABS) to manage and operate the chamber at the Bureau’ s facility in Pretoria.
Dalucon, also of Pretoria, has won the contract to erect the insulated structure of the chamber and Multistage Cooling( of Randburg) has a pending contract to provide and install an ammonia refrigeration plant for temperature control in the chamber. Metrology equipment has been ordered from Kairos and a test bench from Cemafroid, a company that operates similar chambers in France.
Cemafroid France has been appointed as the consulting company to provide technical support and expertise in the establishment, management and operation of the chamber.
Experiences from study tours Four study groups to Europe, organised and sponsored by GIZ, gained a comprehensive overview of refrigerated logistics in Germany, France and the Netherlands. The group visited refrigerated vehicle manufacturers, logistics service providers, thermal test chambers in France and the Netherlands, Europe’ s largest produce market outside Paris, the production plant of Carrier Transport in Rouen, the Hannover Commercial motor show and liaison with Transfrigoroute.( Read more about this outing in the Jan / Feb edition of Cold Link Africa.)
Discussions held at the Cemafroid head office Fresnes( Paris) and a visit to the French ministry of Agriculture, focused on the policy framework in France on the implementation of the ATP treaty( formally translated from French as the Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be used for such Carriage).
Although the ATP is an international agreement on the transportation of perishables between countries, France applies the same standards to the transportation of perishables within its own borders.
France is recognised as having a high level of compliance with ATP standards and both Cemafroid and the French Ministry of Agriculture shared many years of experience and know-how in the thermal testing of vehicles, issuing of certificates, certification of in-service test stations,
At the February steering committee meeting, from left: Gavin Kelly( Road Freight Association), Herman Strauss( SABS), Constant Pretorius( SABS), and Michael Schuster( GIZ).
management of Datafrig( database of ATP certified vehicles) and the enforcement by traffic police and custom control at border crossings.
Use of a test chamber in SA Support for a thermal test chamber in South Africa has varied from strong to fair. Reservations centre around the charge to be levied for a type test, renewals and the costs for vehicles to travel from elsewhere in the country to the SABS chamber in Pretoria. At a meeting hosted by the Southern African Refrigerated Distribution Association( SARDA) in Johannesburg in November 2015, the SABS undertook to provide the project steering committee with an indication of pricing for tests based on 100 tests being done in the first two years.
Until the thermal chamber infrastructure is fully established and able to perform sample tests on all new refrigerated vehicles( from small delivery rigids to maximum length semitrailers) the testing will be done on a voluntary basis and market driven forces will impact on the use of the chamber. Without all contracts placed for the construction of the chamber, the SABS was not able to provide the February 2016 meeting with an indication of the pricing for tests.
At the meeting it was confirmed that a task team within the SABS technical committee TC086 had started with the drafting of a standard, SANS 1744: Thermal testing of Refrigerated Transports.
The task team planned to submit the proposed SANS 1744 to the project steering committee for approval and then circulate for public comment. Without any unforeseen delays, the standard should be complete before the first tests are done in the chamber.
Enforcement of ATP requirements as a regulation in South Africa was again raised, as at previous meetings of the GIZ project steering committee. Without the infrastructure in place, it would be impractical to enforce ATP requirements
COLD LINK AFRICA • May | June 2016 www. coldlinkafrica. co. za 19