EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
ICUE examines commercial
use of energy
By Ilana Koegelenberg
The annual Industrial and Commercial Use of Energy Conference (ICUE) took place in Cape Town
from 14 to 16 August 2017, drawing stakeholders from across the country and beyond to look at
sustainable energy solutions for the developing world.
DAY 1: SITE VISIT
The 14th international ICUE event kicked
off on 14 August with an industrial outing
to the impressive Elgin Two-a-Day cold
storage facility, where delegates who
had signed up for the site visit were
treated to an insider’s look at the entire
complex. In season, it employs as many
as 3 000 employees and has 45 in-house
engineering employees responsible for
design and maintenance. It mainly stores
apples and pears.
Every year, over seven million cartons
worth of Two-a-Day fruit are consumed
across five continents. Based in the Elgin
Valley in the Western Cape, this business
has seen fantastic growth over the past 20
years and plans to increase 50% in size in
the next decade.
About 50 delegates attended the
tour and were shown the controlled
atmosphere (CA) stores and how they
work. The facility’s management team has
spent a lot of time trialling new solutions
to try and optimise the running of its cold
storage complex, investing heavily in terms
of both time and money in research and
development (R&D).
Visitors were shown the facility’s panel
refurbishment, as well as its evaporative
condensers with speed controllers to reduce
noise pollution. One of its employees even
designed a one of a kind ‘lean into’ safety
cage for the airtight CA rooms
The tour included insights into the cold
stores itself as well as the various plantrooms,
and visitors could view the three 400kW
screw compressors, among others. The
facility has cleverly reduced kilowatt power
consumption by using variable speed drives
(VSDs) on the evaporator fan motors and
scheduling the plant’s running hours outside
Eskom’s peak hours.
Visitors were very impressed by the site
visit and particularly commented on how
highly motivated and knowledgeable the
Two-a-Day team that they interacted with
is. Staff are noticeably passionate about
product quality and it was refreshing to see
a modern design approach to achieving
electricity savings and upped efficiencies
on an operation of this size.
After the site visit, everyone enjoyed
a lovely lunch at the nearby Peregrine
Restaurant in Grabouw.
That evening, the official meet and greet
function was held at the Belmont Square
Conference Centre, where the official
conference was set to get underway
the next day. Everyone enjoyed some
refreshments and snacks, happily chatting
about the day and their work.
Inside the CA plant room during the Two-a-Day industrial site visit.
DAY 2: WELCOME
After arriving on a rainy 15 August at the
Belmont Square Conference Centre,
delegates were officially welcomed by
Dr Chris Nhlapo, deputy vice-chancellor:
research, technology, innovation, and
partnerships of the Cape Peninsula
University of Technology.
“Every year, managing the demand
of supply has become more important.
Currently, it is probably one of the top
priorities to solve in this country and in the
world,” said Dr Nhlapo. “A conference
At the conference, from left: Stefan Szewczuk (CSIR); Dawie Kriel (Energy Partners); and
Prof. Malcolm Dodd (Cold Cubed).
of this nature brings together not only
industry, academics, and role players
in the field, but also highlights the
importance of this matter.”
He also spoke on how public protest has
become a way of life and that it is a big
responsibility to educate this generation
as future leaders. “We will leave no stone
unturned to make sure we make this
generation successful,” he said.
THE COLD CHAIN
The group was divided into two for the informative tour of the Two-a-Day farm on the
first day of the conference.
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The first keynote session speaker was Prof.
Malcolm Dodd, founder and principal of
Cold Chain Solutions (now Cold Cubed).
He spoke on ‘Cold chains, efficacy,
custody, and energy’.
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
“It is important that someone takes custody
of the cold chain. But the problem is that
this is not happening. Everyone takes
responsibility for their specific link. But we
need someone to look after the whole
chain,” he said.
To illustrate his point of the importance
of cold chain management and taking
responsibility for the entire chain, he talked
about the effect of a break in the cold
chain on the respiration rate of avocados
and the growth of rot in peach fruits at
selected temperatures.
Prof. Dodd also looked at proteins and
how to maximise shelf life under the cold
chain. The cold chain is vital to contain
bacteria growth.
COLD LINK AFRICA • November | December 2017