INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
BUSINESS AND TRAINING
“ Another memorable occasion came before I learnt to speak Afrikaans – I have never been good at languages - when I got up from a site visit on a farm in Ceres and left the customer ’ s office after telling him what I thought of him as he refused to speak to me in Scottish .”
Perks has a talent and a passion for engineering . Though nowadays there is an amazing amount of information available on websites , he describes how his generation had to learn the hard way . “ Slide rules , trig tables , and more - yes there was a life before computers . What I always loved about my job was that you were involved from the conception right through to hand over . You start with a client and end up with a friend . What is there not to like about that ?
“ When I was an apprentice in the drawing office in the mid-60s I was told that the advent of R502 would be the death knell of ammonia . Now , what with the recent growth of green energy that ’ s certainly not the case . The use of ammonia is expanding and the demand for highly skilled personnel is similarly increasing .
“ When I first arrived in Cape Town there was a large pool of highly skilled overseas-trained artisans , but sadly this is no longer the case . The exposure and training our young people are getting needs to be expanded . The older generation like me are disappearing without getting involved in passing on the knowledge to the next generation . However , I am encouraged that Refrigerating Engineers Technicians Association ( RETA ) from America ( see article https :// coldlinkafrica . co . za / retasharing-expertise-with-africa /) is actively pushing their internationally renowned ammonia training programmes worldwide . I am expecting that to become available in the near future in South Africa . There are a lot of young technicians that will benefit from this .
“ I remember the time I collected Nigel Amschwand from the airport when he arrived in South Africa in February 1975 . Like me he had no idea what he was coming too so I introduced him to the safari suit , shorts and long socks . When he was all kitted up , I then told him about the comb in the right-hand sock . I don ’ t think he has ever forgiven me for that . Ask him if you get the chance !”
THE FUTURE
The future is all about energy efficiency and carbon footprints , says Perks , with ammonia being one of the most efficient refrigerants . “ There is a drive afoot to reduce the ammonia charges in systems to minimise risk and exposure . With integrated control systems optimising efficiencies and control , we are in a whole new era .
“ I can only speak for the ammonia industry . With the advent of green ammonia and the energy aspects associated with it ammonia is receiving a new lease of life that none of us could have anticipated . Small package units utilising PHEs ( plate heat exchangers ) is the order of the day already constructed and commissioned at the manufacturer ’ s facility where the specialist knowledge is available . This will result in diagnostic trouble shooting that - while the most efficient - could present problems . We ’ ve all had that situation where the car won ’ t start and has to be towed into the agent ’ s workshop to get diagnosed . We will need to build in standby capacity .
“ If I look at how the ammonia industry has progressed since the 1960s who knows where we are going ? It is important that our young engineers keep abreast with new innovations and developments . That means travelling overseas to conferences like IIAR ( International Institute of All-Natural Refrigeration ) and building relationships . You can see this with innovations from international companies . I think that South African engineers are as good as any in the world - we have a great work ethic and are sought after worldwide . We just need to get the right training and technical knowhow ,” adds Perks .
“ As they say ‘ the only thing you can be certain of is change ’: smaller package units are the order of the day . My sincere hope is that South African standards and training is kept in line with international standards . Our qualified engineers really are not trained in the intricacies of ammonia system designs - this they tend to learn at the company where they work . I am excited that RETA has committed itself to bring their training programmes to South Africa and open a local chapter . This I would like to be involved in - if we don ’ t mentor the next wave of engineers , who will ?” CLA
“ This is Gerhard Koch . He worked for us presenting training courses Cat A and B . We decided to scale down a bit , so split the company and formed Ammonia Training Solutions which is now his , and he is very busy doing a great job still training upgraded versions of the originals we started !”
COLD LINK AFRICA • October 2024 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za 19