EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
a selected primary health facility
with respect to the use of natural
refrigerants used in the application
system. (This was discussed at the
‘Climate Friendly RAC Workshop’
in Elsenburg, Stellenbosch which
happened a week prior.)
Laidlaw raised a concern
regarding the South African
National Standards (SANS) being
out-of-date – something that is
holding the industry back, especially
with regards to refrigerants.
He also said a few words about
the SAIRAC Dreosti Memorial
lectures with the R290 topic (which
took place around the country,
ending the night prior to the
Elsenburg workshop – also at the
same venue).
“Reduction of
high-GWP
substances are vital
for life on earth.
We only have one
world.”
– Natasha Kochova, UNIDO
He reiterated that the industry isn’t
simply just sitting back. “We are
being proactive,” he said. “Things are
happening.”
The presentation also
covered the newly-developed
air-conditioning refrigeration
qualification and the fact that we
now have specific modules for
natural refrigerants. “We are up to
date with our qualifications,” he
reported.
He also spoke about the
refrigeration part qualification and
the different routes for getting
qualifications in the industry. Safe
handling training is the minimum
requirement needed to work in this
industry, he explained and added
that R290 and R600a (hydrocarbons
aka a natural refrigerant) have
already been included in the safe
handling curriculum.
So, where do we stand in the
quest to the full usage of natural
refrigerants? Laidlaw gave the
following insights:
• Ammonia – well known.
• CO 2 – made great strides in the
•
market, however legislation and
standards are not up to speed.
Yet we are world leaders in
some projects.
HCs – had training in GIZ
Germany that enabled us to
update our own curriculum.
The training of female apprentices
is regularly brought up by DEFF who
says we aren’t training enough.
COLD LINK AFRICA •
SEPTEMBER 2019
However, Laidlaw confirmed that
he’s currently training more than 60
female apprentices, and that more
than half of his apprentice intake is
female generally.
He spoke of our challenges with
the uptake of natural refrigerants
locally. “We have a lack of industry
buy-in; they are reluctant to
change,” he explained. The supply
chain is also not in place for natural
refrigerants to be more popular in
the South African RAC sector.
In the end, it’s not all bad news
though. “We may have challenges,
but the South African industry is
getting there,” he concluded.
REFRIGERANT USAGE IN SA
John Ackermann of the Southern
African Refrigerated Distribution
Association (SARDA) was up next.
Ackermann has been very active in
the local refrigeration industry and
was key in the phase out of CFCs
and the ongoing HCFCs.
He walked the audience through
the history (and the evolution) of
refrigerants in South Africa. “Back in
the day, the choice of refrigerant
was easy,” he said. “Then the
Montreal Protocol came along in
1987 and everything changed.”
He spoke about our phase-
outs after South Africa signed the
Montreal Protocol in 1990, and
about how industry made the CFC
phase-out happen themselves.
“Then, suddenly, we had a huge
selection of refrigerants, getting
more and more confusing,” he
remembers. As we phased down
CFCs, our HCFC consumption
increased… We never had R134a
before, now we are completely
dependent on it.
He spoke about how the
registration of safe handling of
refrigeration started (initially an
Agricsa initiative), the Pressure
Equipment Regulations (PER) of
2009, the Kyoto Protocol, and more,
leading up to present day.
“With the available technology,
equipment and skills, we shouldn’t
be considering ozone depleting
potential (ODP) refrigerants
anymore for new installations,” he
said. “It’s a crime against humanity
to install a new installation with
an ODP. The only option is zero
ODP. And GWP of less than 1 000
– should be our aim. There are
enough options. Also, look at low
overall energy usage. It’s no good
having low GWP if we’re using an
enormous amount of power to run
the plant.”
Ackermann showed a table of
available refrigerants with a GWP
below 1 000, speaking about what
industry would need to use these
new refrigerants – mainly a higher
level of skills at all levels.
He showed examples of cabinets,
projects, and plants charged with
natural refrigerants to show how
it can be done. “Air conditioning
and refrigeration is not a luxury, it’s
essential,” he explained, highlighting
areas such as food safety and
distribution of vaccines.
“The battle against global warming
by the present generation is to
safeguard food security, prevent
job losses in the agricultural sector,
save communities close to the coast
lines and preserve many threatened
species of natural fauna and flora,”
he said. “Now is the time for the RAC
industry to increase its role in fighting
global warming. Let the barriers be
seen as solutions and let there be
gains from the experiences in the
phase out of CFCs and HCFCs.”
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
The last speaker for the day was
Peder Gabrielsen of the European
Environment Agency who presented
an introduction on data collection
and reporting commitments.
He started by looking at the
European F-gas regulation and
history of it, expanding more on the
EU licencing system and the F-gas
regulation requirements in terms of
reporting.
He gave a brief overview of
the governance model and
highlighted a potential way forward
and some suggestions that might
assist South Africa in our reporting
in accordance with the Kigali
Amendment.
ALTERNATIVES
Day two of the workshop kicked
off with a presentation by Michael
Labacher of A-gas who discussed
refrigerant trends and different types
of gases available to the industry to
replace high-GWP and ODS options.
RECLAIMING REFRIGERANTS
Ronald Viskil of Unicorn refrigeration
tools and equipment in the
Netherlands, who supplied and
commissioned the four reclamation
machines UNIDO donated to South
Africa, was up next to talk about
‘reclaiming refrigerants in SA –
challenges and opportunities’.
He spoke about the benefits
and opportunities of banning
disposable refrigerant canisters.
The Netherlands phased out
disposas in 1993 already, and
he says even though industry
complained greatly initially, “they
got over it quickly.”
According to Viskil, in most
countries, the biggest challenge
with regards to phase downs/outs is
enforcement and implementation,
and people should be fined for using
illegal refrigerants.
There is a massive problem with
companies just venting refrigerants
out of systems locally instead of
reclaiming. There is a need for a
strategy to change this.
He spoke about the perceived
issues with reclamation and why
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