ASSOCIATIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
R290 in refrigeration
– hot topic for SAIRAC Dreosti
Memorial Lectures
By Ilana Koegelenberg
The June SAIRAC Dreosti Memorial Lectures saw international expert Dr Volkmar Hasse presenting
around the country on all things R290 in refrigeration.
JOHANNESBURG LECTURE
The Johannesburg centre kicked off the
series of memorial lectures on Tuesday,
11 June at the Woodmead Country Club.
The evening was well-attended by familiar
faces from all over the industry who came
dressed in jacket and tie to this Continual
Professional Development (CPD)-event.
Centre chair, Jaco Pieterse, kicked
things off by welcoming members and
saying a few words about the history of the
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association and the Dreosti Lecture. By a
show of hands, it was determined that the
majority of those in attendance were in fact
SAIRAC members with a few visitors too.
Grant Laidlaw, SAIRAC national
treasurer and past president, then said a
few words on how he got invited by the
German government last year to build
on their relationship where after the idea
for the RAC technical workshop in Cape
Town was born (read more on page 27).
The Dreosti Memorial Lecture and RAC
workshop were organised to coincide in
Cape Town, to ensure maximum industry
attendance.
As the topic for the RAC workshop was
all about natural refrigerants, it was fitting
that Dr Hasse was speaking about R290 (a
natural refrigerant) in his lecture.
Dr Hasse started off by giving some
background as to his elaborate career
history and involvement in the industry
and various projects (even South African
ones). He looked at Proklima and their
involvement and the history of refrigerants
before getting into all things R290.
After the lengthy lecture, everyone
enjoyed a finger-foods supper, using
the opportunity to chat to Dr Hasse and
industry peers.
“Dr Hasse’s was one of the best Dreosti
Memorial Lecture speakers thus far,”
reported Laidlaw after the event. “His
topic was current and linked in very well
with the latest trends in industry as well as
government. Lectures such as these are
important for South Africa as a whole to
keep up to date with international trends
and to bring intellectual capital into the
country,” said Laidlaw.
The Johannesburg attendance was
good, but the association expected more
involvement from industry. “It is extremely
valuable for industry to attend such events
to keep themselves up to date with what
is going on,” said Laidlaw.
JOHANNESBURG
A
t the inaugural South African
Institute of Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning (SAIRAC) meeting held
in Cape Town on 17 July 1951, Dr Dreosti
was elected the founding president of the
association. SAIRAC launched the Dreosti
Memorial Lecture in 1998, a year after Dr
Dreosti’s death; the lecture exemplifies
the objectives of SAIRAC to promote the
unrestricted dissemination of knowledge
and information.
The June 2019, the sixth SAIRAC Dreosti
Memorial Lecture was presented by Dr
Volkmar Hasse on the topic: ‘Design,
maintenance, and conversion of systems
to R290 as an alternative refrigerant with
very low GWP and as practical as R22’.
Dr Hasse was the programme director
for Proklima GTZ and has vast knowledge
and experience relating to all aspects
around R290 and its application to
refrigeration.
This was the first Dreosti Memorial
Lecture since Derek Clements-Croome
presented on ‘Can intelligent buildings
provide alternative approaches to
heating, ventilating and air conditioning
of buildings?’ in 2013.
Other than the four events, Dr Hasse
did various site visits and had many
meetings across the country with
industry stakeholders and role players.
(More about this in a future edition of
RACA Journal.)
Some familiar faces, from left: Kogan Govindan, Andre van der Merwe, Al Johnson, Roy
Hannah, John Parry, and Barney Richardson.
Catching up with Dr Hasse (right) after the lecture, from left: James Laidlaw, Jaco Pieterse,
and Peter Hoetmer.
COLD LINK AFRICA •
SEPTEMBER 2019