Andrew Perks is a subject expert

in ammonia refrigeration . Since

undertaking his apprenticeship in

Glasgow in the 1960s he has held

positions of contracts engineer ,

project engineer , refrigeration

design engineer , company director

for a refrigeration contracting

company and eventually owning

his own contracting company and

low temperature cold store . He is

now involved in adding skills to

the ammonia industry , is merSETA

accredited and has written a variety

of unit standards for SAQA that

define the levels to be achieved in

training in our industry .

have always felt that it is the responsibility of the older generation to pass on their knowledge and skills , instead of what is sadly the normal case of retiring and disappearing into the sun , resulting in a loss to the industry .

I have spent a large part of my career latterly actively mentoring and assisting young engineers to understand the basic principles and design philosophy applied to major Ammonia refrigeration systems . Realising there was so much more to give and looking for a vehicle to bring this to the South African Ammonia industry , I teamed up with Gerhard Koch from ATSI in March when we both went to the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration ( IIAR ) conference in California . There we met up with representatives from both the Ammonia Safety Training Institute ( ASTI ) and Refrigeration Engineering Training Association ( RETA )

RETA is a US-based training organisation aiming to upgrade the expertise of already qualified operators and management in industrial refrigeration . They are the sole ANAB accredited service provider having met the ANSI 17024 standards and have recognised it is crucial to provide training and education to individuals entering the field , to ensure that they have the necessary skills and knowledge . As you probably know by now , we both had an amazing trip making new friends and acquaintances as we went . It was a joy to see just how the industry works together and to sample good old USA hospitality . You will probably have noted elsewhere that there were two representatives of RETA at the GCCA African Cold Chain conference held on the 2nd to 4th August in Cape Town . We had discussed the upcoming GCCA conference with them but imagine our surprise when we heard they were actually coming and why . It was probably to visit Cape Town - but who can blame them .

During the recent IIAR conference we spoke to the RETA guys about their training programmes , and they discussed their organisation ’ s mission to spread their informative training knowledge out of the US , into the six continents of the world . Who needs refrigeration in Antarctica anyway ? After our discussions they felt that they wanted to visit South Africa to see what we are getting up to here and they actually came . It has been a wonderful opportunity to chat and see where we are when it comes to adding skills to the industry .

One of the local problems is that due to the small pool of engineers , highquality training of individual engineers is a problem and is normally only provided by the specialist refrigeration contracting companies . What a fantastic solution when up pops RETA with their specialised training and willingness to share their programmes with us . It ’ s amazing when we look at what we are trying to do and the synergy between

© Eamonn Ryan | Cold Link Africa

our objectives . There are no training programmes locally that extend beyond SAQCCGas Cat B training for plant operators and technicians . Sure , there is Cat C but that ’ s for something else altogether .

For me the bonus is the further technical training for young engineers that would like to make a career in the Ammonia industry . Without these well-documented and wellpresented training programmes and material , where are we going to find the new system designers and engineers of the future ? The question is also who is going to present the material ? Only a trained and proficient design engineer , and where are we going to find them ?

I get excited when I hear of these initiatives so often - I have had to turn young engineers away when they talk to me about progressing in the industry . This is an initiative that we need to actively embrace .

One of the core values of RETA is the spread and dissemination of technical information . The way they promote this is by setting up chapters around the world where there are technical meetings and gettogethers generating a forum for discussions and support of all members . Imagine if you could rock up to one of these meetings and

Bengie Branham , current national president of the US-based Refrigerating Engineers Technicians Association ( RETA ), and Jim Barron RETA executive director .

Andrew Perks

Left to right ; Jim Barron executive director RETA , Andrew Perks from A Perks Enterprises , Gerhard Koch from ATSI , Bengie Branham national president at RETA

instead of being on your own with your own problems , there is someone to share with - someone who cares . Don ’ t you just love the one big community concept ?

I get excited when I think of the concept but it ’ s not going to happen tomorrow . But if we all work at it - why not sometime soon ?

I ’ d love to get some feedback on this , is there anybody out there that thinks this is a good idea ?

Until next month , stay safe . CLA

One of the local problems is that due to the small pool of engineers , high-quality training of individual engineers is a problem and is normally only provided by the specialist refrigeration contracting companies .