Personality Profile Sponsored by :
A BIG FAN OF PROBLEM-SOLVING
By Benjamin Brits
Having built up a competence of the industry under great mentorship , Petrie van der Merwe hasn ’ t looked back since entering the HVAC & R world .
Born and raised in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape , van der Merwe attended schooling and university there . He matriculated in the early 2000s , and then completed a B . Eng Mechatronics degree .
Getting into the HVACR sector was by ‘ coincidence ’. Having an unfortunate circumstance owing to loss of several key clients at a previous employer , van der Merwe recalls getting to the point in the new job-search cycle where he was willing to take on any position that he could get .
On an introduction to Energy Partners ( still his current employer ), there were several opportunities available in different divisions . The company decided that his work experience and aptitudes were most suited to a role in the refrigeration design department . Van der Merwe notes that , “ I was very fortunate to start my career in HVAC & R under managers that understand the importance of mentorship . Under their guidance I started building a competency in the industry and haven ’ t looked back since .”
Outside of work , van der Merwe ’ s hobbies and interests include running , hiking , and reading as much as possible – especially autobiographies and history . He also is an enthusiastic spear fisherman , although he frankly states he doesn ’ t feel like he is very good at it .
What he enjoys most about work is that while each new project builds on the knowledge base of the previous , each is still unique and therefore holds a variety of new problems that he gets to solve on a daily basis .
Considering some significant achievements , van der Merwe has been very fortunate to work on several unique and prestigious projects over recent years . Two stand-outs for him include a cold chain logistics clients that required a solution to reduce their site water consumption by ~ 80 % during the drought period in the Western Cape – this involved what was believed to be the largest adiabatic condenser installation in South Africa at the time , and the second was involvement in plant design elements for one of the largest macadamia processing facilities in the world – here the curing heating coil had a unique and very stringent design requirement in heat transfer , footprint and pressure drop together with the airflow being directed against buoyancy .
Considering the future of the sector , van der Merwe highlights that he believes energy efficiency , sustainability , and safety will be the main focus areas . The system selections will vary between these three criteria depending on the specific client preferences .
With regard to sustainability , he expects the uptake of natural refrigerants to increase significantly , with specifically R744 replacing many Freon applications for a much larger share of the commercial refrigeration landscape . For industrial refrigeration he expects R717 to still dominate for many years to come . Where it is practical , he expects that adiabatic condensers will replace evaporative condensers – addressing water security .
Van der Merwe feel that a very strong focus on charge reduction technology could be expected in terms of safety , especially for ammonia installations . He believes that direct expansion and low charge process cooling equipment , and secondary refrigerant circuits will become more common .
Petrie Henry van Townsend der Merwe
Efficiency with variable speed drives and EC fans have already become commonplace , and he believes the next big step is real-time smart monitoring of the plant operation ( cooling meters ), so that the plant control systems can respond more quickly to the system demand and thereby increase system efficiency . RACA
Petrie van der Merwe believes the future of the sector will be all about efficiency , sustainability , and safety .
www . hvacronline . co . za RACA Journal I March 2022 35