Acr apr17 web

2 58 44

VOLUME 3 No4

Essential Information for the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Industry

The Inventor of Air Conditioning The Inventor of Air Conditioning The Inventor Conditioning Affordableof qualityAir air conditioning Carrier launches its full range of residential and commercial split systems in the UK & Ireland Carrier launches its full range of residential and commercial split systems in the UK & Ireland

Affordable quality air conditioning

Carrier launches its full range of residential and commercial split systems in the UK & Ireland

Affordable quality air conditioning 2 1

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Remanufactured & New Compressors

Screw Compressors inverters pumps parts motors Combines green and quality savings in one...

Rotary-screw compressors helical screws, known as ro the gas. In a dry-running r pressor, timing gears ensure female rotors maintain precis oil-flooded rotary-screw com ing oil bridges the space be both providing a hydraulic s ring mechanical energy bet and driven rotor. Gas ente side and moves through th screws rotate. The meshing gas through the compressor, at the end of the screws.

An inverter can produce a s ified sine wave, pulsed sine modulated wave (PWM) or s ing on circuit design. The tw mercialized waveform types o 2007 are modified sine wave

There are two basic desig household plug-in voltage fro DC source, the first of which boost converter to produce DC and then converts to method converts DC to AC and uses a line-frequency tr ate the output voltage.

A positive displacement pum move by trapping a fixed am (displacing) that trapped vol charge pipe.

Some positive displacement p panding cavity on the suctio creasing cavity on the disc flows into the pump as th suction side expands and th of the discharge as the ca volume is constant through e eration.

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Reciprocating compressors u by a crankshaft. They can ary or portable, can be sing and can be driven by elect ternal combustion engines. S compressors from 5 to 30 are commonly seen in auto and are typically for intermi reciprocating compressors w (750 kW) are commonly fo dustrial and petroleum appli pressures can range from very high pressure (>18000 p certain applications, such multi-stage double-acting com to be the 20/03/2017 most efficient com 14:44:49

mpressors use two meshing own as rotors, to compress y-running rotary-screw comars ensure that the male and ntain precise alignment. In an screw compressor, lubricate space between the rotors, hydraulic seal and transferenergy between the driving Gas enters at the suction through the threads as the he meshing rotors force the ompressor, and the gas exits screws.

roduce a square wave, modmod ulsed sine wave, pulse width PWM) or sine wave dependdepend ign. The two dominant comcom orm types of inverters as of sine wave and sine wave.

basic designs for producing voltage from a lower-voltage st of which uses a switching to produce a higher-voltage nverts to AC. The second DC to AC at battery level equency transformer to crecre tage.

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placement pumps use an exex the suction side and a dede n the discharge side. Liquid ump as the cavity on the nds and the liquid flows out as the cavity collapses. The t through each cycle of opop

pressors use pistons driven They can be either stationstation an be single or multi-staged, n by electric motors or inin engines. Small reciprocating m 5 to 30 horsepower (hp) en in automotive applications for intermittent duty. Larger pressors well over 1,000 hp ommonly found in large inin oleum applications. Discharge ange from low pressure to e (>18000 psi or 180 MPa). In s, such as air compression, -acting compressors are said fficient compressors p02_03_acrapr17.indd 2available,

ThermaCom Kelvin House | Preston Road | Reading | Berkshire RG2 0BE T 0118 918 1400 www.thermagroup.com

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CONT E NTS

Essential Information for the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Industry

It never hurts to listen and learn

Everyone agrees that there are many challenges facing this sector, irrespective of whether your focus is on refrigeration, air conditioning or heat pumps. There is often less agreement on how those challenges should be met. It’s sometimes tempting to turn a deaf ear to opposing views but the importance of debate and dialogue has never been greater. hat need is highlighted in two of this month’s articles. Ben Bartle-Ross devotes his column on Page 14 to answering a comment on his previous story on R 2 refrigerant from someone holding very di erent opinions because “I’ve always said that we can only really learn and move forward if we engage in dialogue.’’ Developing lines of communication and keeping them open are equally important in the heat pump industry, and Dave Pearson wants as many interested parties as possible to get involved in breaking down the barriers to progress. Please respond to the short survey at the end of his thought-provoking article on Page 40 if you have something to contribute. We’re never all going to agree but the least we can do is talk... and listen.

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Enjoy the magazine.

David Editor David Todd 01778 392094 david.todd@warnersgroup.co.uk

R EG U L A RS

06 News 12 IOR update

Salute to outstanding individuals

Mitsubishi Electric Ben Bartle-Ross says it’s time for an R32 debate

Women in ACR Samantha Buckell of Bitzer UK

ee rea Win an evening cruise on the Thames

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Who’s new and who’s moved APRIL 2017

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CO N T EN TS

2 58 44

VOLUME 3 No4

Essential Information for the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Industry

The The Inventor Inventor of of Air Air Conditioning Conditioning The Inventor of Conditioning Affordable qualityAir air conditioning Carrier launches its full range of residential and commercial split systems in the UK & Ireland Carrier launches its full range of residential and commercial split systems in the UK & Ireland

Affordable quality air conditioning

Carrier launches its full range of residential and commercial split systems in the UK & Ireland

Affordable quality air conditioning 2 1

In stock at... In stock at... In stock at...

acrjournal.uk Cover.indd 1 ACRApril17 Front Cover Template.indd 1

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15/03/2017 11:41

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15/03/2017 11:41

About our front cover: www.dean-wood.co.uk www.hrponline.co.uk www.rw-wholesale.co.uk www.dwgasco.ie

Multimedia Account Manager James Knight 01778 395029 jamesk@warnersgroup.co.uk

What's New Theresa Geeson 01778 392046 theresag@warnersgroup.co.uk

Editorial Design Development Design

Advertising Design Natalie Reynolds

F E AT U R E S Refrigeration

an a rd t ign re systems still using R22?

Chillers

18 Top tips for lasting

Production

Refrigerants

35 The natural choice Training

38 The power of short courses

chiller er r ance

Heat Pumps

Air Conditioning

Breaking down the barriers to a sustainable future

20 Why indoor air quality is crucial

for business

22 Keeping air safe from the inside out Compressors

40 42

Heat pump calculations for new-build property

Sue Ward 01778 392405 production@warnersgroup.co.uk

Subscriptions Single copy £3.00; Annual UK subscription £35.00 Overseas £65.00

Publishing Editor Juliet Loiselle CompCIPHE 01778 391067 julietl@warnersgroup.co.uk

Cutting the cost of ice rink refrigeration by half

Suppliers

28 The criticality of availability

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NE W S

PURE AIR LAUNCHED AS HAIER DISTRIBUTOR From left, Pure Air’s Mark Houghton, Andrew Carpenter, Laura Taylor, Bridgette Fernandez, Lynne Ford and Edward Callaghan

Pure Air Distribution has been esta lished as the �rst distri t r for relaunched Chinese air conditioning brand Haier. Pure Air is based in uildford and the people behind the business have extensive experience of the UK air conditioning market. Managing Director Mark Houghton has spent 28 years in and around the industry and is supported by Lynne Ford as Sales irector, Bridgette Fernande as Business Development Manager, IT Manager Edward Callaghan and Finance Manager Laura Taylor, who collectively boast more than 100 years’ experience between them. Mark said he Haier range o ers quality products from residential air conditioners, through multi-splits and MRV, to chillers, all of which will be available to the UK market. “In 2016 Haier AC won the Progress Awards of National Science and

Technology, the highest award in the Chinese technology innovation field. Also, in February of this year, David Cleveland, Research Director of Euromonitor, the London-based global market research company and leading strategic market information supplier, o cially signed and released the global connected air-conditioner (including smart air conditioner) data report, showing that Haier is the number one brand of connected air conditioners (including smart air conditioners) in the world, with a market share of 23.6% in terms of volume sales in 2016. The product now is really top quality,” he said. o confirm our faith in the product, a six year warranty will also be o ered.’’ Haier appointed Bob Cowlard as European eneral Manager for HVAC at the beginning of the year. www.pureairdistribution.co.uk

AFRAM TO DISTRIBUTE LG WITH NEW SPACE AIR

Neil Afram has formed a new company to distribute LG in the UK. Afram was the founder and Managing Director of Space Airconditioning, the long-established independent Daikin distributor that went into administration in November last year. he new company, Space Air Ltd, will operate from o ces in uildford and Bristol.

UI E W RKIN WI H F AS RE ULA I NS Mitsubishi Electric has released a free CPD-accredited guide to working with the F-Gas regulations to help anyone involved in air conditioning underst nd o t is ill ect them and their equipment. It looks at the background to the regulations and why they have come about; how the phase down is planned to operate and what this means for both air conditioning systems and their owners. The overriding objective of the legislation is to reduce emissions of uorinated greenhouse gases (F ases) used predominantly in the refrigeration and air conditioning sectors which make a significant contribution to climate change. To download the guide and for further details on the regulations, visit www.timeforr32.co.uk/pr2

APRIL 2017

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NE W S

INDIA TARGETS TECHNOLOGY

UK and Indian experts are working together to explore how ‘clean cold’ technology can provide people across the Indian subcontinent with fresher food whilst boosting incomes for farmers.

he Indian government has identified investment in cold chain logistics as a vital component in its farm income strategy. It has also set ambitious targets on opening a unified agricultural market and making agriculture and the food supply more sustainable. With over 40% of some crops lost between farm gate and market, a seamless ‘cold chain’ is needed to move food swiftly from farm to consumer - yielding social, economic and environmental benefits including Reducing food loss to raise farmers’ income by countering the limitations of perishability and giving them bigger potential markets; Expanding farmers’ selling range improves usage of resources such as water, labour, land and fertiliser and boosts productivity farm economics and rural communities; and Tackling toxic air pollution by reducing the use of conventional, highly polluting cooling technologies and adopting zero-emission technologies. A number of British cooling companies took part in the Birmingham Energy Institute’s four-day workshop and study tour in Haryana, Punjab, and New Delhi, including The Cartwright Group, Hubbard Products Limited, E Hall international, Solar Polar Limited and Nextek Ltd. Professor Toby Peters from the Institute said: “Cooling is a huge problem faced by India and other fast-growing economies. Without it, supplies of food, medicine and even data break down; life in many parts of the world would be scarcely tolerable without air conditioning. The challenge though is how to deliver it cleanly and sustainably, so we can tackle the challenge of feeding growing populations without causing environmental or societal damage.’’

DAIKIN APPLIED LAUNCHES

DAIKIN ON SITE Daikin Applied (UK) has launched Daikin on Site, a new remote monitoring system for its AHU and chiller ranges. The system has been developed by the chiller engineering design team, working closely with Daikin Applied Service (DAPS UK), to provide a browser based real-time view of a site’s chiller operation. Daikin Applied Service National Service Manager Barry Coe said: “Daikin on Site is the most exciting new development in the chiller servicing industry in the last

25 years. It will enable us as a service provider, to give our customers even faster reaction times, real time advice on improving the system e ciency and prevent issues before they occur.’’ All new DAPUK chillers and AHUs with controls now have the Daikin on Site software embedded into the unit controller, which is ready to be enabled by the service team. www.daikinapplied.uk

GEOCLIMA ACHIEVES AHRI CERTIFICATION t li n c iller nu cturer eocli s c ie ed t e erti ed rk n assurance of its water cooled range of products. With AHRI WCCL certification, customers and end users are assured that eoclima Water Cooled Chillers will perform in accordance with the performance values declared in the technical documentation and in the selection software Geoselectool. On-site testing was carried out by CETIAT, an independent laboratory under contract to AHRI, at Geoclima’s test centre. Tests were carried out on both small and high capacity water cooled Turbomiser and scroll chillers – as samples of the complete Geoclima water-cooled chillers range – that were tested at part load and full load capacity. o find AHRI Certified products go to www.ahridirectory.org

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N EW S

DIFFUSION KEEPS THINGS COMFORTABLE AT RIVERSIDE DEVELOPMENT ritish heating and c ling e i ent s ecialist i si n is supplying a large number of its Highline 270 fan coil units to provide heating and cooling at The Corniche, a new landmark development in London. The riverside development is situated opposite the Houses of Parliament and o ers a selection of luxurious one, two and three bedroom apartments and penthouses, boasting views over some of Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most iconic landmarks. i usion is supplying 5 0 of its Highline 2 0 units, an energy e cient waterside control fan coil unit that provides heating and cooling to both residential and commercial properties. he Highline 2 0 is fitted with high e ciency EC C motors and boasts a specific fan power as low as 0.1 W l s and infinite fan speed control. It is the most e cient fan coil on the market, o ering the best possible energy savings.

hese versatile 2 0mm deep fan coil units can be mounted in hori ontal (ceiling), vertical (wall) and under oor applications. In he Corniche development, the fan coil units are discretely mounted in the hori ontal ceiling void. i usionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Highline 2 0 is ErP irective 2015 Compliant and has a lifetime EC wire mesh filter, fitted as standard, that can be vacuum cleaned in situ or removed for cleaning elsewhere if required. Flexibility of design allows the Highline to be configured to suit a variety of installation requirements including circular, rectangular and bulkhead ducted connections. Inlet and discharge attenuator options are available and the fan coil performs at system pressures up to 50 pa. .di usion roup.co

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NE W S

FLEXIBLE APPROACH TO ENERGY SAVINGS

Toshiba says its new generation Black Pear air conditioning controller delivers new ways of saving on energy running costs it p rticul r ene ts or otels. For the first time, the RBC SI1 Black Pear has a range of inbuilt modes that can be selected to match particular applications. hese include integration with higher level Building Management Systems via voltage and resistance and special modes for use in multi occupied buildings. Hotel Mode gives end users a pre set setback option, which can be integrated with a key card window switch. his minimises energy use while delivering optimum cooling and heating to the room, for maximum guest comfort. here are two Eco modes, one based on a

The new Black Pear RBC-TSI1 from Toshiba

timed fan operation, enabling the unit to run in an operating mode for a pre determined period of time the other allows the use of two set points, to cover heating and cooling, again helping to minimise energy use while maintaining optimum comfort conditions.

Fraser Hymas, head of control systems at oshiba who led the development, said he new Black Pear packs a lot of capabilities and options into a small package. We believe its pre set energy saving modes will be highly attractive to hotels, in particular, where sporadic occupancy – both during the day and day to day – presents significant opportunities for energy saving. He added For contractors, the fact that it can be used pretty much across our product range means that, once they are familiar with the system and the simple set up steps, they can apply with confidence to most installations and get the benefits of ease of use, exibility and energy savings for customers.

ADVANCED ENGINEERING LAUNCHES ‘ADAPTIVE’ CLEANER

ACR cleaning products specialist Advanced Engineering has launched a new ‘adaptive’ air conditioning coil cleaner which it claims is unique in t e industr . VerteX is a full spectrum cleaner anchored at pH . . Advanced Engineering says its formulation allows it to change its own pH balance to either acid or alkali to better combat the soils it comes into contact with. his makes it suitable for almost any maintenance scenario indoors or outdoors. It has been formulated by research and development chemists at Advanced Engineering and the University of Surrey. . d

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IS RIBU I N IAN BU S FIRS CH ICE R UP First Choice Group, a leading supplier of spare parts to the UK catering industry, has been acquired by PT Holdings, the parent company of Parts Town, the world’s largest distributor o p rts or t e oodser ice industr . Established in 1 , First Choice roup has since diversified into the refrigeration, environmental solutions and engineer training sectors, as well as laundry, co ee and bakery spares. In May the company will be moving to a new multi million pound building on Sta ordshire’s Kingswood Lakeside site.

First Choice roup will continue to operate under its existing brand with ohn Whitehouse as Managing irector and Carl Bate as irector of Procurement and Logistics. Chief Executive cer at P Holdings LLC, Steve Snower, said his partnership further strengthens P Holdings’ market leadership in genuine EM parts distribution. ohn, Carl and the whole First Choice team have built an extraordinary business. We respect and appreciate the integrity with which the business is run.’’ . rstc oice cs.co.uk

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N EW S

Picture courtesy of British Airways

AIR CURTAINS FOR BRITISH AIRWAYS i360

JS Air Curtains has supplied 12 Mini Optima air curtains for the doorways at the British Airways i360 observation attraction in Brighton. The Mini Optima was chosen as the best fit for both the curved inner and outer doorways to keep the cool conditioned air in during the summer and the cold air out during the winter. Each air curtain supplies up to 2,150m³/ hr of air and up to 9kW/h of heat making them ideal for protecting the 2.6m high doorways. Units were required in both

1m and 1.5m lengths to cover the various entrance widths, while a grey RAL9006 colour was picked out for the zinc plated steel casing, to blend in with the interior design. A micro perforated inlet grille will filter the air entering the unit, avoiding the need to routinely replace or clean internal air filters. All the inlet grille requires for maintenance is a wipe or vacuum occasionally. The air curtain is supplied, as standard, with a manual controller with two fan speed selections or two heater

stages for electrically heated models or units. Seven metres of control cable and an infrared hand held remote are included. The unit can also be connected to a BMS. British Airways i360 is on Brighton seafront and is the world’s first vertical cable car. At 162m high it is also the world‘s tallest moving observation tower and o ers panoramic 0 degrees views across Brighton & Hove and the Sussex coastline. www.jsaircurtains.com

HITACHI BRINGING R32 UNITS TO EUROPE Hitachi has announced the arrival in Europe of units operating on the lower GWP refrigerant R32. The company claims simple installation and low noise levels for the four wall-mount units in the Summit range, in four sizes from 1.8kW to 5kW. In addition, the refreshed R410A Performance range features three new models – 1.5kW, 1.8kW and 2.5kW. The new design incorporates Hitachi’s ‘4 Way Swing’ function, which combines vertical and hori ontal air ow.

The new R410A S-Series range with infrared remote control comes with ‘Constant Power’, o ering heating capacity at temperatures as low as -15oC, while an eco sensor detects activity within the room to eliminate energy wastage. Hitachi’s Hi-Kumo application allows users to control and overview their air conditioning from anywhere in the world, available for smartphone and tablet. www.hitachiaircon.com CMYKCMYK / .ai / .ai CMYK / .ai

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I OR NE W S

HONOURS

outstanding individuals The Institute of Refrigeration (IOR) honoured outstanding members of the RACHP industry at its 117th Annual Dinner at the Grange St Paul’s Hotel in London. The event included four different awards highlighting achievements in the sector:

Chris Druce receives the Ted Perrry Award from IOR President Steve Gill

Andy Pearson (centre) and Maurice Young with Steve Gill

The Ted Perry Award, created in memory of former

Maurice Young and Andy Pearson collected the Lightfoot Medal for the best evening paper for their “Ammonia leakage, dispersion and risk assessment” talk.

IOR President Ted Perry, is presented for research of a practical nature related the field of refrigeration by a young person. The winner was Chris Druce for his research on the impact of refrigerant leakage on the performance of systems comparing various refrigerants including HFO blends. In his nomination statement, his supervisor Graeme Maidment described his research as particularly noteworthy and topical as very little has been done in this area so far.

The Service Engineers Section Lifetime Achievement

Award (featured in last month’s issue of the ACR Journal) celebrates individuals who have spent their whole career in this industry and displayed exceptional dedication to their customers, employers and their sector. Grayme Selkirk from Tesco Refrigeration and Martyn Ross from J & E Hall were both recipients of this award for their services to the industry.

Tom Watson (centre) with J & E Hall Managing Director Mark Roberts (left) and Steve Gill The J & E Hall Gold Medal, which recognises the most noteworthy practical contribution to the field, was awarded to Tom Watson of Daikin Applied for work, including the introduction of large capacity oil-free compressors and the safe application of low WP ammable refrigerants, which resulted in significant improvements in the e ciency of chillers and industrial heat pumps.

Next year’s IOR Annual Dinner

Grayme Selkirk

Martyn Ross

will take place on 22 February 2018, again at the Grange St Paul’s Hotel.

APRIL 2017

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11.01.16 12:22 23/02/2016 12:06:33 20/03/2017 13:57:30

M I TS U BI S H I ELECT R I C

TIME FOR AN R32 DEBATE T hese columns allow me to focus on things that I think are important for the industry – and that I come across when meeting engineers on the training courses I run.

So, it is always great to get a comment, which at least shows that someone, somewhere is reading the column. In my last post, 32 reasons to get ready for change, I focused on the fact that the Aircon industry is dealing with R32 refrigerant that is starting to appear in new models. And I got a comment on the ACR Journal website from a George Haydock, questioning the dangers of R32, which I thought deserved a direct response as I’ve always said that we can only really learn and move forward if we engage in dialogue. Mr Haydock states that R32 is to be phased out, which is not quite the situation. I’m also a little confused as to how he achieves a 20-year GWP for R32 of 2,330. The simple facts are that R32 (which already makes up half of R410A) has a much lower GWP (675) than R410A (2,0 ). hese are the figures stated in the F-Gas Regulations. he whole of F as, which e ectively polices the change in refrigerants, also refers to the changes as a ‘phase down’ rather than a phase out. The reason for this is that whilst we as an industry have to play

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our part in tackling the e ects of climate change, we have to find a way to do this which minimises the cost to the businesses using equipment and does not compromise on the high levels of e ciency and performance available with modern VRF systems. So, whilst we will see a move to refrigerants with lower GWPs, this has to be a gradual process – a case of evolution NOT revolution. Finally, Mr Haydock highlights how toxic R32 could be if it is allowed to decompose and produce Hydrogen Fluoride. Whilst he is quite right, the amount of decomposed R32 that would be needed to produce even one gram is so significant that this will simply not happen in everyday usage. And this brings me to my parting thought about all of this – modern life is dangerous and all refrigerants can be harmful if handled incorrectly – even water can be hazardous if you consume too much! his is why manufacturers o er comprehensive training on how to install, commission and maintain equipment using refrigerants. This is also why we strongly advocate adherence to F-Gas, so that competent engineers are the only ones who go anywhere near refrigerants. Happy to have further feedback and dialogue though, if you have another point of view. Ben Bartle-Ross is a trainer at Mitsubishi Electric. Ben.Bartle-Ross@meuk.mee.com NOISE CONTROL PRODUCTS

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11.01.16 12:22 20/03/2017 14:08:48

R E F R I G E R AT I O N

CAN YOU AFFORD TO IGNORE SYSTEMS S Ed Whinyates of Stonegrove Refrigeration Services looks at the options available to companies still using R22 refrigerant and the importance of taking expert advice before making a decision.

hen on 1 January 2015 the new restriction preventing the use of re-cycled and reclaimed R22 came into force, many companies had already removed this refrigerant from their business. However, the new regulations do not prohibit continued operation of plant using existing quantities of HCFC refrigerant, and this has meant there are still a large number of R22 refrigeration systems operating in the UK. The regulations prevent invasive maintenance, and the direct replacement or topping up of R22 refrigerant, so any loss of R22 is going to be noticeable â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from small leaks impacting on performance of plant to major refrigerant leaks rendering the plant useless.

The major concern for any company still operating with R22 must be the potential risk of a complete loss of refrigerant from the system and the devastating e ect this could have on their business. We understand that capital investment impacts on the operating costs, especially when there appears to be no immediate return on the investment. However, this does need to be weighed against the potential impact on the whole business

APRIL 2017

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R E F R I G E R AT I O N

S STILL USING R22 REFRIGERANT? should a catastrophic system failure occur, and the knock on e ect of a direct loss of product (and possibly customers). There are two clear options available to companies still using R22 refrigerant. One is a replacement of the refrigeration system and the other option utilising a suitable “drop in” refrigerant. There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these options.

“

1. Replace with new plant he main benefits of installing new refrigeration plant are that you can use the latest technology to meet both your current and future requirements. These can be designed to have the best energy e ciency and a better pay back on investment. However, this can be an expensive option with up-front capital costs, and has a longer implementation time than just changing refrigerant. This could make some installations problematic in a live production environment and 24hr operations. In terms of the refrigerant available for new systems, you can use HFCs with a lower GWP, which at the moment are not due to be phased out. There is unfortunately no guarantee that the new regulations would not impact on the selected refrigerant blend. A good example of this is the number of R404A refrigeration

THE MAJOR CONCERN FOR ANY COMPANY WITH R22 MUST BE THE POTENTIAL RISK OF A COMPLETE LOSS OF REFRIGERANT”

refrigerant options that can be used, allowing you to retain your existing system. And with a reasonably quick implementation, there is the reduced risk of impact on the day-to-day running of a business. There are problems associated with this option. Plant e ciency may get worse, along with a reduction of cooling capacity which can impact on reliability. There is also the longer term capital cost consideration, as at some point the system would need to be replaced due to natural life expiration of any refrigeration system.

What should you do next?

systems that have been installed in the past 10 years, which will now need to be changed or replaced by 2020. You can future proof your plant by selecting refrigerants like HCs, ammonia or CO2. hese can o er your new refrigeration system an excellent life span and, with zero GWP, will not be implicated on any EC regulations and restrictions.

The important thing to do is to speak to a specialist company like Stonegrove Refrigeration Services. There are a number of considerations that would need to be made, and we can guide you on the best course of action, dependent on your needs and circumstances (both short term and long term).

2. Drop-in refrigerant here are a number of clear benefits of modernising existing plant to use an alternative refrigerant. The obvious one is the lower capital costs involved compared to a whole new system. here are several

For further information about how Stonegrove can help you with your refrigeration and air conditioning requirements, please visit: www.stonegroverefrigeration.co.uk or contact us on 01279 408690 ed@stonegroverefrigeration.co.uk

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C H I L L E RS

water treatment tips

FOR LASTING CHILLER PERFORMANCE

hillers are the backbone of commercial and industrial cooling systems acr ss the c ntr e er, the are n t a �t and rget s l ti n, and there are some easy ways to look after your chiller to ensure it lasts 10 years and more.

Water treatment is a fundamental part of a chiller’s operation and maintenance. Most maintenance engineers know that if a chiller’s water and glycol mix is incorrect, the e ects can be rapid and disastrous, leading to corrosion, system deterioration, and leaks, as well as the build-up of rust, scale, algae and debris. However, having a simple ‘watch list’ will help to avoid a crisis. Here, rent ll, Technical Manager at temperature control specialists ICS Cool Energy, o ers his top six tips for prolonging a chiller’s life and help keep it performing as e ciently as possible. 1. on t or et in i itors Glycol is an essential element of any heat transfer uid used as part of a chilled water system, as it allows the uid to be su ciently chilled without free ing. However, an uninhibited glycol system can pose even more of a risk than plain water due to the highly corrosive nature of most glycols, so inhibitors must be used at all times. For those operating in areas where there is a risk of incidental human contact, such as the food processing industry,

the wrong inhibitors in an MPG solution creates a serious contamination risk, but an NSF-accredited glycol overcomes that. 2. Take regular water samples from various parts of the system Corrosion and degradation can happen anywhere within a system and it’s not enough to take water samples from just one location. Samples need to be taken from available access points around the system and especially from high risk areas such as heat exchangers, cooling jackets and any other sensitive product uid interfaces. 3. est uid p le els Not taking pH level readings as part of routine water sampling can have a major negative impact on a system’s performance. While chiller pH tolerances will vary slightly depending on the materials used, I would recommend limits of 8.0 – 8.5. Incorrect pH levels may indicate that either not enough inhibitors have been used, or the glycol levels are too concentrated. Both scenarios can very quickly cause high levels of corrosion throughout a system if left unchecked, leading to costly maintenance bills and unplanned downtime.

Brent Hall ICS Cool Energy

4. Check the clarity of the sample Not all tests are as in-depth as pH level, and one of the most obvious signs that a chiller system is degrading or corroding internally is when there’s visible debris in the water sample. A water sample from a chiller operating correctly should be clear and if it’s not, then there’s already some internal system damage. This needs to be addressed immediately as the debris can soon lead to blockages in key areas of operation such as the heat exchanger, which will rapidly decrease the chiller’s e ciency. 5. e ic ll us our s ste nd c iller i edi tel ter inst ll tion As soon as a new chiller is installed, the whole system should be ushed immediately to ensure the uid is completely free from contaminants and at the highest quality possible, with no legacy debris or surface contamination present to cause damage to the uid, the pipework and the new equipment. This golden rule should be followed whether it’s a permanent or temporary installation for planned or reactive maintenance. 6. en in dou t consult t e e perts Given the intricacies of taking a thorough and correct chilled water system sample, sometimes it pays to call in an expert. Regular water sampling and o site laboratory analysis is available as part of some chiller manufacturers’ aftersales and servicing packages – including Planned Preventative Maintenance Packages (PPM) from ICS Cool Energy.

For more information about ICS Cool Energy, please visit .icscoolener .co in o icscoolener .co 0800 774 7426

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AI R CONDI TI O N I N G

INDOOR AIR QUALITY’S

CRUCIAL ROLE FOR BUSINESS Mark Stevens, Managing Director of HVDS, explores the importance of a healthy and happy working environment.

ince the referendum in June 2016, the UK’s relationship with the EU supply chain has been under serious scrutiny, and fears of the impact to businesses due to the import and export changes are prevalent across the British food manufacturing and processing industry. As further challenges are placed on food manufacturers, producers and processors from the UK Brexit strategies, companies are quickly looking for improvements to strengthen their position and positively impact their food production process.

Many business’s retention strategies target unnecessary expenditure, as well as short term investments that will o er long term financial benefits. ypically machinery and automation are at the forefront of business retention. However, since more than 90% of the costs associated with a building are related to the people in the workplace, for the majority, the initial focus for consideration is Labour Productivity. Labour Productivity reviews the company employee organisation, the level of employee numbers, and the final output of production in relation to labour costs. Sometimes drastic changes are made to a company’s employee resources as a result of analysing the LP, and consequently businesses unfortunately

opt for the redundancy route to eliminate a large proportion of labour costs. It is becoming far too common to see announcements in relation to sta cuts across the food manufacturing and food processing industries, and for consumers, suppliers and processors alike, it has become somewhat a cause for concern. Even though the long term financial benefits of employee redundancy are fairly minimal, it seems as though rather than being a last resort, sta cuts are becoming a ‘go to’ resolve for initial cost saving and business retention – we shudder to think!

this relationship to be intervened, and so the downward financial spiral begins. Clearly it serves to benefit not only the consumers, suppliers and processors, but the manufacturer and company themselves, if all alternative cost saving opportunities are contemplated before taking any drastic redundancy action. We understand that investment in automation equipment and machinery; that can rapidly increase productivity in a food manufacturing environment doesn’t come cheap. And if it does, you need to take into consideration how much ‘value added maintenance time’ is likely to be required for servicing and repairs to ensure the smooth running of the equipment.

Changes Although sta cuts require minimal or no investment and provide a reliable, short term answer to cost saving; making redundancies does have its clauses. Quite often, the main cause for concern of redundancy; particularly in larger, well established manufacturing businesses, centres around negative publicity and the in uence it leaves on a ‘brand’. It is proven that consumers build a level of trust and in some respects an individual relationship with their preferred and reputable brands. And when negative attention is brought upon these brands it is commonplace for

When investing in production equipment is not an option, it is time to look at labour productivity improvements, without reducing sta numbers or making radical changes to employment contracts. Instead, turning heads to minimal investment and long term changes that can be made almost overnight. Changes that not only have the potential to increase labour productivity by almost 20%, but also guarantees to provide engineers and maintenance teams with additional ‘value added maintenance time’, which in turn adds to the increased productivity percentage!

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A I R CO N D I T I O N I N G

It is not unheard of for a company to overlook the physical environment around their employees, it’s also not unusual for them to underestimate the relationship between the quality of this environment and its employee productivity. Considerable evidence shows that a poor quality workplace environment, particularly in manufacturing industries, can ma orly impact on sta performance, emulated by the correlation between the state of employees’ health and the level of sick related absences. There are ways in which companies can improve the state of health across their workforce without enforcing healthy routines, diet and of course, exercise.

Air quality

Improvements to the physical workplace environment have proven to better employees’ health and considerably boost labour productivity, which indirectly reduces labour costs and allows for employee retention. One of the main environmental impacts to employee health within a food manufacturing facility is the air quality. When talking about ‘air quality’ most people only concentrate on outdoor air, with its concoction of smog, smoke, dust and other types of air pollution. What people fail to think about is Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). IAQ has a massive impact on employee health and productivity. o perform e ectively in their roles, the air circulation, extraction and ventilation should be optimised to ensure the health and comfort of employees. The health repercussions from poor IAQ are extensive and links have been made to headaches, rashes, respiratory di culties, asthma, heart and liver damage and even cancers.

Positive

A series of studies and experiments have been performed and evidence has shown significant improvements in employee performance by e ciently removing airborne pollutants through extraction. And providing fresh air supply and circulation o ers a positive e ect on comfort and health. However, in low or nontoxic environments like food factories, processing facilities, and administration o ces it is hard to recognise ust how

much airborne pollution could actually be in circulation. Low level IAQ is usually caused by contamination from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s). VOC’s are organic chemicals that have a high vapour pressure at room temperature, this pressure causes large numbers of molecules to evaporate into the air, causing contamination of the workplace environment. VOC’s can emanate from a number of unlikely applications; from computers and printers, manufacturing machinery, construction materials, furniture and furnishings, oor coverings and cleaning products.

Benefits

All of these products and applications omit a range of VOC’s, including formaldehyde, toluene and other chemical solvents. To add to the contamination, heat produced by machinery and technical equipment accelerates the di usion of emissions into the surrounding air. And since, on average as a nation, we spend 90% of our time indoors and more than a third of this in the workplace, the importance of workplace IAQ becomes apparent. Understanding where and how air moves around within a production facility doesn’t just improve employee productivity, but it also o ers other important benefits. Ventilation mapping, air supply and extraction are central to food manufacturing compliance audits; ensuring hygiene and safety to legal requirements. Furthermore, clean air handling is essential for maintaining separation between high care and low care areas, and when these are e ectively managed they can reduce the amount

of financial loss related to down time from contamination. Providing a good level of fresh air ventilation, contaminated air filtration and VOC extraction is essential to reducing indoor air pollutants and maintaining a good IAQ in the workplace. Small changes to the air mapping and air handling within a manufacturing facility can be made to improve cognitive performance and productivity within the workplace. Consequently, significantly boosting labour productivity as well as manufacturing output. As a result, increasing employee retention and reduced labour costs and unnecessary expenditure.

Potential

Initial outlays for a better IAQ can be as little as a few hundred pounds depending on the physical size of a business and the air handling products and services that are required. However, once it is completed the business potential of 20% increased labour productivity, significantly reduced outgoing costs from ine cient air handling and limiting the possibility of a negative brand reputation, far outweighs the investment, and even changes the strategy from business retention to business development. Admittedly there is an abundance of other areas in which a food manufacturer could focus attention for development and enhancement. But, Indoor Air Quality could be the ‘breath of fresh air’ that a business needs to nurture the UK manufacturing industry through the e ects of last year’s referendum result.

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AI R CONDI TI O N I N G

KEEPING AIR SAFE FROM THE INSIDE OUT Steve Hope, from Guardian Water Treatment, explains the importance of air conditioning and ventilation maintenance in the fight against health risking Indoor Air Quality (IAQ).

’m sure you’ve all read the headlines. Not a day goes by without yet another frightening statistic relating to air pollution, how ad it is and the e ect it c ld ha e on our health.

With the majority of people residing in the biggest cities, many of us risk our own wellbeing by where we live and work. When we step o the street, however, we should be entering a sanctuary of hygienic air that facilitates a happy and productive day, right? The reality is often not quite so positive, with poorly maintained air handling and conditioning equipment meaning air is not properly filtered, pollutants are finding their way in, and bacteria is being given a place to thrive.

Steps to improving IAQ

In the first instance, it’s essential that appropriate air handling equipment is chosen for a building and that this is reviewed as layout changes or more people join a company. Often, we see an air conditioning scheme that is based on the historic design of an o ce, with no adjustments made when desks move, stud walls are added or additional members of sta are employed. What may have been fit for purpose initially, no longer provides an e ective solution. Every time a building changes, so should its air conditioning and ventilation. Once installed (or changed), as with all HVAC equipment, maintenance is essential. For example, there is a mad panic for air conditioning to be serviced

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A I R CO N D I T I O N I N G

once the weather warms up, but this is usually too little, too late and by this point, ac engineers are very busy, so building owners may be left with faulty equipment when they need it most – particularly at a time when the basic ventilation technique of ‘opening windows’ may not be advised if pollution levels continue to remain at dangerous levels. A planned approach to maintenance is essential, based on individual product and its usage. While manufacturer’s instructions must of course be the bench mark, ideally, a maintenance programme should be tailored to the buildings – every environment is di erent and will put di erent strains on plant. Part of this ‘fit for purpose’ maintenance comes from monitoring. By continually reviewing air quality and how equipment is working, small problems can be caught before they become big ones, with root causes addressed, rather than a make do and mend approach which could see knee jerk reactions such as ‘turning the ventilation up’, rather than understanding why the ventilation isn’t working su ciently when it should be. Important factors such as temperature and humidity levels, and pollutants; including carbon monoxide, dust, fungus, bacteria and pathogens; can be monitored on a regular basis to ensure the system is working e ciently. As well as controlling air quality, IAQ monitoring helps buildings to comply with Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations. Regulation 7 (1) requires the employer prevent exposure and where this is not practicable, ensure that any exposure is adequately controlled. Without monitoring, employers are in the dark as to what substances their sta come into contact with.

high levels are an indicator that there is not enough ‘fresh’ air being circulated. Without the removal of ‘spent’ air, odours and other contaminants can build-up. HVAC equipment should be routinely inspected and associated ductwork cleaned, with factors such as air ow, temperature, humidity and pressure di erentials tested in the di erent areas of a building.

The cost of poor IAQ

Apart from potentially having a negative e ect on IA , a blind and unplanned approach to HVAC equipment will also lead to increased energy bills and maintenance costs. If equipment isn’t working properly because filters haven’t been cleaned, for example, it will strain harder to meet its required output, therefore using more power. Leaving plant to operate in this way will eventually lead to a shorter lifespan and breakdowns, costing more in the long run where replacements and out of service maintenance call outs are required. As the old adage goes ‘you have to speculate to accumulate’ – this is always true when it comes to the e ective running of building services equipment. This speculation shouldn’t just be viewed as a step to cutting mechanical costs, either. Statistics have proved that poor IAQ impacts productivity, leaving sta finding it hard to concentrate. Where health implications are severe, days o work may also ensue. Taking a short term view of air handling systems and their importance is therefore potentially costly on a number of levels.

Contaminant culprits

Contaminants may originate from inside and outside of a building, potentially containing airborne chemicals. What comes from outside should be stopped by air handling equipment, which is why keeping filters in good working order is so important. If a work place produces excessive amounts of potential irritants than a building’s ventilation systems should be adjusted to suit. It’s important that ow rates are kept in check – if more air is removed from the building than is supplied, negative pressure can buildup, causing unconditioned air to ow in through gaps. Boilers, water heaters and other combustion sources must all be properly ventilated. Sta education is also key – air ventilation grilles can get blocked because people perceive them as ‘draughty’, they must also be trained to use thermostats properly. Ideally, each area should have zoned temperature control so individuals can feel comfortable in their space. With the cost of poor IAQ potentially a high one, e ecting sta health and productivity, and the e cient running of associated plant, cutting corners is a false economy that no business can a ord. Let’s make sure that once we’re inside, at least, the air we breathe is safe. Guardian Water Treatment delivers a range of air quality monitoring, assessment, system maintenance and cleaning services. For more information visit: www.gwtltd.com

IAQ investigation

If building occupants are complaining about air quality, then testing and assessment should be carried out to determine the source of the problem and address it. Carbon dioxide (CO2) testing is often performed during the early stages if an IAQ investigation -

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COM PR ESS O RS

CUTTING THE COST

OF ICE RINK REFRIGERATION BY A new approach to ice rink refrigeration is saving end users thousands of pounds a month in energy costs. ACR Journal looks at an award-winning* approach that is helping to transform the economics of skating rinks.

he UK’s ice rinks are experiencing something of a renaissance, resulting in an explosion of outdoor temporary rinks, a feature in many town centres over Christmas, and stimulating investment in new and refurbished permanent rinks.

The energy required to create and maintain an ice pad is one of the most important elements in rink running costs. James Ogden, director and founder of G&O Refrigeration, has a unique insight into the requirements for ice rinks, as for many years he played ice hockey for Milton Keynes.

“

There is also a wider family connection, as his sister was a professional skater in the television series, Dancing on Ice. His knowledge of the sport, combined with a solid grounding in refrigeration design and engineering, has led the contractor to develop a new high e ciency approach to refrigeration for ice rinks. The innovation, devised by G&O Refrigeration with help from compressor specialist Bitzer UK, can halve cooling energy running costs compared with traditional refrigeration approaches, delivering savings for end users of thousands of pounds a month.

THE INITIATIVE IS AN UNQUALIFIED SUCCESS, BASED ON A WILLINGNESS TO INNOVATE AND MOVE BEYOND ESTABLISHED WAYS OF DOING THINGS”

Milton Keynes Ice Rink

Having identified the need for a more e cient solution, developed a new rink refrigeration plant called the Gorac chiller pack. Based on Bitzer CSVH compressors, it is designed to deliver exceptionally reliable cooling and significantly reduced energy costs. “These twin requirements – reliability and e ciency are absolutely vital for ice rinks,” says James Ogden. “The packs have to run 365 days a year. A refrigeration breakdown can be catastrophic for revenue, as it can take days for the ice to rebuild. Meanwhile, sporting fixtures may have to be cancelled and access for normal public use is unavailable.” This was the reason the company selected Bitzer CSVH compressors to form the heart of its new approach to compressor pack design for rinks.

G&O ice rink plant lined up prior to project installation

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CO M P R ESS O RS

“The CSVH is a fairly recent addition to the Bit er range, and is a very e cient, robust and reliable compact screw compressor. he key to its e ciency is an integral inverter, which precisely controls the speed of the motor in line with cooling demand. “This, coupled with the proven reliability of the established CSH series, gave us confidence that it would deliver on both e ciency and reliability fronts, he says. In addition to a built-in frequency inverter, the compressor has on-board protection and monitoring sensors, magnetic valves for regulation and coolant injection, all in one prewired package. The choice of compressor was something of a pioneering decision for , as it was the first time Bit er’s CSVH semi-hermetic had been used in an ice rink application. The compressors operate on R134a, which is normally associated with medium temperature applications, such as commercial air conditioning. However, the performance envelope is surprisingly wide, and the company was attracted by the fact they can evaporate down to -17deg C, at a suction pressure of 0.5Bar. The decision to incorporate the units on the company’s new orac rink pack has proved to be an unqualified success. A pack replacement project at Milton Keynes rink carried out by G&O has more than halved cooling energy costs.

Bitzer UK and G&O win Refrigeration Project of the Year at the National ACR & Heat Pump Awards in January

The electricity bill with the previous system was £11,000 a month. Following replacement with the Gorac-Bitzer system, costs have fallen to between £4000-5000 a month. Subsequent pro ects have confirmed average savings of between 45-50 per cent. “On the strength of the projects carried out to date, we believe it has the potential to transform the economics of skating rinks, he says. Following its success, the company has now produced 10 Gorac packs for use in rinks across the UK. In addition to Milton Keynes, they have been installed at rinks in Hemel Hempstead, Swindon and Cardi . his latter pro ect is the largest to date, with two ice pads on site. Further projects are under way.

The company is now attracting the attention of overseas ice rink operators, and is involved in supporting projects taking place in mainland Europe. Kevin Glass, managing director of Bitzer UK, says he initiative is an unqualified success, based on a willingness to innovate and move beyond established ways of doing things. It re ects the excellent collaborative relationship between us and our contractor customer, and provides an excellent example of innovation through partnership, that could form a template for the industry to follow.

*The innovation won the Refrigeration Project of the Year Award in the ACR Journal’s recent National ACR & Heat Pump Awards 2017.

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Plant room at the Milton Keynes rink

Compressor pack in the plant room

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S U PPL I E RS

THE CRITICALITY OF AVAILABILITY

IN THE RAC SECTOR RAC contractors are some of the unsung heroes of today’s society, and the availability of product is crucial to their success. However, contractors need to ensure they are using their supplier to their full potential in order to keep ahead of the game says Robert Franklin, Development Director at Climate Center.

here has always been an inherent need in society to do things faster, for us to have the freshest product and to make lives easier, so it’s no new notion for contractors to want to improve their �rst ti e � rate t t da so many industries are heavily reliant on refrigeration and climate control that even the smallest amount of downtime can have detri ental e ects

What industries do I refer to? Supermarkets, restaurants, frozen food storage, hospitality, fruit storage, healthcare, even mortuaries – the list goes on – so the role of the RAC contractor is ever more important to our society. Take a fast food restaurant for example. The cold room is the heart of the restaurant and the constraints to which they operate mean they simply cannot a ord for it to be out of service. All of the big chains have robust

potentially prevent surgery from going ahead if any of it was to fail. It even touches the extremity of organ and blood transfers – strict temperature control is vital to the safe transportation and therefore survival.

Pressure

standards to which they have to adhere and if the freshness is compromised it would mean being unable to serve food or drink for an unforeseen amount of time. But it a ects more than ust food. Hospitals are also dependent on refrigeration of supplies and quality of air, and could

Failure is actually more regular an occurrence than the average consumer might expect. The equipment is constantly under pressure which is why a large percentage of the work carried out in the sector is reactive. So what does that mean for service engineers High expectations from customers.

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S UP P LI ERS

Failure has a huge cost to businesses, both direct and indirect. Initially there is the immediate cost of the repair and the parts or new equipment required, but then there are the associated consequences that can last much longer than the fault itself. Let’s go back to the fast food example. If food has to be thrown away then there’s a cost attached – if customers get turned away then there’s a cost to the brand’s reputation and that could be long term damage. r if we think about the in ux of express convenience stores across the country, customers expect these stores to have their essential products readily available and, if the refrigerator being down means they can’t purchase their milk, they are more likely to be inclined to shop elsewhere for their whole shopping list. What’s more, when there’s a compressor involved in a repair on site it would have an impact on the company’s ability to trade full stop. he business pressure to get such equipment back up and running is enormous.

Margins

Contractors in our industry also have a requirement for this first time fix capability in order to sustain the profitability of their companies and, while they do carry stock on their vans, there are limitations due to the sheer variety of what’s available. o put it into context, Climate Center stock around 12000 refrigeration products, 5000 air conditioning products and 000 associated controls, bracketry and tools. here are so many variations linking to one single product in terms of age, specification and manufacturer that it’s simply not possible to foresee everything they will require that week. We’ve talked about cost to the end customer, but there’s also a cost to the contractor if they can’t fix it first time. It’s common practice in this sector to charge per job, so if an engineer is having to revisit a ob because they didn’t have the right product the first time round then it starts to eat into their own margins.

If they had to visit more than twice, it could even end up costing them, and of course no contractor wants to pay to fulfil a contract. he reputation of the RAC engineer is built on timing – they need to be able to solve a problem quickly and customers’ expectations will almost always be based on the last brand they dealt with because the cost of failure runs deeper than service and maintenance. Because contractors need to be the best they can to hit SLA’s and ever changing customer expectations, they also need a robust supply chain partner. If there’s one important message from the merchant to the contractor, it would be to use them to their full potential. Merchants are designed to provide a personal warehouse to contractors to provide what they need, exactly when they need it. Contemporary delivery models are designed around the customer. For example express delivery from Climate Center means that customers can order online by pm for next day delivery. When a contractor is called to an emergency repair ob at a town’s leading supermarket, they can be reassured that 00 of the most commonly required parts will be available in every Climate Center branch across the country, with the wider 20,000 available next day. London is an entity on its own regarding immediacy. he added pressure of

IN A WORLD WHERE TOMORROW IS JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH, THE PRESSURE IS MOUNTING TO GET IT RIGHT FIRST TIME”

congestion, parking woes and restricted site access can put the first time fix at even further risk. Solutions like in-night deliveries from Climate Center mean that product is available from . 0am in central branches, with many located near tube stations to eliminate the need for road transport when picking up parts in central locations. umping on the tube to collect a part is often far quicker than driving. And it’s not just spare parts, it’s also important that essential items like bracketry, oxyacetylene and R 2 are readily available for contractors, where and when they need it.

Productivity

he criticality of availability doesn’t stop at physical product, it’s the technical expertise behind a merchant that contractors need to make the most of. Having people that understand the problem you are dealing with in that emergency can be the di erence between fixing it that day or not. Climate Center branch sta are fully trained and have many years of industry experience so customers can be confident that time won’t be wasted in communication. In a world where tomorrow is ust not good enough the pressure is mounting on our industry to repeatedly get it right first time. By taking advantage of a merchant network, contractors can continue to save the day while increasing the productivity of their business.

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For more information, visit www.climatecenter.co.uk

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WOME N I N ACR

WOMEN in the

ACR industry

SAM AN T HA BUCKELL This month, the ACR Journal interviewed Samantha Buckell, Personal Assistant to the Managing Director â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bitzer UK Ltd. Where do you work now?

Bit er UK Ltd, based in Milton Keynes, as Personal Assistant to the Managing irector.

What attracted you to the industry?

I was attracted to the role initially, and I have learned a lot about the industry since I joined. I am very pleased to be part of the industry - people are friendly and positive, and keen to get on and work together to make a success of it.

What do you specialise in now?

The great thing about my job is that it is extremely varied, so no two days are ever the same. My main role and priority is Personal Assistant to Kevin Glass. Beyond that, I get involved with marketing, health and safety, co-ordinating the Bitzer UK training scheme, travel arrangements for the team and anything else that may come up in the day. I am also very pleased and excited to have recently become the Chair of the Steering Group for Women in RACHP, an initiative of the Institute of Refrigeration.

Where did you study?

Ousedale School in Newport Pagnell, where I completed my GCSEs.

What was your first job?

I count myself very lucky to have been one of the last school leavers to be accepted onto a Railway Training Scheme with Network Southeast, now London Midland. This not only introduced me to the workplace, in a very male industry, but gave me the opportunity to experience lots of

di erent placements across the network, enabling me to decide the career direction I wanted to follow. I felt I could opt for any job. However, rather than becoming a train driver, I chose an o ce role. What I learned there provided a strong foundation for the career I eventually pursued. It was common in those days (around 1990), to leave school and get a job straight away. Today, things are obviously di erent, with a much higher percentage of people going to University.

What excites/interests you about theÂ industry?

I believe this is a great time to be joining the industry. Not only have people acknowledged that we need to do more to appeal to women, in order to attract them into the industry, but people are starting to work together to explore practical ways of doing this. On the technical side, the innovations I see being developed around me are fascinating. To give one recent example:

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WO M EN I N ACR

ENGINEERING-RELATED INDUSTRIES NEED TO HAVE A FRESH THINK ABOUT HOW THEY SELL THEMSELVES TO YOUNG PEOPLE”

Bitzer UK recently worked in collaboration with a customer, Refrigeration, to develop a new high e ciency refrigeration system for Milton Keynes Ice Rink. he project won the Project of the Year Award in the recent National ACR Heat Pump awards. It was a proud moment for everyone involved.

Where do you see your career developing?

I find the Personal Assistant role at this level in a high quality company such as Bitzer UK rewarding and challenging. I have been here 11 months and thoroughly enjoy my work. I would like to continue to develop my skills and knowledge in the role for some time.

What is the best piece of advice you were ever given?

Be punctual, professional, presentable and polite. If you go by that mantra, it will do you proud.

What challenges does the industry face?

Again, I have to mention diversity. I believe it is entirely achievable to gain a more diverse workforce. Engineering-related industries, such as refrigeration and air conditioning, need to have a fresh think about how they ‘sell’ themselves to young people. We need to make much clearer the massive di erence that refrigeration makes to the world, and how our quality of life – indeed civilisation – depends on it. Another key area is obviously the environment, and the industry’s role in safeguarding the planet for future

generations. This is very much on the industry’s agenda, I know, and I would like to see it made a priority. Improved design, best practice and constant innovation are the keys to maintaining momentum and building on the industry’s achievements in this vital field.

What are the benefits of being in your role?

Because I work in a small team, I can see the di erence my contributions make to the company. Last November, I was lucky enough to travel to Head ce in Sindelfingen, ermany, to work with my colleagues there. This not only gave me an insight to our global operations, but it was great to meet people I was working with longdistance. I was able to clarify any queries I had face-to-face, and it helped me feel part of the bigger picture. At Bit er in ermany we have our own art gallery, Schauwerk Sindelfingen, which consists of art and cultural artefacts, primarily from the 20th and 21st centuries, collected by our late owner and CE Peter Schau er and his wife Christiane Schau er M nch. It was an amazing experience and privilege to have a private tour around the current exhibition. he Schau er Foundation, established in 2005 by Peter Schau er, will continue his life’s work, uniting entrepreneurship, vocational training and university teaching with research, science and art.

What industry associations and activities are you involved with, and what are the benefits?

As mentioned, I am involved with the IOR’s Women in RACHP initiative. We are planning a special training event to coincide with International Women in Engineering Day, on 23 June 2017. This will take the form of a training course for non-technical women working in the industry. The day will be split into two parts: The morning session will give delegates an opportunity to closely examine a refrigeration system and do some practical work; the afternoon session will focus on career development for women in engineering. We are very much in the planning stage, and will publicise it in the very near future.

What would you say to other women who are considering coming into the ACR industry?

I think it is a great industry to join with lots of opportunity. No area of work should be ignored or passed over as a result of being perceived as a ‘male’ industry. I have met some great people in the last 11 months on all levels, and thoroughly enjoy my job. I would encourage anyone with an interest to join the ACR industry.

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R E FR I GE RA N TS

BLACK MARKET REFRIGERANTS

THREATEN SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT Stuart Corr, techno commercial director of refrigerants manufacturer and supplier Mexichem, discusses why counterfeit and unregulated refrigerants are such a concern for the industry.

ounterfeits - imitations of branded products from reputable, original manufacturers - exist in both consumer and industry environments, but the negative implications of the latter are much more dangerous.

A good example to start with is that of designer handbags, and how it may be tempting to purchase what appears to be a bargain in an online auction rather than from an authorised retailer. However, if the product turns out to be counterfeit and of poor quality, the buyer may well be disappointed and have little or no comeback. When buyers donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t realise the bargain is in fact a counterfeit, they are left to assume that the brand owner has supplied a poor quality product which in turn damages brand value and reputation, both hard-won prizes. Unlike consumer environments, in the refrigerant sector the damage done by counterfeit products can go far beyond harm to the brand. Opting for an inauthentic refrigerant can have serious negative consequences for the sta , equipment and environment. Despite this, there has been a rise in the volume of counterfeit products on the market.

The rise of counterfeit refrigerants

Chloro uorocarbon (CFC) and hydrochloro uorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants have historically been used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems. However, when their ozone depleting potential came to light, the Montreal Protocol was established to limit environmental impact. The phase down of these popular refrigerants led to the development and introduction of a new generation of substances, the hydro uorocarbons (HFCs). Whilst HFCs have ero o one depleting potential, many are perceived to have high global warming potential ( WP). Industry is now moving away from higher GWP refrigerants on a global basis with a new international agreement; the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol, will now see an HFC phase down in some countries from 2019. This agreement supplements measures already in place in both Europe, the US and Japan. In the move away from higher GWP refrigerants, companies are looking to alternatives including hydro uorolefins (HF s) and non halogenated â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;naturalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; refrigerants. Although the newly developed refrigerants can have a lower direct global warming impact and zero ozone depleting potential, they present other concerns to system operators in characteristics, cost and safety. There have been numerous examples of fraudulent refrigerant identification

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R EF R I G ERA N TS

“

ENSURE YOU DON’T END UP WITH THE EQUIVALENT OF A KNOCK-OFF HANDBAG”

across the globe. In 2013, as many as 3,500 cylinders of apparently branded refrigerant were seized in Saudi Arabia. More recently, in 2015, 900 cylinders of counterfeit refrigerant were seized in China. Because counterfeit refrigerants are not made to the exacting specifications as the genuine branded products, they could be contaminated, diluted or even a completely di erent substance from what is advertised. Unlike when buying from a reputable supplier, such as Mexichem, there is no guarantee that the refrigerant will meet that specification or Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) standard 700.

System damage and performance

The most common result of using a counterfeit refrigerant is decreased system performance. This can be either because the refrigerant is not compatible with the system or because it has di erent characteristics to the ones expected, for example, di erent operating pressure. However, contaminated refrigerants can cause a range of issues including; increased energy consumption, reduced equipment operating life, system failure and even dramatic incidents such as fires and explosions, which can result in injuries or death.

Safety

One major safety problem is that some counterfeit refrigerants have been found to contain a ammable compound, methyl chloride, which reacts with the aluminium in HVAC systems to generate reactive, toxic compounds which can burn violently when exposed to air. An example of such an incident happened in 2011, where refrigerated shipping containers exploded in Vietnam and Brazil, subsequently killing three dockworkers. This was a result of methyl chloride contamination in the refrigerant, which was used in up to 8,000 containers.

Environmental implications

Counterfeit refrigerant is often smuggled between countries and operates outside the purview of environmental and other legislation. The reported incidents of methyl chloride contamination have been associated with counterfeit R134a refrigerant. However, R134a has also been contaminated with banned refrigerants such as R22. Not only can this have legal consequences such as severe fines, but buying refrigerant containing ozonedepleting substances is also undermining regulations designed to protect the environment. Even when the identity of the refrigerant is the same as that of the branded product, the supply of black market material also acts to undermine the environmental regulations; there is little point in having controls on what can be placed on the market by authorised suppliers when there is little or no control on the supply of under-the-counter products. If the environmental regulations are to work in the way they were envisaged, refrigerant importers need to be licensed in the same way that they were to control use of CFCs and HCFCs. As discussed, counterfeit or poor quality refrigerant can also lead to decreased system e ciency, which increases the power consumption. In addition to greater running costs, the majority of a refrigeration system’s carbon footprint comes from its power consumption and anything that acts to decrease e ciency is clearly bad news for the environment.

Detection methods

Fraudulent suppliers often plagiarise the packaging of reputable brands, which means the appearance of the packet is not enough to ensure the purchase of a genuine product. Although it’s not always possible to detect a counterfeit refrigerant from its packaging, it is possible to test a purchased product.

One such refrigerant test is halide torch testing, which can be used to check for chlorinated compounds. Equipment capable of detecting the unsafe refrigerant methyl chloride at low quantities has been available since 2012. This equipment can also be used to test for other contaminants including CFCs and hydrocarbons. Companies should use a combination of detection methods to safeguard the system from multiple contaminants. However, AHRI does not recommend pressure testing alone as a method of counterfeit detection, since a contaminant refrigerant blend could have similar pressures to the inspecification products but still result in unsatisfactory performance.

Tackling the issue

One of the biggest challenges of tackling the counterfeit refrigerant problem is that imitation products are marketed and sold in copied packaging, meaning that an inexperienced purchaser may easily be fooled. To avoid this, buyers should work together with original refrigerant manufacturers to understand how to di erentiate between reliable original refrigerants and potentially dangerous imitations. AHRI has published a white paper that explains four steps to avoiding counterfeit refrigerants. These include knowing your supplier, verifying refrigerant in cylinder, checking refrigerant before repairing or servicing and isolating contaminated systems. Following these steps helps purchasers and system operators protect themselves from the problems associated with counterfeit refrigerants. The best way that end users can be certain that they are purchasing a genuine product is to buy from a reputable supplier. This can ensure you don’t unwittingly end up with the equivalent of a knock o handbag.

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COM PET I T I O N

MARCH WINNER & RUNNER-UP

Winner of the British Vineyard Tour and Tasting with Lunch for Two is Claire Gretton, Pump House Pumps.

The View from The Shard was won by Scott Davies, Select Air Services.

Welcome to our word search competition, sponsored by Refcom,

the UK’s leading F as company certification scheme. Find out how to apply for your company certification, or renew your existing certification, online at www.refcom.org.uk/f-gas. To demonstrate best practice, Refcom also operates Refcom Elite. o nd out ore isit .re co .or .uk re co elite. There are some GREAT competition prizes this month from Refcom, the UK’s leading s re ister.

Simply find the 10 words we’ve hidden in the word search for your chance to win. C

APRIL

BEST

COMPETENT

COOLING

DEFRA

GAS

INDUSTRY

LEAKAGE

REFCOM

RETREAT

The winner of this month’s competition will win: The View from The Shard with champagne for two.

One runner-up will win : A Thames Evening Cruise with bubbly and canapés for two.

CLOSING DATE IS THURSDAY 13TH APRIL

Pri es may vary from those pictured.

Send your entry to: Competitions Department, ACR Journal, Warners Group Publications, The Maltings, West Street Bourne, Lincs, PE10 9PH or complete online: www.w2u.en/RefcomComp Name ...................................................................................................................................... Company .......................................................................................................................... Job Title .................................................................................................................................. Business Address ........................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................ Post code ...................................... Tel ...................................................... Daytime/evening (please circle) .............................................................................. Company email address ..................................................................................................................................................................... Please sign here if you wish to receive or continue to receive a regular

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Signed ........................................................................... Date ................................................................... In relation to air conditioning and refrigeration products, please tick the most relevant box below. Purchase Specify Use Install Maintain Manufacture None of these Do you: Warners Group Publications plc will automatically provide you with relevant direct mail and/or telephone information. If you do not want to receive this information tick here . We may also e-mail you with information about relevant products/services. If you do want to receive e-mail please tick here . Warners Group Publications plc will occasionally allow selected third parties to contact you about their products/services. If you do not want to receive relevant direct mail and/or telephone information from third parties please tick here . If you do want to receive relevant email from third parties please tick here . All prizes are subject to availability and may change.

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R EF R I G ERA N TS

Choosing the right

NATURAL REFRIGERANT

A-Gas Managing Director John Ormerod explains how to get the perfect mix to protect the environment and be energy efficient.

here’s been much focus on natural refrigerants with their �ne en ir n ental credentials. If you know your history, you’ll remember that naturals were the original refrigerants. At the start of mechanical refrigeration 100 or so years ago, ammonia, hydrocarbons and CO2 were among the few a aila le ti ns r the c ling industry to work with.

Natural refrigerants fell out of favour because their physical properties can make them di cult to handle. Ammonia is toxic, hydrocarbons are ammable and C is a high pressure gas but to their credit they have ma or plus points. Hydrocarbons and C have a low WP and ammonia has no WP value at all. When HFC refrigerants came under the scrutiny of the regulators the industry once more looked towards naturals as the silver bullet. Each natural refrigerant has its place in the scheme of things and ammonia, hydrocarbons and C are all excellent choices when used in the right application. Perhaps, it is fair to say that engineers and end users may need to refresh their memories on what are the right applications. Naturals are not the correct fit for all installations and end users must look carefully at what is for each individual pro ect. he low WP credentials of natural refrigerants mean that the F as Regulations won’t a ect them but it still

John Ormerod

doesn’t make them a straightforward fit. ou cannot replace HFC refrigerants with any of these naturals directly. New equipment is needed but if you are faced with a choice of which refrigerant do I want in new equipment, at that point it is probably worth considering naturals. Understanding the best application for the ob is key. For instance, with ammonia being highly toxic and mildly ammable, this makes it a great refrigerant in industrial applications where the equipment can be located outside the building. Secondary systems like glycol can then be used to take the cooling to where it is needed in the building.

Hydrocarbons are a superb refrigerant in small, integral cabinets in supermarkets and convenience stores. It is worth noting that all domestic fridges in the EU have been running on hydrocarbons for the past 15 years now. his is a classic application illustrating where hydrocarbons fit extremely well. hey have small charge si es but the high ammability associated with them means that they are di cult to use in large quantities. Small charge si es allow you to control the risk more e ectively and as a result this makes hydrocarbons unsuitable for air conditioning systems where large scale cooling is required. C works extremely well in low temperatures but the physics can get in the way of making it an e cient refrigerant in warmer climates. C has a low critical temperature and that’s not helpful when it gets hot. High pressures also mean that the capital costs for the equipment are significantly higher than comparable HFC refrigerants. hese are some of the challenges but for the end user it ultimately depends on what is driving the choice of refrigerant. Is it the green credentials Is it energy consumption he latter is a key aspect of refrigeration systems particularly if you are a big user of gases. he hotel industry, for instance, is one of the largest consumers of refrigerants through the use of air conditioning systems. reen thinking customers are forcing end users to be extremely conscious

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R E FR I GE RA N TS

of energy consumption. Many naturals in the correct application are very energy e cient but outside the correct parameters they can su er dramatically and in some instances this can make them a worse choice than sticking with an HFC or HFC blend. If you want to mix environmental credentials with energy e ciency options and arrive at the lowest possible carbon footprint for an application, then the TEWI (Total Environmental Warming Impact) measurement is the answer. EWI looks at the leaks from the system and what can be recovered when it is no longer of any use. It also considers the impact of energy consumption during its lifetime. Add the two aspects together and the result is a measurement of the true carbon footprint of the application. So when looking for a low WP

alternative this can help you compare a natural refrigerant â&#x20AC;&#x201C; say CO in a supermarket installation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with an HFC gas. Refrigeration suppliers are usually happy to help calculate the figures if necessary, so assistance is on hand if you are finding making the switch a challenge. o help in making the right choice, the A as refrigeration selection form, Refrigerant Suggestions, is available at www.agas.co.uk Without a doubt EWI should be in the minds of engineers and contractors if they want to make the correct choice for their customers. In the future we are going to see more fragmentation in the number of refrigerants available. here is now a long list of suitable alternatives available to an industry looking for low WP alternatives. he key factor is making sure you get the right one for the ob you are working on.

Natural Refrigerants

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T RAI NI NG

THE POWER OF

SHORT COURSES Jane Gartshore, Director of Cool Concerns, says five days of intensive training can provide a solid foundation for the future.

an you turn a mechanic or electrician into a refrigeration engineer in � e da s t s a c ntr ersial esti n r ind str has a ide range sh rt c rses a aila le and the are a er e ecti e a s illing engineers

Training provision for the RACHP industry can be split into two broad groups: Apprenticeships – long term formal training coupled with on the ob experience Short courses – mostly of one week or less and usually aimed at experienced engineers. There’s little in between those two options apart from e-learning, which certainly has its place, especially for motivated engineers who are able and keen to learn on their own.

Short courses

Good short courses are based on an evaluation of what engineers need to know and they fill the gap. No more and no less. hey are targeted to meet specific needs and are generally aimed at existing engineers (although they also have a role to play in apprenticeship training). ypically they are provided for engineers who may have little formal training beyond that required to pass the F as assessment. They are also provided to upskill engineers, such as case cleaners/ maintenance engineers who are moving into service and need a better understanding of system operation and basic procedures. Short courses are also ideal for developing soft skills , for example for new managers or supervisors, showing them how to work e ectively with others,

APPRENTICE TRAINING

Formal training for apprentices is in depth and starts at the very basic fundamentals, with repetition of theory and hands on practice to ensure apprentices have a very good grounding. The scope of the apprenticeship is designed to produce well rounded engineers with a solid technical knowledge and sound practical skills. It enables them to develop their later careers, for example into commissioning or design.

communicate well and build a good team. his can be extended into hard skills such as giving e ective presentations, time management and mentoring.

Cost-effective investment

Good short courses should be time e cient. hey minimise time away from work (and hence lost income) so are a coste ective investment with a fast payback.

Safe isolation and lock-off

To get the most from a short course delegates should understand why they are attending and what is going to be included in the training. hey should see the benefit to themselves. hey should be prepared for intensive days (so they should not be on standby the night before, for example). Self-study material in advance of the course helps in many cases. Engineers need training usually for one of two reasons – either as an update on new technologies (e.g. A2L refrigerants) or to backfill knowledge.

An example

A good example of the latter is electrical training - something which engineers need to know more about (but are often afraid to ask). Many refrigeration engineers have had no formal electrical training. hey often lack an

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T RA I N I N G

Hitting the spot is key to making the most out of the limited time available on short courses. Pennies continually drop during good short courses

New technologies

Example of a lock-out padlock

understanding of how basic electrical devices work and are therefore not able to e ectively diagnose faults. his leads to misdiagnosis, resulting in condemning perfectly good compressors. argeted training fills in the gaps. For example in one (intensive) day it is possible to cover the essentials for service engineers: Safe isolation – working dead wherever possible, but how to work safely when it is necessary to work on live circuits Using electrical test meters and understanding and interpreting the readings Single phase compressors electrics – including relays and capacitors and how to check if they are working properly hree phase compressors – direct on line and part wind start and how these compressors are protected How to read a wiring diagram – from simple to multi page. Mixing theory with hands on practical work keeps up interest and uses time e ectively. Most engineers learn better by doing than by listening It is important to ensure that the whole session is relevant. here’s no need to spend time on basics for service engineers – they ust don’t need to know about Coulomb’s Law What they do need is the essential information to enable them to diagnose electrical faults safely and reliably.

New technologies are commonly covered in short courses (actually often old technologies which are new to today’s engineers). A good example of this is the British Refrigeration Association’s R 44 Short Course – put together by an industry group to meet the needs to engineers working on the increasing number of C 2 installations on retail sites. It took a relatively short time to scope out and prepare, and precisely meets the needs of engineers who have to understand how the various R 44 systems operate and how to safely work with this refrigerant.

New products

E ective short courses aren’t ust the remit of traditional training providers. For example, look to equipment manufacturers for information about specific split AC systems, compressor technologies, refrigerants, controls. ool suppliers can provide training on e ective leak detection, new jointing methods, e ective refrigerant recovery. For more information contact

Training for trainers

rainers need short courses too We all benefit from attending these courses. For example, two days on an assessor award course has provided up to date ideas on improving how we continually assess engineers attending our training, and how we can make the process even more e ective and less painful We all learn from training, obviously, but sometimes we forget the need to update or simply revise what we already know or maybe forgot along the way. So, in conclusion… can we turn a mechanic or electrician into a refrigeration engineer in five days f course not But we can provide a basic understanding of how a refrigeration system works and teach the necessary practical skills. his gives a sound foundation on which an enthusiastic person, through on the job experience, can build. Conversely can we significantly improve practicing refrigeration engineers’ knowledge, of course we can his is evident time and time again during and following short courses engineers with already excellent skills, but who for one reason or another have missed or simply never quite understood something, gain essential knowledge. And after all that there is Coulomb’s Law of course

info@ coolconcerns.co.uk

COMPRESSOR FAILURES OR NOT?

On a recent electrical short course, following a practical session on single phase motor basics, a course attendee asked if we could look at several compressors he had in his van, condemned by others. He had the task of replacing these compressors. We brought the condemned compressors in and metered them as we had been doing on the course. This revealed no earth or winding resistance faults. We then wired them up to a single phase compressor starter and ran the two compressors - neither had any faults and ran perfectly. I will let the service managers do the costings on that!

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A compressor on test

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H E AT P U M P S

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO A S Dave Pearson of Star Renewable Energy looks at the issues preventing progress for heat pumps.

ou would have to be living in a cave to have missed the drive for a more sustainable world. And yet despite lots of good things, a cluster of bad things and some unintended failings leave us staring down the barrel of missed EU targets and missed Climate Change Act targets. Whatever success we have seen has been largely focussed on the electricity generation sector.

We have European targets and guidance such as the Renewable Energy Systems Directive. It led to the UK Government supporting renewable heat for heat pumps and biomass and that led to lots of biomass! Why have we not seen much heat pump activity? et s get the re c nl stated arriers t �rst

T ECHNICAL

Society has four segments. New vs Old and Big vs Small buildings. Heat pumps don’t work and don’t get warm enough for older buildings is often cited as the main barrier. There are enough examples to set that aside as the fundamental barrier . Sure, we want higher e ciency and better temperature reach from smaller systems but this in my opinion is being used as a smokescreen (bad pun ) to allow the status quo, i.e. burning stu , to prevail. Personally I would make smaller heat pumps a bit more expensive and better (not cheaper) but in a discretionary market this doesn’t happen. More in the political part relating to a squee e on gas (or lack of ) Drammen in Norway runs at 90C with a C Ph of .05 sourcing heat from a f ord

ENVIRONM ENTA L

BARRIERS TO HEAT PUMPS

A curious barrier across several topics, with noise an oft-stated problem. Sort out the economics and business models and they will be quiet enough. Larger river source heat pumps cool the river and we are told this is a problem… except the (Scottish) Environmental Protection Agency don’t agree - they think they are a good idea. So that’s not the issue. Working uids his is important but the non-adopters don’t care for the options so that isn’t the barrier. Air quality deserves a mention. ur cities are poisonous because we burn stu . In cars and in buildings. No other reason. We need to get a grip and stop the root problem. Heat pumps would help. Sure, some bits will be harder but we aren’t even doing the easy stu .

H U MA N

Human factors of course have a part to play but we live in a democratic society. This basically means most people will behave to suit themselves (nearly) within the rules. Some will be more adventurous but ultimately if it comes down to a balance of risk and reward, numerous studies show that risk weighs more highlynine fold. We can without changing the fundamental economics or technology shift this ratio by increasing adoption and hence awareness and then we see people starting from a position of I’d like one too We also reduce the perception of risk as more good exemplars will exist. So it comes down to the chicken and egg.

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H E AT P U M P S

A SUSTAINABLE HEATING FUTURE COMM ER CIA L

A really odd one. The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) pays about 4.5p/kWh (gas costs about 2.5p/kWh) and yet we still don’t see much uplift. The spark gap (ratio of electrical cost over gas cost) is about 3.8 in the UK. We see some of the lowest gas costs in Europe and the worry is that there is a big drive on that bold statement of “eradicating fuel poverty”. We also have to be realistic that unless gas use is prohibited or prohibitively expensive then all we will see is some movement in new build sectors (if planning grew some teeth) and some modest uptake from subsidies. Neither get us to 2035 targets. So we have to see project costs analysis shift. Too much focus is on capital costs (odd, as they make up only 15% of life costs) but two things should be noted here; we aren’t dealing with an immature technology like PV or LEDs where uplift in volume will lead to a price crash. Secondly, even if the price halved, the projects being proposed and adopted now will not be

viable beyond the RHI end (circa 2020/21). So we have to see either much cheaper electricity or much more expensive gas or no gas. Why do people connect to district heating? Invariably because they have to. Why do they purchase from district heating (it isn’t usually mandatory)? Because it is advantageous financially versus the status quo which is rarely if ever gas and they probably will be paying 75% more than gas costs. A workshop at the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) highlighted that we currently allow gas providers to “get away with” just supplying gas… and a bill. Why did the wind industry rocket? It was partly subsidies but also obligations on the generators to support deployment or pay a fine. So we need an obligation, as I believe exists in Austria, where as well as a gas bill the utility company has to o er to deploy a heat pump free of capital cost and enter a heat purchase agreement.

PO L I T I C A L

Politics is a terribly complex business with front of house politicians and back of house strategist civil servants. he problem is the electoral cycle and perhaps investment cycles. We have agreed we need to decarbonise and we have agreed this means less gas. We can also agree that free-market electricity will never be as cheap as free-market gas (you make half a unit of electricity from a unit of gas using an expensive power station - the maths ain’t hard.) So we need to see gas rising in price or being prohibited. This brings me back to old vs new. Here’s some reality of the enormity of the task… we can’t even decide not to use gas boilers in new-build houses! The oddity of the builder receiving a “per plot” fee from the

Firstly, this would get every utility to pay attention. Secondly, as homeowners could have heat cheaper from, say, a heat pump than gas and provided by a reputable company, they would likely go for it. Then the utilities would establish professional deployment teams who didn’t have to chat up the customer or lose tenders, didn’t have to vary the o ering (they would be the owner) but did have volumes that drove deployment costs down. They would then have a collective mass to allow aggregation and demand side management, so supporting the grid whilst taking the support available now from the RHI. The Government would see progress so win-win-win. Funding models are crucial to deployment as even within industry a 7 year breakeven point is too long for internal funds – blame the stock market. However a 10 year breakeven is a good investment so I can’t say commercial is the barrier… it’s just another challenge.

gas company needs some scrutiny but the builders themselves are a fairly predictable beast. They want to build the most attractive houses, as quickly as possible, and sell for as much profit as possible. So the government need to decide. “Do we want to see this happen or not?”. By far the biggest barrier is that our political system is doing nothing to encourage people away from gas and nothing to force them away from gas. All the e ort (and I do think there has been loads) has been on encouragement but change doesn’t happen like that. Think smoking or polybags or seatbelts. We need a government ready to behave like a dictator or a parent. My kids like sweets and they are allowed them, but not for breakfast.

Let’s get together I don’t expect you to agree with everything I’ve said, and I certainly don’t think I’ve covered all the barriers. So let’s get together and explore it as a group. Take this quick survey – even if you thought the article was rotten (you get to say why!) http://tinyurl.com/Barriers2HP CMYKCMYK / .ai / .ai CMYK / .ai

acrjournal.uk 40_Renewables.indd 41

22/03/2017 10:48

H E AT P U M P S

HEAT PUMP CALCULATIONS

FOR NEW-BUILD L

eading heat pump manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric has released a new technical supplement showing how to design and calculate the heat loss on a newbuild property, and the factors and considerations needed to complete the project successfully.

“We produce lots of case studies on our Ecodan range but new homes have di erent requirements to retrofit situations, so we saw a lot of sense in taking people through the process with a live pro ect, explains Max Halliwell, product marketing manager for the company’s Ecodan range of air source heat pumps. The technical supplement focuses on a spacious, new build bed detached home in Leicestershire, which was built to exceed current UK building, paying particular attention to high levels of insulation and air tightness. Mechanical heat recovery ventilation (MVHR) and PV systems on the roof give the 1 4m2, two storey property a peak heat loss of ust . kW, so it needs far less heating that a traditional British home. he building’s fabric U Values include 200mm insulation board in the oors timber frame wall construction with mineral wool insulation 50mm insulation in the roof and double gla ed windows. “The system is designed with heat loss calculations set at an ambient temperature of C, and has a design set point of 21 C for the ground

oor, 22 C for the bathrooms and 1 C for the bedrooms, explains Halliwell. o answer the di erent requirements of this home, an Ecodan UH system is used, o ering a capacity of 5.2kW at the design ambient temperature. Installing the UH has helped the home achieve an A rating ( 2 100) on the energy performance certificate (EPC). Using C 2 as the refrigerant means the UH can ensure a large delta of 1 .1 in this installation to maximise its e ciency. It also operates with a peak design ow temperature of 50 C, and a system ow rate of 4 l/min. he system delivers water at 0 C to a packaged 200 litre a thermal store. From here, mains water is heated directly up to 5 C using a unique plate heat exchanger. he UH model also o ers exceptional noise levels with a whisper quiet 41.2 dB(A) at 1.5 metres from neighbouring properties. The renewable heating includes automatic in built energy monitoring using Mitsubishi Electric’s MELCloud internet based system, which allows for full control from anywhere in the world. www.ecodanerp.co.uk

APRIL 2017

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PEACE OF MIND DOES EXIST. IT’S CALLED CERTIFICATION.

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20/03/2017 14:22:25

TO O L S TA L K

STRAIGHT TALKING FROM JAVAC Javac’s tube straightening tool is for engineers who set the highest standards

he Javac tube straightening tool has been designed for the air conditioning, refrigeration, plumbing, heating and ventilation industry. The tool is available in four sizes,1/4,3/8,1/2,5/8, and is the �rst e�cient hand-held straightening tool which easily and accurately straightens tubing and piping from coils and cables. The revolutionary and a ordable Javac tool will straighten all types of light wall coiled tubing such as copper, aluminium, stainless steel, brass, plus To sum up the avac tube straightener is the ideal tool various others. for engineers who demand a professional finish and are The tool itself is very easy to use. striving for perfection. Firstly, straighten the end of the tube by hand and feed the tube through the rollers. nce the tube is through Features and Benefits: Part Numbers: the rollers you can then continue Simplifies installation and saves time on the job to feed tube through the tool as it Reference point for marking tube JAV-TST14 begins to straighten the tube with Less material usage and waste minimum e ort. nce straightened, Minimal liquid build-up JAV-TST38 the tool can be worked in both Accelerated flow for better efficiencies and directions to finish o , leaving a reduced running costs JAV-TST12 perfectly straightened length of tube Professional finish every time Another The greatall feature of the Javac 12 month warranty JAV-TST58 new XTR-PRO-DV features our eighth generation of straightening tool is the reference best selling refrigerant recovery technology from over 40 years point which the engineer can use of manufacturing. The new DUAL VOLTAGE technology to insert a pen to mark the tube, enables a quick and easy switch between 110v tothe 240v onsales site.team allowing for perfect alignment when For more details contact Javac Antube. industry first “X-CONNECT TECHNOLOGY” protects the installing the sales@javac.co.uk 01642 232880 www.javac.co.uk

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Page 1

WWW.ACRJOURNAL.UK

& SERVICES DIRECTORY

CHILLERS

ISTRIBUTOR

Call us now on 01474 338705/338725 www.ashburyassociates.co.uk Email: info@ashburyassociates.co.uk

T UK

istributor with to date, now ven products k ks CES! PUMP + vat 99 uk uk

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SITE/PROJECT MANAGER

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INDUSTRIAL REFRIGERATION ENGINEERS

North/Midlands to £45k + bens + car You will be responsible for the installation of refrigeration systems on food process and storage applications. Working in accordance with H&S regulations. Supervising in house and sub-contract labour, attending site meetings with main contractors or end users to monitor and control the progress of the project. Ref: T3396

Midlands/South Neg. Salary + com + car Excellent opportunity to join a leading manufacturer of refrigeration & air conditioning equipment and associated controls. You will be responsible for managing major accounts with the leading wholesalers, contractors and end users. You must have a strong technical sales background matched with good communication skills. Ref: T3398

W. Yorkshire to £32k+van+o/t+t/t Industrial refrigeration contractor requires a additional engineer to be responsible for the service and maintenance of a wide range of industrial refrigeration systems within food process applications. Industrial refrigeration including ammonia experience required. Ref: T3390

AREA SALES MANAGER

SALES ENGINEER (TRAINEE)

SITE BASED ENGINEER

“Environmentally Friendly” South East to £38k + bonus +bens + car North & Midlands to £35k + com + car Secondary Refrigeration design This well established refrigeration distributor is looking Our client is consultancy looking for a dynamic service engineer who liquid chillers for to further strengthen its team. You will be responsible is looking to move into sales. You will be responsible for freezing and cooling for managing distributors and providing technical and selling a range of equipment into wholesalers and major commercial support. With a view to developing and Contractors throughout the UK. The ideal applicant will maintaining excellent customer relationships in order to have excellent communications skills matched with the heat exchanger coils, dry coolers, brazed condensers maximise full business potential. Ref: plate T3387heat exchangers necessaryand drive to succeed in sales. Ref: T3397

SALES/APPLICATIONS ENGINEER

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S.East & S.West c£40k + bens+ bonus +www.srs-comp.com car Midlands and S.East to £38k + o/t+ bens + van Tel #to00(44) 643 Our client a leading refrigeration contractor, is looking This1926 well 831 established heat pump contractor is looking to further strengthen its sales team. You will be responsible further strengthen its service team. You will be responsible for securing profitable projects in the South East. The for the service and maintenance and commissioning ideal applicant will have a proven track record in technical of chillers and heat pumps. The ideal applicant will sales matched with a good technical background. have a good technical background matched with good Ref: T3385 communication skills. Ref: T3389

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Lanarkshire c£42k + bonus + bens + vehicle This well established refrigeration contractor is looking to appoint an experienced Service Supervisor who will be responsible for estimating service/maintenance contracts and small works projects also providing technical support to the service team. Ammonia experience would be beneficial. Ref: T3384

Midlands and S.East Excellent opportunity for Junior Engineers with some air conditioning experience join this specialist Heat Pump company. They are looking for enthusiastic engineers. They will provide comprehensive training both on site and at the manufacturing facilities on their range of heat pumps, chillers and associated control systems. Ref: T3391

p45_acrapr17.indd 1

Surrey to £38k + o/t + bens This well established air conditioning manufacturer contractor is looking to appoint a site based engineer. You will be responsible for the service and maintenance of chillers, VRV systems, close control units and associated controls on a prestigious site in Surrey. Experienced engineer required with good communication skills. Ref: T3388

CHILLER ENGINEERS South East to £38k + t/t + o/t + veh This major manufacturer of air conditioning chillers is looking to appointment of 3 engineers based in the South East. You will be responsible for the service, maintenance and commissioning of a wide range of chillers including recip, and screw. Ref: T3386

For Forfurther furtherdetails detailsplease contactcontact either TERRYWHITE WHITEororROGER ROGERPRICE PRICEat TERRY Ashbury The Old Rectory, Springhead Road, AshburyAssociates, Associates Ltd., Crown House, Home Gardens, Northfleet, 8HN Dartford, Kent DA11 DA1 1DZ t 01474 338705/338725 f 01474 338749 t 01322 424636 f 01322 424637 ee info@ashburyassociates.co.uk info@ashburyassociates.co.uk

20/03/2017 14:11:00

PRODU CTS

The guide to what’s new for The ACR Journal readers, offering vital industry news including the latest products and services to be introduced.

S e on s ns er to si ult neous e tin nd coolin Swegon’s Omicron Rev S4 is your one box solution - a heat pump chiller and heat recovery device all in one. It is the perfect solution for buildings that require simultaneous cooling and heating during warm and cold climates- with modern construction techniques and increased thermal insulation, this is becoming more and more a factor. The Omicron Rev S4 has two heat exchangers allowing for independent and simultaneous supply to cooling and heating water circuits. With a low ambient operation to -18°c there is also less requirement for a boiler. Designed to be highly efficient at full load, especially in cooling mode, the Omicron’s outstanding part-load performances are achieved thanks to the partialisation steps and the smart logic developed for it. Find out more about the Omicron Rev S4 range by www.swegon.co.uk visiting

Sin le si e or

rel

Carel has unveiled a range of electronic expansion valves with one valve body for all sizes. Andrea Dalan, Valves, Drivers & Flow Control Platform Manager, said: “To further improve usability and simplify installation, a new valve has been designed in which the refrigerant expansion section is separate from the body connected to the piping. This improvement means the same valve body can be used for all sizes, with significant results in terms of simplification and improved usability.” As well as stepper motor technology that ensures precise, stable and reliable refrigerant flow control, the main features of the valve are a replaceable built-in filter that simplifies inspection and the use of a new stator with the highest degree of protection (IP69K), allowing installation in environments with extreme temperature and humidity conditions. www.carel.com

ock n o d r

e ro

oot

Big Foot Systems has launched the Lock ‘n’ Load Frame. Designed to support mini split outdoor air conditioning (AC) units the revolutionary Lock ‘n’ Load is a freestanding, non-penetrative frame. Offering installers an off-the-shelf support solution to speed up AC installations on site, the Lock ‘n’ Load set-up taking under 15 minutes. The Lock ‘n’ Load Frame is a simple AC support solution for engineers who have previously fabricated DIY supports out of struts as a quick fix on site. Simple to fit, the Lock ‘n’ Load boasts an easy push and lock system speeding up on site assembly, saving valuable time on an AC installation. Conveniently available from local distributor branches boxed and ready to use on site, this lightweight pre-fabricated solution allows engineers to collect and carry the frame to the project site and construct it easily and simply, saving engineers time and hassle. It is capable of bearing up to 150kg using its Big Foot feet for load spreading. It is ideal for modern lightweight single ply membrane roofs since it does not damage the delicate membrane. enquiry@bigfootsupport.com 01323 844355

spen l unc es rst on de condens te pu p

Aspen Pumps has introduced the first on-demand condensate pump - the Micro-v i4. The pump only operates as needed and as a result boasts cost and energy saving benefits, as well as quiet running and a longer life with a two-year warranty. The Micro-v i4 mini pump does not use a breather tube, so it saves even more space when trying to install into the tightest of locations. Featuring a worry and maintenance free plug-and-play installation, the Micro-v i4 can be installed in multiple orientations and operates on-demand so is never continually running. Boasting a raft of smart controls, the Micro-v i4 is also the first pump to feature the convenience of a floatless sensor that is immune to contaminant build up, while integral controls give a visual indication confirming correct installation.

www.aspenpumps.com

To advertise your product in the ‘What’s New’ section please contact

theresag@warnersgroup.co.uk

APRIL 2017

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17/03/2017 12:33

Book your places and celebrate the future of our industry! This popular awards lunch is again being held at the Belfry, near Birmingham on

Thursday 7th December 2017 This not for profit event invests in the training companies to enable them to provide the best skills to trainees and apprentices in the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration sector.

www.acr-trainee-of-the-year.co.uk To sponsor, enter or book please contact Juliet Loiselle on 07786 336606 julietl@warnersgroup.co.uk Sponsored by

TOTY17.indd 47

20/03/2017 15:14

C H I L L E R C H AT T E R

Chilly Chatter sponsored by

ESEER UP TO 8.17

eat ec ery with industry leading efficiency and enhanced ca acities BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

AIREDALE A WINNER AT ECOBUILD 2017

Airedale International Air Conditioning, in partnership with ARUP consultancy, were named joint winners at the Ecobuild and Marks & Spencer (M&S) - Big Innovation itc n ls or t eir ne rtus rid n oil nit. he Big Innovation Pitch, now in its third year, stems from M S’ Plan A commitment, which aims to help protect the planet with responsible sourcing, reduced waste and community support. It is an initiative designed to identify innovations across the sustainable design, construction and energy sectors. From a shortlist of five finalists, the panel chose a oint entry from Airedale and Arup, and a second from Protomax Plastics. he Artus is due to launch in uly 201 .

EXPERIENCE COUNTS IN ENCON TEAM

Pictured, from left, Mandy Hawkins, Steve Moorhouse, Ian Wells, Sharon Watson and Rhys Palmer

Helping to put The Ship back on course One of Plymouth’s most recognisable buildings has been given a new lease of life with help from Mitsubishi Electric ir conditionin . he Ship formerly housed local newspapers he Herald and Western Morning News but it has been empty since 201 and faced the threat of demolition until Burrington Estates bought the building. Now it is being relaunched as the Spirit of Free Enterprise, with hundreds of obs expected to be created by the business who move into the building. Kurt Hedgley, managing director of installers CW Energy Services, said We worked within our partnership agreement with Mitsubishi Electric, who provided us with innovative support to ensure the most suitable system that could be designed, installed

and commissioned within the tight deadline specified. For the first phase of the pro ect, 12 City Multi Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) outdoor condensing units and four Mr Slim split air conditioning systems were installed to serve individual ceiling units. Further details on the services provided by CW can be found at http://www.jcwes.com/

The Ship occupies a prime position on one of the main routes into Plymouth

Independent distributor Encon Insulation has set up a new technical support team with more than 100 years of industry experience to work alongside its internal sales specialists and provide customer service to its HVAC customers. he team, which will o er guidance from the earliest design stages of a pro ect through to on site support and handover, is made up of five members with wide experience of insulation for mechanical services pipework and ductwork. Ian Wells, National Sales irector – HVAC at Encon Insulation, heads up the team and said he HVAC team has a vast amount of industry experience and can provide technical calculations and advice for customers, often presenting more than one solution because of the huge variety of products we stock. ur aim for this team is to help our customers win new business by giving them the confidence to pursue more technical obs and repeat business by doing those obs well. he other four members of the team are Mandy Hawkins, who covers the South Coast region, Sharon Watson who covers London and the South East, Rhys Palmer who covers the South West region and Steve Moorhouse, who covers the Midlands and Northern regions. www.encon.co.uk

APRIL 2017

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CMYK / .ai CMYKCMYK / .ai / .ai

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C H A T T E R

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