AIRAH Refrigeration Engineering Conference to present Australian CO2 installations

Registrations are still open for the 2011 Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) conference on Refrigeration Engineering, dedicated to “Preparing for a low carbon future”. The conference will take place on 27 July 2011 at the Melbourne Telstra exhibition centre and will feature three presentations that will share experiences with using CO₂ as a refrigerant

With a number of looming legislative changes likely to affect the refrigeration sector, AIRAH CEO Phil Wilkinson believes the industry is poised at a critical juncture, and that there is a pressing need for stakeholders to gather to discuss issues such as the Australian carbon tax, and the phase-out of particular refrigerants.

Speaking about the importance of the conference, committee member Darren Hill says, “With an emissions trading scheme or carbon tax becoming a step closer, we need to ensure that our industry fully understands the implications of our actions in respect to current design and installation practices.”

AIRAH representative David Leach says, “AIRAH’s Refrigeration Engineering Conference 2011: preparing for a low carbon future, features three presentations on CO₂ installations, including reporting on the design, installation and commissioning of both transcritical and subcritical CO₂ systems. The practical lessons shared from these projects will be of great benefit to the industry and future installations of CO₂ plants in Australia.”

Refrigeration engineering conference speakers

Mr Ian Tuena, Managing Director for C A Group Services will present on the “Installation and commissioning of a transcritical CO₂systems in Melbourne”. With extensive experience in the refrigeration industry, Mr Tuena has recently been involved in the development of an industrial transcritical CO₂ project designed by KAV Consulting, and in the design of subcritical CO₂ systems for applications such as the supermarket industry. The presentation will include a discussion of installation issues, key lessons learnt from the commissioning process, and the effect of flash gas on the system during transcritical operation for hot water generation.

My Ryan Malsem, Director of Cold Energy Contracting will give a presentation entitled “Design and installation and commissioning of subcritical CO₂ systems in Queensland”. A qualified refrigeration mechanic, Mr Malsem has been involved in the installation of a subcritical scroll compressor project. In addition, his presentation will focus on a cold storage facility in North Queensland with a low temperature CO₂ reciprocating compressor pack.

Also presenting at the conference will be Mr Klaas Visser, who will examine the energy and environmental benefits of a two-stage transcritical CO₂ refrigeration plant.

Conference topics

Conference topics to be discussed include:

Practical aspects of using CO₂ in the field
Addressing the skills shortage
Benchmarking in the industry
Government update on initiatives in refrigeration
Energy savings in industrial refrigeration
Changes to AS/NZ1677
Ammonia emergency response
Proving gains in energy efficiency

Conference attendees will include refrigeration system designers, contractors, consultants, maintenance personnel, regulators, architects and occupational health and safety (OHS) personnel.

Background

On 10 July 2011 the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a policy package for taxing carbon emissions, which is likely to have significant implications for the AIRAH conference and the refrigeration industry as a whole.

The price of the tax has been set at €17 ($23 AUD) a tonne on carbon emissions, and overall the scheme aims to reduce emissions by 5% from 2000 levels by 2020. According to the Prime Minister, the carbon price is central to the Government’s plan to move Australia towards a clean energy future.

Whilst the package has received a mixed response from industry, the Australian Green Cooling Association has welcomed the carbon pricing mechanism, which will cover greenhouse gases such as HFCs.

The Australian Federal Government also plans to introduce an emissions trading scheme three to five years after the carbon tax. The scheme is set to make HFCs such as R134a more expensive, and may have an impact on the uptake of natural refrigerants such as carbon dioxide.