Ammonia & C02 Refrigeration Installations Tour

Delegates attending the 12^th IIR Gustav Lorentzen Natural Working Fluids Conference will have the opportunity to visit ASDA in Falkirk and Brake Brothers in Newhouse to examine the facilities’ state of the art refrigeration systems in a tour organised by cooling contractor Star Refrigeration. The landmark industry conference is set to take place at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, between the 21^st and 24^th of August Star Refrigeration will lead two technical tours and onsite short courses for attendees of the Gustav Lorentzen conference. The tours are scheduled to leave from Heriot Watt University at 8:30 am on 23^rd August. The first tour will take participants to witness first-hand the refrigeration plant at the Brakes Group distribution centre facility in Newhouse. The Brakes Group is a leading UK food wholesaler and is the catering and food supplier of choice for thousands of businesses in the catering industry. With a key design strategy to develop new facilities with refrigeration systems that combine low ammonia charge with high efficiency, the Brakes Group has built over the past four years three new strategically located distribution centres across the UK. David Blackhurst, director of Star Technical Solutions, will lead visitors through an inspection of the refrigeration and associated safety systems installed. The tour will be followed by a short course on “Ammonia Safety with Low Charge Refrigeration Systems” which will review the design strategy and the decision making process that led to the development of the low charge ammonia refrigeration system and its positive impact on site safety, comparing the results to a more traditional ammonia refrigeration system design. Supermarket giant ASDA’s distribution centre facility in Falkirk will host the second tour and short course. Currently used as standard, over ten years ago the site installed a refrigeration system that incorporated the latest technology and a cutting edge design. Star’s Technical Director Angus Gillies will guide the visit, providing an overview of the CO₂ and ammonia refrigeration plant design, installation and operation. A course in “Advancement in Ammonia and CO₂ plant and design: What we can learn from the past?” will highlight the benefits of the innovative design and explain the particular differences that are applied to the refrigeration system design and installation today after a decade’s worth of plant analysis. Biannually held, the International Institute of Refrigeration’s Gustav Lorentzen Natural Working Fluids Conference has been a veritable hub for the exchange of knowledge and innovations that address the sustainable future of natural refrigerants by providing solutions to global legislative, economic and environmental challenges. This year’s conference will feature over 150 papers and is expected to attract over 2000 international visitors with an interest in natural working fluids; including end users, stakeholders, system owners and operators, academic researchers, industrialists, policy makers, contractors, commissioning and operation installers, designers, building services consultants, manufactures of components and technology providers. To register for the event, visit https://ior.org.uk/GL2016.