Dr Andy Pearson, Group Managing Director of Star Refrigeration, and Dr Dermot Cotter, Managing Director of Star Technical Solutions, will present three ground-breaking papers that highlight the importance of making informed, sustainable refrigeration and energy-efficiency choices to address environmental concerns of refrigeration end users.
These sessions will explore the increasing adoption of CO2 in large applications, compare CO2 and ammonia refrigerant performance across various applications, and discuss the implications of specific refrigerant choices using real-world case studies. They will also introduce advanced methods for refrigeration system performance optimisation, combining AI, remote monitoring, and real-time data analysis to enhance maintenance and operational efficiency. A third presentation will spotlight the challenges facing the UK's cold store sector and identify strategic approaches aimed at reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
Organised by the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), the 8th ICCC conference will provide a unique opportunity for experts to exchange information on important topical subjects such as decarbonising the grid, sustainable food and cold chains, reducing energy use, and utilising heat recovery as part of the solution to the challenges facing the industry.
Dr Andy Pearson said, “I am delighted to share our latest research and developments at the ICCC 2024. Star Refrigeration's participation at this event allows us to exchange insights and collaborate with leading global experts to drive the sustainability of the refrigeration industry forward”.
Dr Pearson’s paper, entitled ‘Performance comparisons for ammonia and carbon dioxide cold storage systems’ and co-authored by Dr. Rob Lamb, Group Sales and Marketing Director at Star Refrigeration, will outline the key parameters to be considered when specifying an industrial refrigeration plant and show which combination of factors might lead to the selection of carbon dioxide in preference to ammonia. During his presentation, Dr Pearson will evaluate case studies showing relative performance and reliability for each type of system and best practice guidelines for each option. Finally, he will discuss the consequences of making a wrong decision in terms of reliability, efficiency and full life cost.
Written in collaboration with John Clark, Director of Star Refrigeration Data Analytics, Dr Pearson’s second research paper concerns ‘Building Digital Twins for Refrigeration Systems using Artificial Intelligence’. The presentation will explore how the rapid development of user-friendly artificial intelligence applications has birthed opportunities to enhance the performance of refrigeration systems through complex modelling.
Dr Pearson will present a method of using this new technology to create a digital twin refrigeration system that can search for and identify anomalies in measured performance. The insights gleaned from its application can then be used to fine-tune maintenance efforts to ensure that plants remain operating at peak performance. He will also discuss how previous behaviour patterns can be used to evaluate recent performance to ensure site operators know whether the system is improving or deteriorating.
This technology has a broad range of uses and can be applied to cold storage logistics operations, production equipment or to heat recovery applications, provided the appropriate parameters are measured and suitable responses are modelled.
The third presentation at this year’s ICCC event will be based on Dr Dermot Cotter’s research paper: ‘UK Cold Stores -The Road to Net Zero’. Funded by the UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ), Dr Cotter's research offers an insight into the UK cold store sector's path to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and provides a practical roadmap for carbon emissions mitigation.
His presentation will focus on the findings derived from site surveys and show how technical innovations and maintenance practices can reduce energy consumption by 20% on non-optimised refrigeration systems.
For more information about the 8th IIR International Conference on Sustainability and Cold Chain 2024 and to register, visit https://biz.knt.co.jp/tour/2024/iccc2024/index.html