Operations

Johnson Controls Announces New Chief Executive Officer

Johnson Controls announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Joakim Weidemanis as Chief Executive Officer effective March 12, 2025. The announcement followed the Company's Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. He succeeds George R. Oliver following a thorough succession planning process. The company said that "Weidemanis is a seasoned operator with a successful track record in leading global technology-driven businesses and delivering profitable growth. He held several executive leadership roles over his 13-year career at Danaher Corporation providing him with extensive experience scaling global companies from a foundation of customer orientation, innovation and efficiency."

Operations

Danfoss Names Divisional President of Commercial Compressors

Danfoss announced that Fabio Klein has been named Divisional President of the Commercial Compressors division in Danfoss Climate Solutions. Fabio will take his new position as of April 1, 2025, and he succeeds Kristian Strand, who was recently appointed President of Danfoss Climate Solutions. Fabio currently serves as the Senior Vice President of the Scroll and Reciprocating Compressors business within Commercial Compressors. Since joining Danfoss in 2016 as Vice President of Global R&D for Commercial Compressors, he transitioned into his current role in 2020.

Operations

Pandemic Pressure and Growing Acceptance of Natural Refrigerants in Europe

As in other regions of the world, the past months have been heavily influenced by the global pandemic. But despite or perhaps because of the pressures introduced by the pandemic, business in European industrial refrigeration has increased quite a lot, and as such, the difficulty has been and still is to maintain the human resources to continue working even with pandemic-related challenges.

Operations

Refrigerant Leaks in Commercial Mechanical Equipment Rooms

Industrial and commercial refrigeration systems use different types of heat transfer fluids (HTF), many of which are toxic and/or bad for the environment when they leak. The most common HTF refrigerants are Ammonia and hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), however while ammonia has a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 0, the HFC’s all have a very high GWPs and are currently being evaluated by the EPA for phase down as per the US Government’s December 2020 AIM Act and per the recent United States ratification of the Kigali agreement.

Operations

Its’ HOT!

Sometimes it may be difficult to understand but we all have free agency to believe what we want. Some people believe the earth is flat. Some believe we never landed on the moon. I suppose there are people who believe those amazing photos from various robotic machines on Mars are fake too.

Operations

Don’t Curse the Purger

The goal of operators, contractors, and design engineers is to operate a closed loop refrigeration system as close to design intent as possible. The owner wants maximum value from the equipment and personnel employed at the facility. The presence of gases that do not liquify within the operating conditions add cost to the running of the system.

Operations

The Covid Cold Chain

Before COVID-19, the cold chain wasn’t on most people’s radar, but shifting consumer demands, concern over food supply and specific healthcare needs during a pandemic put it in the spotlight. “It changed last spring when we started to see disruptions and challenges in the early days of the pandemic related to food,” said Lowell Randel, director of government affairs for IIAR and senior vice president of government and legal affairs for the Global Cold Chain Alliance. “The attention around the cold chain got even more intense with the vaccines coming online.”

Operations

Colmac Coil Manufacturing Announces Leadership Change

Colmac Coil Manufacturing has announced that Joe Fazzari, P.E., has been promoted to the position of President, Colmac Coil Manufacturing, effective January 1st, 2021. Fazzari succeeds immediate former President Bruce Nelson, P.E. who has transitioned to a new role as Director of Innovation of Colmac Coil Manufacturing. Fazzari will have the oversight of all operations and strategic direction of Colmac Coil.

Operations

Ammonia System Evacuation — How Low Do You Go?

Removal of non-condensables and excess water is essential when starting up new refrigeration systems or large retrofits. Non-condensables contribute to higher than necessary head pressure, and excessive water in a system can cause inefficiency and operational problems. In all refrigeration systems, non-condensables and water vapor are removed from systems by vacuum pumps prior to charging with refrigerant. Removing liquid water (dehydration), can be done by “pulling” a deep vacuum – enough to boil the standing water and remove the vapor through the vacuum pump.

Operations

Is the Era of Ammonia Liquid Overfeed Ending?

In four years, it will be the centenary of the liquid overfeed patent issued to YORK Corporation. The liquid overfeed plant came into widespread use around the middle of the last century. This coincided with an upsurge in the consumption of frozen foods that led to the construction of very large freezing plants that warranted the practical introduction of the liquid overfeed concept.

Operations

From Dry to Hybrid: A 360 Degree View of Cooling Technologies

Cooling technologies affect price and cooling capacity, and there are a variety of fundamentally different dry cooling technologies available for cooling water/glycol mixtures. The decision for or against one of these technologies during the planning stage of a project has an impact not only directly on the investment sum but also on the subsequent operating costs of the plant across the entire life cycle.

Operations

Identifying and Quantifying Fugitive Emissions from Industrial Refrigeration Systems

Industrial ammonia refrigeration systems vary widely in their engineering design, size, scope, and technology features. However, they universally experience some level of refrigerant loss throughout their operational life. Refrigerant losses from industrial ammonia refrigeration systems originate from any number of sources including uncontrolled releases from incidents and accidents, intentional releases during maintenance activities, and fugitive emissions.