IIAR

by Chris Combs, International Programs Director

As home to seventeen percent of the world’s population, preserving India’s food supply is a major endeavor; yet about 30 percent of food production in India goes to waste, highlighting the need for more large cold storage and food processing facilities where ammonia is the refrigerant of choice. Industrial ammonia refrigeration is a rapidly growing sector in India and there is an increasing need for resources for the development of ammonia refrigeration professionals and facilities in India. This need, along with the encouragement of IIAR, led to the creation of India’s new Association of Ammonia Refrigeration (AAR) based in Pune, India’s eighth largest city located southeast of Mumbai in Maharashtra state. Besides being a center of manufacturing, Pune and the surrounding region have a thriving food processing industry, making it a natural hub for refrigeration industry contractors, manufacturers and consultants. AAR provides a common base in India for ammonia refrigeration knowledge, training and advice for the government on standards and regulations affecting the industry.

Since its foundation last year, AAR has offered numerous educational seminars around India. AAR’s first seminar was conducted in Chennai in Tamil Nadu state, on December 23, 2011. The seminar included presentations in both English and Tamil on ammonia refrigeration system maintenance and safety practices as well as the selection and operation of safety controls. Part of the IIAR safety series of training videos were presented at the seminar and were very well received; the attendees requested that a separate workshop be organized featuring more content from these DVDs.

The Chennai event was followed by a pair of seminars in the state of Maharastra, conducted by both the ASHRAE Pune chapter and AAR, on the “Best Practices for Design, Operation and Maintenance of Refrigeration Systems;” the first, in Ratnagiri on the western coast, was geared to seafood and cold storage facilities while the second, held in Miraj, focused on cold storage and dairy plants. Both seminars attracted over 100 attendees.

On May 12th, 2012, IIAR Honorary Life Member Godan Nambudiripad conducted a safety workshop organized by AAR and the ASHRAE Pune Chapter meeting in Pune. IIAR helped develop the content for this workshop beginning with a discussion of safety fundamentals and how ammonia refrigeration design and safety evolved in the United States. Other topics covered included commissioning, operations, maintenance, emergency response, the business case for safety and the first steps for implementing a safety program. During the program, Godan demonstrated different types of safety equipment which were donated to AAR on behalf of IIAR for use in future programs on ammonia safety. The 110 attendees represented cold stores, breweries, dairy facilities and other food and beverage plants. Feedback from the attendees was very positive and stressed the need for many more similar events throughout India.

At the end of June, IIAR President Bruce Badger and AAR President Nikhil Raj signed a memorandum of understanding regarding future IIAR-AAR cooperation which had been approved by IIAR’s Board of Directors on June 6. According to the memorandum of understanding, IIAR and AAR will exchange news publications, have a presence at the annual meetings and exhibitions of the other association, share technical expertise and experience, and establish and maintain strategic initiatives that benefit both organizations.

India and South Asia make up one of the official regions in the new IIAR International Committee structure unveiled at this year’s Ammonia Refrigeration Conference in Milwaukee. In April, AAR’s Board of Directors nominated Samir Shah, AAR’s Program Committee Chairman, to serve as the International Committee’s Regional Vice Chair for India and South Asia. The IIAR Board of Directors and International Committee Chairman Paul Bishop officially approved Samir Shah’s nomination as a Regional Vice Chair in June. AAR has already begun to engage the industrial refrigeration community in other countries in this region which includes Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Malaysia. For example, AAR organized a program on June 8 and 9 in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s largest city, on designing safe ammonia refrigeration systems. Upon learning about AAR and IIAR activities, members of the industry in Sri Lanka discussed forming their own association to promote ammonia refrigeration.