Workshops/Webinars

COP28 |Montreal Protocol Pavilion

Clean Cooling for All: Technology Cooperation lessons,
Challenges and Opportunities for Clean Cooling Transition
COP28 |Montreal Protocol Pavilion | 8th Dec 2023

Future Refrigeration India: INDEE+ (India-Norway Collaboration 2021-2024)

There is spotlight on cooling at COP28 for a good reason: Cooling applications contribute about 7
percent to the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the rising demand and use of BAU cooling
technologies, the share will rise to 20 percent of GHG emissions by 2050. By switching to clean cooling
technologies, the emissions from cooling will decrease significantly, as well as increase opportunities
to provide access to affordable and sustainable cooling solutions to all.

Clean cooling technology options are available — just not accessible or affordable everywhere,
especially within low-income countries in the Global South. The oncoming high demand for cooling
in the coming years from markets like India makes it imperative that new cooling technologies are
introduced in appropriate places. This will prepare the ecosystem for commercial deployment of
technology in the short run, and in the long run help countries meet key international commitments such
as the Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol and Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

REFCOLD 2023, Chennai, India

INDEE+ team registered their presence in REFCOLD India 2023, held at Chennai on 12th to 14th Oct 2023.

REFCOLD India is a prominent exhibition focused on the refrigeration, cold chain, and allied industries. It serves as a platform for industry professionals, manufacturers, suppliers, and policymakers to come together and showcase their products, technologies, and services. The exhibition also provides an excellent opportunity to network with industry experts, professionals, and potential business partners. REFCOLD India often features seminars, conferences, and workshops conducted by industry leaders and experts.

INDEE+ team showcase their project work outcomes. Team also shared the overall progress of the upcoming CO2 heating and cooling demosites in India for Maritime and Hotel applications. Highlights of the first session was the discussion on the natural refrigerant and their acceptability in Indian Industry, propane based and cascade configuration, and the lifecycle refrigerant management. INDEE+ team also showcase the progress via poster presentation during the second session.
 

NKF, Trondheim, Norway

The Norwegian Refrigeration Technology Association is a non-profit professional association with the aim of working for the development of refrigeration and heat pump technology in Norway. This is done by arranging professional meetings, seminars, excursions etc. and inviting experts.

Trygve Eikevik (NKF ambassador in Trondheim) opens the meeting. Armin Hafner (head of NKF) gives a short speech about why and how we collaborate in the refrigeration industry with international environments and introduces our Indian guests/researchers who present their ongoing work in India. Initially, Indian professor M.P Maiya (IIT Madras) provide an overview regarding the future of natural refrigerants in India and which R744 technologies are in focus right now at various Indian Institutes. Researchers appointed in INDEE+ presented the work related to the demosites being installed at various locations in India. Initial results produced via simulation models to validate the experimental results have been discussed.

The Norwegian Embassy, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi

The Norwegian Embassy hosts a seminar with INDEE+ on managing the lifecycle of refrigerants and the transition to natural refrigerants.

Future Refrigeration India INDEE+ is an Indian-Norwegian project that demonstrates environmentally friendly refrigerants to promote clean, sustainable, and reliable heating and cooling solutions for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration sector in India. Overall, this project aims to support India’s commitment to achieve the goals of the Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol.

As part of the work, INDEE+ is providing technical and financial support to establish pilot demonstration units. These units are applying only natural refrigerants and provide space- and process cooling / freezing at various commercial establishments. The demo units are installed in hotels, community kitchens, and food processing plants. To gain local experience with future proven and clean working fluids (refrigerants) in real applications, focus is given to apply CO2 (R744), ammonia (R718) and Propane (R290). INDEE+ is also supporting the implementation of educational units applying R744 at three academic partner institutes for educational and capacity building purposes.

26th International Congress of Refrigeration, Paris, France

A flagship event in the IIR conference portfolio, the IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (ICR) reunites refrigeration stakeholders from every corner of the world. The ideal environment for dialogue and discussions on all aspects of refrigeration in line with sustainable development, ICR is known as a platform for in-depth exchange and analysis that covers all refrigeration applications and technologies.

23^rd India International Seafood Show (2023), Kolkata, India 

India International Seafood Show (IISS) is one of the largest Seafood Fairs in Asia. The event showcases cutting-edge technological progress in the regional seafood industry and presents a wide range of opportunities for Indian marine product exporters and importers. The 23rd IISS edition was held from 15th – 17th February 2023 at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, Kolkata (West Bengal) in India. INDEE+ marked their contribution to the event by delivering a technical lecture on the topic ‘Next generation refrigeration in seafood cold chain.’ Prof. M S Dasgupta (from BITS-Pilani) delivered the speech, presenting an overview of the state-of-the-art technologies in natural refrigerants and the associated technologies. The status of the seafood demonstration sites and educational training units being engineered under the supervision of NTNU and SINTEF Ocean, Norway, was discussed with various experts from the refrigeration and cold chain sectors. INDEE+ team had a dedicated booth in the exhibition hall. The project team from BITS Pilani and CIFT Kochi presented the project activities to the different seafood industry experts.

ACREX India 2023, Mumbai

The INDEE+ team participated in the ACREX India 2023 conference and exhibition, where professionals from the HVAC industry gathered to foster and discuss advancement and sustainability in HVAC. ACREX India 2023 was held from March 14–16 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai. INDEE+ marked their contribution to the event by organising a seminar on 'Clean Cooling Opportunities for India: the INDEE+ Project Contribution.' Prof. Armin Hafner outlined the benefits of using natural refrigerants with a presentation on the "Impact of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Restrictions by European Chemical Agencies (ECHA)." Other team members discussed continuing efforts to demonstrate CO2 refrigerant-based systems in the seafood, hotel, and hospital industries to illustrate the impact of using natural refrigerants in the Indian scenario. The audience learned about current refrigerant management policies and the need for clean cooling systems from a panel discussion on "refrigerant management in India." 

SPARC 2023, IISc Bangaluru

A workshop on 'Natural Refrigerants: Applications and Policies' was hosted by IISc Bengaluru, jointly with IIT Madras and NTNU Norway, on Friday, March 10, 2023, at the Faculty Hall of IISc Bengaluru under the aegis of the SPARC project entitled "Performance enhancement of CO2 refrigeration system with thermal energy storage (TES) for the Indian dairy industry (DAIRY-TES)". SADHANA, Danfoss-India, and Alfa Laval supported the event. The primary intent of the workshop was to disseminate knowledge and create awareness about the benefits of natural refrigerant-based systems. To comprehend the issues faced by the Indian HVAC sector, a panel discussion on 'Opportunities/Challenges in adopting Natural Refrigerants in Indian Perspective' was organised, and monitored by Prof. Pramod Kumar of IISc. The discussion included representatives from academia, government agencies, manufacturers, component suppliers, system developers, and end users. The workshop was a successful platform for discussions, knowledge, and ideas exchange on natural refrigeration systems.