The fourth version of RefriColombia not only had lectures, but also promoted discussion and debate among refrigeration experts. There were important comments indicating that there is a long way to go and that everything is given to start the path of periodic knowledge.
by Julián Arcila
Ammonia (NH3) was, is and will always be at the center of the hurricane, in terms of the refrigeration systems that use it, as its promoters expose it as a natural refrigerant, 100% ecological, efficient, economical and safe. But critics say it is obsolete, uneconomical and unsafe for human health.
Despite all of the above, ammonia is a compound that enjoys great popularity in developed nations in terms of refrigeration, and that has been promoted for some time in developing countries in order to restrict the use of refrigerants with proven harmful effect on the environment.
For the promoters of this compound, there are many advantages of it because, they say, it does not destroy the ozone layer, nor does it contribute to the greenhouse effect associated with global warming. It is important to note that according to the Wikipedia encyclopedia (www.wikipedia.org), the compound can be produced both industrially and naturally (when nature produces it). In the latter case, it is made by bacteria, by decaying plants and animals and by animal waste.
Despite this lack of agreement, ammonia is still the most widely used refrigerant in industrial refrigeration processes, which includes about 90% of food refrigeration facilities. It is highly used in horticultural, meat, poultry, fish farming and refrigeration applications for beverages (milk, cheese and ice cream).
Taking into account that the Colombian refrigeration market is in clear expansion, as a result of the growth of domestic demand for food and a good functioning of the economy, in addition to the possibility of signing commercial agreements, AC /R LATINOAMÉRICA organized in the framework of RefriColombia 2007, technical seminar and commercial exhibition sponsored by this media, a debate with four renowned professionals, who gave their vision of the opportunities offered to the country by ammonia as a refrigerant, the future possibilities and the means to make this compound position itself solidly within this market.
The professionals were: William Morales, manager of Thermodynamic Refrigeration Reter of Peru; Fernando Becerra, Danfoss sales manager for the Andean Region; Giovanni Torres, president of Indisem Refrigeración Ltda.; and José Ignacio Melo, consultant in air conditioning and industrial refrigeration.
Opportunities at hand
The debate began with the question What opportunities does refrigeration with ammonia offer to the Colombian market? The answers given have several nuances, ranging from the possibilities that arise due to an increasingly globalized economy, where free trade agreements, whether binational or multilateral, become one of the fundamental aspects, to a second term where the growing number of refrigeration applications that have been carried out in Colombia for a long time is included. a couple of years.
José Ignacio Melo referred to the issue of trade and explained that the hypothetical signing of the FTA with the United States was a fundamental reason to consider ammonia for refrigeration and that for this reason, in part, many industrial plants had been modernized. "Within the Free Trade Agreement that is going to be signed between the United States and several Latin countries, such as Peru, Panama and perhaps Colombia, there is a total opening for food producers and their contractors, such as those who do the refrigeration work," he said. He recalled that ammonia, although it is a refrigerant with many restrictions, is also widely used, so he believes that in the future the relationship of use of the compound in Colombia will be equal to the United States, in relation to applications with freons.
Giovanni Torres, for his part, assured that there are many opportunities, but his response was more critical in the sense that there is not much interest on the part of the local market players to be ecological, so they lean towards fluorocarbons under the pretext of the lack of security in the Nh3, which is an easy way out because it is possible to mount applications with ammonia that meet all international parameters in terms of reliability for human health. "In Colombia, large companies like Bavaria (beers) and Colanta (dairy) are inclined to ammonia, but there are others that lean towards freons for cost and ease of handling. If in Colombia there were an institute that regulated the application of ammonia, this compound would have more users in this country," he noted.
Subsequently, Fernando Becerra said that the Colombian market has begun to change the conception that ammonia is fundamentally a refrigerant for industrial processes, growing every day the application in commercial segments such as chicken slaughterhouses. According to this professional, "we have to think about the robustness of the projects, energy savings and expansion possibilities, as well as the business possibilities we have in Colombia. We, when it comes to industrial refrigeration, food processing, are far behind our neighbors (...) In Colombia we have people very qualified to develop applications in ammonia, not so in Freon, a sector in which there are people who know and others who do not know so much; so what we need is a little more private investment."
Precisely, William Morales, from Peru, referred to the above and explained that the export possibilities that Colombia has are very similar to those of his country; explained that what they are doing in their country is turning to take advantage of the advantages they have in the agro-industrial and fishing field, since countries rich in technology do not have a food chain that allows them to be self-sufficient, so for both Colombia and Peru great economic possibilities will be opened, mainly with a market in clear growth like that of China.
Ammonia: today
As stated at the beginning of this note, ammonia as a refrigerant is being strongly boosted in developing nations. In Peru, for example, and according to what Morales said, the use of NH3 for these purposes is growing, but there is a concern related to the security issue, since the rules are not being met, a situation similar to that experienced by Colombia, where it is being used, according to Melo, without adhering to international regulations. "Here (in Colombia) we are doing things as we are, without taking into account that tomorrow we will have to export to the United States and later to the European Union," he said.
Of the consumption that has been taking place in Colombia, the beer industry is the one that takes the baton, according to Fernando Becerra, followed closely by the dairy industry, which has made important investments in modernization, thanks to the growth it has been presenting for some years. In the poultry industry, applications with ammonia have also been carried out in several subsectors, as well as in the fishing part, where important works have been carried out in Cartagena (Atlantic Coast), although the Pacific region has been left a little abandoned. "It is in this area where there is great potential in Colombia," he said.
Training: the solution?
Given the existing concern regarding the lack of knowledge that the end users themselves have regarding applications with Ammonia, it is worth asking what would be the solution to eliminate this flaw. The seminars come to the fore as one of the possibilities, more in a country where each of the sectors (commercial refrigeration, industrial and air conditioning) are extremely isolated from each other, and whose professionals do not show much interest in knowing about what the others are doing.
William Morales described the technical seminars as real possibilities for the exchange of knowledge between experts, opportunities for the know-how of people with some experience to mix and help increase the skill in refrigeration practices of a country and its neighbors. "Colombia and Peru are on similar scales in terms of refrigeration practices; these will grow to the extent that we have these possibilities of intellectual exchange," he said.
Regarding this issue, Becerra said that RefriColombia 2007 was the first time that a seminar was organized in this South American country with several conferences on ammonia, which is very positive if you take into account that in this nation there is no place where you can learn about ammonia and its manipulation.
Finally, Torres described this possibility as fundamental and invited to take advantage of these spaces precisely at this time when more technicians have understood that ammonia is the refrigerant of the future and are eager for knowledge and information.
A few years from now
At the end of the debate, concern arose about the future of ammonia refrigeration in Colombia. Each participant gave their opinions.
José Melo believes that the future will be marked by refrigeration control systems and explained that this is because these devices are responsible for organizing processes within a system. "What we call entropy is a disorder and the struggle is to put order to those hot molecules that expand into gas and send them to become a liquid that is definitely something more compact, more liquid and this is what the controls will have to do, call them valves or devices; so then I think the future will be in the automation of refrigeration," he said.
For Giovanny Torres, the future is a symbol of training, and this is essential if you want an advanced country in the management of ammonia and, most importantly, that it is advanced in terms of safety. A primary element to take into account and that was mentioned by this professional is the increasing use of ammonia for air conditioning. "The ASHRAE is opening the possibility of using this compound in air conditioning in the United States and Europe through the use of heat exchangers, water and ammonia are added and the first is the one that is recirculated and this gives more security to people in the use of ammonia as a primary refrigerant in the air conditioning part and in the part of air conditioning and in the part. of processes, but I think the most important thing is to train people," he concluded.
The future, according to Becerra, is promising, but the cold chain has to be strengthened. "In Colombia, more than half of the food produced is lost because it does not have a cold chain, so it is important to strengthen it and then only what is related to ammonia will come. The fact that a new legislation is being developed for meat processes, for the operation of slaughterhouses, will imply reforms and at this point it will be where the end users decide, thanks to training, whether we go with Freon or with ammonia", Ended.
The last comments were quite important to understand the possibilities that will open up in the future for those who are interested in the export of products that require conservation. The fundamental thing is that producers understand that although at the beginning the investment in ammonia could be higher than that made in freon processes, the truth is that in the end it pays off in terms of safety, efficiency and stability.
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