co2 training Archives

We usually make it pretty clear that we are proud of our people and the work that they do. This year to coincide with World Refrigeration Day, we are holding our first annual Coolphase Values Awards – “The W’s”. We’ll have a chilled celebration, throw in a few AWESOME miniaturised trophies and recognise the people that best represent who we are.

“The W’s, what the hell are W’s” you say… Yep, our crazy sense of humor is at it again… Being unique in all things that we do, our awards just couldn’t be boring. And this month the photo on the wall award goes to blah, blah, blah… ha-ha, no way! So, the W’s are Wadey, Woody and Warney, all three symbolise our core values of Up-Front, Humble and Craftsman.

The Wadey

The Marvel anti-hero Wade Wilson AKA Dead Pool, is an in your face guy that is brutally honest and extremely up-front. Although we don’t shoot things, we do love honesty and an up-front approach. So, our first W trophy (after countless ebay searches) is a bobble head Dead Pool figurine.

The Woody

After his early days as a jealous and arrogant “I’m Andy’s one and only” toy, Woody transformed into one of the most humble toys in the world. Woody always helps his friends and goes above and beyond to do what’s right. We’ve had many occasions where our guys have gone out of their way to help people in need.

The Warney

It is without question that Shane Warne is the greatest leg spin bowler that the world has ever seen. His bowling was an art form, he was a true craftsman, far superior to other bowlers that were mere skilled technicians. Our best tradesman are proud to be called craftsmen, they always take pride in what you can’t see. Although the motive for this award is great, finding a Warney doll was impossible, time to get creative! One of Warney’s greatest off-field achievements, without a doubt was Liz Hurley, and after a trip to Zing Pop Culture, we walked away with a Vanessa Kensington Pop vinyl figure.

As peer voting winds up this morning on “World Refrigeration Day”, we are proud to say that nearly all of our employees have received votes. It’s great that we all share and live our values and are proud of them!

One of our brilliant young technicians Aaron Wulff recently started up his first Co2 rack. We asked him a few questions about his experience.

Were you nervous?

Definitely! Co2 under the right/wrong conditions can cause a lot of damage, I triple checked my safety setpoints but there’s multiple “what if” scenarios in the back of my mind, the racks come with every ball valve open but some need to be closed for normal operation – figuring out which valves to shut without closing the wrong one. Tight deadline between start up and hand over. But, I was confident enough with my own experience, knowledge and on/off site training with other commissioners/manufacturers.

How did you feel once that first compressor started?

Relieved and proud. Relieved the rack was up, running and was stable for the limited load it had. Proud of myself and my work. Looking back to where I started my trade doing domestic split installs and light commercial HVAC servicing and where I am at now commissioning supermarket refrigeration.

Did you feel you had received adequate training to complete the task?

Yes, Coolphase has organised training days for all technicians. I have been to Sydney twice for Co2 training with both Danfoss and Bitzer, worked alongside other commissioners on new and refit jobs and doing Woolworths after hours breakdown service (fault finding on Co2 racks). It’s also comforting to know help is only ever a phone call away.

We are certainly proud of Aaron! Coming to Coolphase with predominately an air conditioning background, Aaron was quick to embrace the world of commercial refrigeration. That willingness to learn and accept has seen Aaron move through the ranks to now be one of our trusted commissioners. We look forward to watching Aaron’s development for many years to come!

Commercial Refrigeration Installations

Commercial Refrigeration Plant Room

Supermarket Fridge Installations

Commercial Freezer Installations

Transcritical Fridge Installations

Every strategic discussion in our office more often than not, includes a reference to the use of natural refrigerants. We all know that we have an obligation to guide and direct our customers towards what is right. And ensure we can direct them on right thing by our planet and the sustainable future of resources. We are aware that we can’t let our “ego” or the “fear” of something new affect our judgement. Transcritical is not a dirty word.

The Process

To look at embracing natural, we first understood that we needed to change mindsets before we could change behaviors. And now in the midst of that process we have turned our focus to coaching and training.

The Challenge

We definitely see that some of the biggest “natural” challenges in our industry are a lack of training and the willingness of some people to accept something different. At Coolphase, it is our continued focus to train and to prepare our people for what’s to come. Our sector of the industry “Supermarket Refrigeration” has seen a decline in the employment of apprentices; so, the next generation of support will not there when the current ageing collective of fridgies retires. Not an ideal situation when we are about to enter our biggest period of change since the phase out of CFC’s.

And wow, when it comes to difference, there is a huge level of inherent misery and negativity in the Australian refrigeration industry, and the miserable hate change! We need to change minds and perceptions, then we can change behaviors and acceptance, we then need to coach.

The Future

As a contractor completing work for major retailers in Queensland we have been limited by the lack of “transcritical” and “full natural system” acceptance. However, with updates to technology and the continued promotion of all things non-synthetic, that should (hopefully) change soon.

If you’re interested in the changing future of natural refrigerants, join us for ATMOsphere Australia in May. For more information visit their event page.

Last week I had the opportunity, along with our service manager and commissioners, to attend Bitzer’s training course on their transcritical CO2 systems and a walk through their production line. The training course ran us through the basics of CO2 – why it’s used as a refrigerant and some of its limitations e.g. warmer ambient temperatures and higher operating pressures.

With the world pushing for natural refrigerants CO2 is arguably one of the better options due to its non-toxic, non- flammable characteristics and very good heat transfer coefficient. CO2 isn’t without its limitations though; high ambient temperatures is one of them. All refrigerants have a decline in efficiency with higher condensing pressures/temperatures however CO2 has one of the largest drops.

It was pretty interesting watching a video of the different phase changes CO2 goes through – between its triple and critical point. A vessel is charged with liquid CO2, the pressure is dropped rapidly and BOOM the liquid CO2 almost instantly turns to a solid (dry ice). The vessel pressure is then raised – you can see the solid dry ice boil off to a gas, then liquid and once pushed past its critical point, CO2 sits in equilibrium, now a supercritical fluid! (expands to fill its container yet has the properties of a fluid).

That being said there are a number of safety devices in place to keep the CO2 between these two points, whether it be a backup cascade system to cool the liquid using another refrigerant or parallel compression where flash gas is pulled from the top of the receiver and recirculated back into the system or mechanical venting of the receiver. All of these methods are trying to drop the receivers pressure/temperature to design conditions.

CO2 can be intimidating due to its characteristics but like most things if you do the training, take your time and know the limits you will be fine.

Bitzer Australia Transcritical CO2 Refrigerant Training 7

Bitzer Australia Transcritical CO2 Refrigerant Training 6

Bitzer Australia Transcritical CO2 Refrigerant Training 3

Bitzer Australia Transcritical CO2 Refrigerant Training 2

Bitzer Australia Transcritical CO2 Refrigerant Training 1