Low GWP refrigeration for practical environmental solutions

We view the deployment of smart IoT applications in refrigeration to be the best way to gain an edge in the market – both in view of process and profits
Discussing about the trends taking over the cold chain industry, Anurag Chandra, Head – Cooling Sales, India Region, Danfoss Industries Pvt. Ltd, mention of having a sustainable future with the adoption of energy efficient refrigerants to develop an ecologically balanced environment in the sector.

How do you see the domestic manufacturing momentum in the refrigeration industry? What are the market trends?
The current Industry market landscape throws up a few broad issues – lack of skilled labour in the cooling industry, lack of awareness and knowledge about the benefits of using natural refrigerants and a resultant industry wide reluctance to adopt it. Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), hydrofluorocarbon (HCF) and hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) are traditional refrigerants that are still widely used across the industry. Natural refrigerants like ammonia, also known as gen-next or alternate refrigerants are an environmentally safer and responsible alternative to the traditional refrigerants as they have significantly low ozone depletion potential (ODP) and global warming potential (GWP).

How do you define the role of HFOs compared with natural refrigerants for the industry, in terms of overall environmental impact, energy efficiency and cost?
Hydrofluroolefins and natural refrigerants both come under what are called next-gen or alternate refrigerants. They are the more favourable options owing to their low global warming potential (GWP) as well as ozone depletion potential (ODP). The shift towards adoption of energy efficient technologies and the usage of natural refrigerants in the place of HFCs also highlights the responsibility that individuals and industries have undertaken towards a sustainable future. Moreover, we are committed to facilitating innovations that have minimum economic and environmental costs but faster ROIs, thereby ensuring a better tomorrow for our future generations. Regarding this, we are focused on proactively developing products that operate on low-GWP refrigerants to fulfil the industries’ demands for practical and safe solutions, without compromising on energy efficiency.

How do you view the deployment of smart IoT applications in refrigeration?
Over the last decade, digitalisation and IoT have transformed the nature of energy consumption and contributed to an increasing scope of energy efficiency and sustainability in the industry. We view the deployment of smart IoT applications in refrigeration to be the best way to gain an edge in the market – both in view of process and profits. It can boost the overall efficiency of manufacturing and industrial processes as it means better connectivity and communication between systems enabling processing of vast amounts of data, in different formats, at high speeds.

As an industry leader in the forefront of digitalisation, Danfoss is working on low-cost and energy efficient solutions that allow for the remote monitoring of cold storages in order to build efficiency across the cold chain infrastructure value chain; which means you can monitor what is happening in your cold room sitting in your office or while on travel, tracking the same on your mobile phone. We are in store for some exciting smart solutions in coming days.

What are the latest innovations (products) you unfolded for the refrigeration industry?
Danfoss India has recently unveiled six new innovative products in the cooling and refrigeration segments. These products were launched by Arvind Surange, Consultant for Cold Chain, at the RefCold India 2019. Danfoss representatives and several other industry dignitaries. These new products are set to change the standard of applications for the industrial refrigeration and cooling industry. The products are: The Danfoss Intelligent Purging System (IPS), The Danfoss Gas Detectors, Danfoss Plate Heat Exchanger, The EKE 400, The ICFD and the ICH 2 Step Solenoid Valve. Each of these products emphasizes energy efficiency, ease of use and maintenance and cost effectiveness.

How do you view the RefCold platform for the emerging refrigeration industry?
The RefCold India Expo is a platform for the refrigeration industry to engage in B2B networking and education. This year, we saw that it brought together the key players from the food retail, food service, processing, and other industries pertaining to food.

The advantage of having events such as these is that it not only brings major players under one roofbut ensures active engagement and exchange of knowledge with one another. This kind of exchange has the potential to change the landscape of the cooling and refrigeration industry, especially where there is an industry wide effort to move in the direction of sustainability and energy efficiency.

At Danfoss, we espouse the values of environmental responsibility and sustainability in all our applications. This platform has given Danfoss a great opportunity, not only to launch our latest innovations, but also to engage in discussions and disseminate knowledge about the benefits of using natural over traditional refrigerants, which hasn’t found industry-wide adoption yet in our view.

What are your growth expectations for coming years?
With the launch of our six new products, we have brought forward newer, energy efficient products which will help the industrial refrigeration and cooling industry across the globe and further the scope for sustainable growth for many companies. The promise of increased safety and reliability as well as easy and cost-efficient installation and maintenance of these products will hopefully be incentive for a wider adoption of these products, thereby driving new business for Danfoss in the upcoming year.

Anurag Chandra,Head – Cooling Sales, India Region,Danfoss Industries Pvt. Ltd