Last month the magazine ‘Regio in Bedrijf’ published an article about our investment in the future: ‘The Paris Agreement includes agreements on phasing out the use of high GWP refrigerants such as R134a,’ says Van West Koeltechniek director Luke Blauw.
‘By 2030, the use of this refrigerant must be reduced by eighty-five percent compared to 2015. Many companies therefore want to make the transition to a more environmentally friendly refrigerant. For larger refrigeration systems, R134a is already banned, but in smaller systems such as our liquid coolers and air coolers, this refrigerant may still be used.’
Transition
Blauw expects that the full transition to propane-based cooling systems will take several more years.
“Of course we want to continue to support customers who use our liquid and air coolers on R134a as well as possible. Our product line and filling line for cooling systems using R134a will therefore remain operational for the foreseeable future. But in addition, as a company we must also look to the future. We are developing new models of chillers with propane as the refrigerant in order to be able to serve companies optimally in the long term as well. Furthermore, we are also building a new propane filling station.’
Sustainable and green, but also flammable
There is a lot involved in that, according to the entrepreneur.
Blue: “Propane is a sustainable and green product, though, and is great to use as a refrigerant. The only disadvantage is that it is a flammable gas. So we have to take that into account when building our new refrigeration systems and our new propane filling station. For example, the refrigeration systems must be safe, so no sparks must be able to occur. Furthermore, the piping of the cooling system must not be damaged, as this can lead to leaks. We build hermetically sealed systems. That has necessitated adjustments in our production process, because of course safety always comes first.’ The new propane filling station also meets all safety standards.
‘A cabinet has been built around the filling system with sufficient ventilation. In the exceptional case of leakage, the ventilation ensures that the gas is not immediately flammable.’
Renewals
In addition to the technical change, Van West Koeltechniek is also working hard in other areas.
‘We are working hard to increase our online findability, so that we can gain greater name recognition and thus also acquire new customers. We also want to export more refrigeration systems to Germany and Sweden, among other countries. We will take the next steps in this in 2022.’