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Q&A VRFs AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY DATA Srinivasan Rangan, Taqeef MARKET FEATURE AIR TREATMENT, AIR MOVEMENT EMPOWER CEO ADVOCATES GLOBAL ADOPTION OF DISTRICT COOLING AT IDEA CONFERENCE 2024 ASHRAE LAUNCHES ‘CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR BUILDING DECARBONIZATION’ July 2024 US$ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ US$ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ US$ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ US$ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ PERSPECTIVES ETHICAL HVACR PROCUREMENT Sam Achampong, CIPS MENA TRAINING OF TECHNICIANS Sanjeev Maheshwari, Daikin MEA HUMIDITY CONTROL IN BATTERY MANUFACTURING Antti Viitanen, Vaisala NEWS • Eurovent Commission elects Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson • EIA paper explores major opportunities to reduce GHGs Understanding their role, plugging holes THE SAUDI STORYVOL. 19 NO. 07 JULY 2024 Q&A VRFs AND THE DATA NARRATIVE Srinivasan Rangan of Taqeef notes the challenges relating to validating operational data that would reveal the energy efficiency of VRF systems MARKET FEATURE MANUFACTURER’S REPUTATION COUNTS FOR A LOT Two consultants offer their expertise on all aspects air treatment and air movement POST-EVENT REPORT DR BAHNFLETH, DR ZATAARI HEADLINE ASHRAE WEBINAR ON IAQ Event discusses ASHRAE Standard 241, emphasising the need for balancing good IAQ with energy efficiency PERSPECTIVES PRECISION IN HUMIDITY MEASUREMENT Antti Viitanen of Vaisala discusses battery quality, precise humidity monitoring and dry control during manufacture LET THE SERVICE GAMES BEGIN Sanjeev Maheshwari, Daikin (Middle East & Africa), discusses raising the bar on training of technicians ETHICAL HVACR PROCUREMENT Sam Achampong of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), MENA, highlights the importance of integrity in achieving sustainable development 06 22 24 28 08 10 www.ccme.news 3 COVER STORY REGULARS 32 Regional News 38 Global News 46 Quoteyard 04 eDItor'S note ‘We need more people like YOU’ 16 page THE SHAPE OF THE SAUDI landscape Understanding the role of VRF systems in the Kingdom, new regulation, testing methods and the credibility of industry standardsJuly 2024 4 M. Dennis Knight, the new President of ASHRAE for the Society Year 2024- 2025, took office by announcing the guiding principle of his tenure: “Empowering Our Workforce: Building a Sustainable Future”. In his inaugural Presidential speech, Knight, whilst acknowledging the need for the industry to tackle existential issues like the climate crisis and possible pandemics, said that it simultaneously needs to confront an internal crisis. “That crisis is with our workforce – or more appropriately, the lack of skilled people like you, who have the capability and desire to choose a career in Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration,” he said, addressing the audience. “The truth is, we need more people like YOU.” In the UAE, Eurovent, with its Leadership Academy, has set out to precisely address this, and going by the words of cohorts that have attended the HVACR association’s training programme, they seem to have gained clarity and direction. I view Knight’s focus on the importance of identifying and attracting more professionals to the HVACR industry as a shot in the arm. And equally, Eurovent’s initiative is just what the doctor ordered for strengthening climate action, improving Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and achieving greater thermal comfort and reliability and lower Total Cost of Ownership, among other aspirations. We need more such thought processes and initiatives to come to the fore. For way too long, we have agonised over technicians falling short in brazing and welding procedures, causing leakage of refrigerants to occur. There are many more examples of poor workmanship and design, as well – short-circuiting exhaust air by placing the outlet in close proximity of fresh air intake; poor hydronic balancing impacting last-mile reliability, despite the best of equipment available in the marketplace… the list goes on. New York-based MEP consultant, Jeremy McDonald, in one of his guest columns in the magazine, highlighted how buildings continue to suffer from poor IAQ, despite policies and standards, owing to ill-conceived FM technician interventions. And then as an afterthought, he said the problem stemmed as much from inadequate budgets, breeding a habit of taking short cuts. Now, that has the makings of another editorial column. Jeremy McDonald Principal of Guth DeConzo Consulting Engineers, in New York, writes on IAQ and building tracing. He served as the technical consultant to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority in development of an IAQ guideline for Higher Education in NY: “Covid-19 Response Guide, State University of New York”. Dan Mizesko Managing Partner/President, US Chiller Services International, writes on issues relating to chilled water systems, including operation & maintenance. Dalip Singh Senior Technical Analyst, AHRI MENA, writes on HVACR-specific regulation issues. Dr Iyad Al-Attar Independent air filtration consultant, writes on specific science and technology issues relating to Indoor Air Quality, including airborne particles. Omnia Halawani Co-Founder & Co-CEO, GRFN Global, writes on MEP consultancy- related issues. Krishnan Unni Madathil Auditor, Bin Khadim, Radha & Co. Chartered Accountants, carrying out an analysis of the market, writes on business opportunities for the HVACR industry. Editor Surendar Balakrishnan surendar@cpi-industry.com Features Writer Hamna Sheikh hamna@cpi-industry.com Advertising Enquiries Frédéric Paillé +971 50 7147204 fred@cpi-industry.com Judy Wang Our representative in Asia (except India) +852 307 80 826 judywang2000@vip.126.com Deep Karani Our representative in North America +1 365 885-6849 deep.karani@cpimediagroup.com Design Head Ulysses Galgo uly@cpi-industry.com Webmaster Chris Lopez chris@cpi-industry.com Database/Subscriptions Manager Purwanti Srirejeki purwanti@cpi-industry.com Published by Founder, CPI Media Group Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015) Co-Founder & Commercial Director Frédéric Paillé fred@cpi-industry.com EMPANELLED COLUMNISTSCo-Founder & Editorial Director Surendar Balakrishnan surendar@cpi-industry.com Head Office PO Box 13700, Dubai, UAE Web: www.cpi-industry.com Printed by: Jaguar Printing Press L.L.C © Copyright 2024 CPI Industry. All rights reserved. While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein. ‘We need more people like YOU’ Visit our website: climatecontrolme.com/digital Also available at Q&A VRFs AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY DATA Srinivasan Rangan, Taqeef MARKET FEATURE AIR TREATMENT, AIR MOVEMENT EMPOWER CEO ADVOCATES GLOBAL ADOPTION OF DISTRICT COOLING AT IDEA CONFERENCE 2024 ASHRAE LAUNCHES ‘CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR BUILDING DECARBONIZATION’ July 2024 PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ US$ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ PERSPECTIVES ETHICAL HVACR PROCUREMENT Sam Achampong, CIPS MENA TRAINING OF TECHNICIANS Sanjeev Maheshwari, Daikin MEA HUMIDITY CONTROL IN BATTERY MANUFACTURING Antti Viitanen, Vaisala NEWS • Eurovent Commission elects Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson • EIA paper explores major opportunities to reduce GHGs Understanding their role, plugging holes THE SAUDI STORY Get the next issue of Climate Control Middle East early! Surendar Balakrishnan Editor @BSurendar_HVACR Climate Control Middle East magazine proudly supports the UAE President’s initiative of extending the ‘Year of Sustainability’ to the whole of 2024. EDITOR’S NOTEJuly 2024 6 T HE manufacturing of batteries is a delicate process performed in a highly controlled, ultra-low- humidity environment. Stable, accurate, fast-response dew point probes are, therefore, an essential component of control systems that help improve safety, yields and energy efficiency. The midstream stage of battery manufacturing involves electrode production, cell assembly and cell finalisation. It is during these steps – in dry rooms, dry booths and glove boxes – that humidity control is especially important to prevent unwanted reactions. These include lithium forming lithium hydroxide and hydrogen gas, lithium salt forming hydrogen fluoride (HF), and electrolyte generating corrosive byproducts. Efficient and effective drying ensures: • Protection of people and materials , because the chemicals used are sensitive to moisture and present an explosion risk, if exposed to elevated moisture levels • Yield maximisation whilst maintaining product quality, because excessive moisture negatively impacts the quality and, therefore, the lifetime of batteries The climate crisis is driving demand for the electrification of transportation and energy infrastructure, which in turn is accelerating the need for more powerful and safer rechargeable batteries, including li-ion, sodium-ion and solid-state. However, one of the key issues affecting battery quality is accurate humidity monitoring and dry control during manufacture, and in the following article, Antti Viitanen of Vaisala addresses the issue... HUMIDITY SENSORS PERSPECTIVE • Energy optimisation by maintaining dry room ambient dryness at optimal levels. This avoids over-drying and under-drying, both of which are extremely costly Dew-point measurement in solid state battery manufacturing The ambient dew-point temperature in dry rooms is typically maintained within the range starting from -30 degrees C to -40 degrees C, and these low humidity levels are controlled by high-end dryers. This is one of the most energy-intensive parts of the battery manufacturing process, so minimising over-drying is key to the plant’s overall energy efficiency. The dew-point sensors in the dryer need to be highly responsive to control the dryer quickly and accurately, but it is important to note that sensor accuracy is not the only factor affecting drying efficiency. A probe with a fast response time, and without the complex internal measurement control loops of some analysers, makes all the difference in dryer and overall dry room control. The volume of air being dried and pushed through the process is very large, so energy consumption can easily skyrocket if the drying process is not optimised. Newer technologies, such as all solid-state batteries, may require drier conditions with the dew-point temperature as low as -80 degrees C in individual processing steps. Typically, these steps are performed inside dry booths or glove boxes, because it is not usually economically viable to dry the whole dry room to the same extremely low dew-point level. Humidity levels in dry booths and glove boxes are, therefore, monitored at critical points. Today, the most commonly used measurement device for dryer monitoring and control is a dew-point sensor, based on thin-film polymer technology. Previous instrumentation suffered from drift, especially at low humidity levels, but recent developments have enabled accurate, stable and fast- response dew-point measurement with minimum drift. Maintaining accuracy in dew-point sensors Battery manufacturers use large numbers of sensors throughout their processes to measure, monitor and control humidity levels. The cost of these sensors is negligible in comparison with the value of the assets and products that they protect. Nevertheless, it is vitally important that sensors are accurate and www.ccme.news 7 stable in the long term, so it is important to select the right sensors, and to implement an effective programme of calibration checks. A key factor in choosing dew- point sensors is the availability of proven reliability. This means that the providers of sensors should be able to demonstrate long-term accuracy and stability over many years, and in a wide variety of changing environments. All sensors may deliver measurement results outside of acceptable limits for a number of reasons that may not be immediately apparent. The most important function of calibration is, therefore, to check results against a known standard. However, all measurement devices drift over time to a greater or lesser degree, so ensuring these sensors are properly calibrated at appropriate intervals is essential, if their readings are to be reliable in the long term. The dew-point sensors used in the midstream processes of battery production are sensitive and highly accurate instruments, but calibration is necessary for more than just the avoidance of drift. For example, the accuracy of sensors can be compromised by physical damage or other environmental factors. Calibration programmes for dew-point sensors A variety of calibration options exist for dew-point sensors at battery manufacturing facilities. Handheld devices are available for quick and convenient spot-checking and on- site calibration. The advantage of this method is that probes do not need to be removed from the process, and downtime can be kept to a minimum. In addition, some devices can be used as a reference probe and sent for factory calibration – complete with a certificate for full calibration traceability. Some sensor manufacturers operate accredited service centres, to which swapped-out sensors can be sent for routine calibration checks. Alternatively, many battery manufacturers find it more convenient and economical to contract CPI Industry accepts no liability for the views or opinions expressed in this column, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided here. The writer is Senior Product Manager with Vaisala. He may be contacted at emea.media@vaisala.com. their sensor supplier to provide a fixed price calibration programme. Summary The purpose of this article is to highlight the potentially serious implications of failing to implement an effective humidity measurement programme in battery manufacturing plants. Dew-point sensors perform a critically important role, so it is vitally important to install the right sensors and to ensure that they deliver stable, long-term accuracy and reliability. To achieve this, no matter which sensor is deployed, an effective calibration routine is essential for the efficient, sustainable operation of the plant, protecting safety, energy efficiency and battery product quality. Image courtesy of VaisalaJuly 2024 8 T HE global climate is changing, and our expectations for comfort are evolving. Efficient and sustainable heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems are no longer a luxury but a necessity. In the dynamic landscape of this industry, the key to driving product innovation, while meeting the growing demand of HVACR solutions, lies in empowering a skilled workforce. Companies that prioritise their employees' professional development through training not only achieve higher business results but also ensure exceptional service support to the customers. This underscores the pivotal role of skilled employees in ensuring the long-term success of the HVACR industry. Nowhere is this more crucial than in the HVACR sector, as 60% of electricity consumption in the building is from these equipment and their operations. Therefore, precision in the production, installation and maintenance of air conditioning units, heaters, and ventilation and refrigeration systems is paramount. Without proficient staff and technicians, critical concerns, such as sustainability, efficiency and public health are at risk of being neglected, posing substantial threats to customers and service providers alike. Fostering a competitive environment for measuring technician skills is just what the doctor ordered. Sanjeev Maheshwari of Daikin Middle East & Africa elaborates on a vital aspect on which rests the possible success of an eco-system of widespread sustainable cooling and refrigeration TECHNICIAN TRAINING PERSPECTIVE The challenge of bridging the gap: Technology and after- sales service To overcome environmental impact and challenges, products in the field of air conditioning and refrigeration are constantly evolving through technological advancements. These advancements include new refrigerants, inverterisation, digitalisation and advanced compressor technologies, like magnetic-bearing compressors. Computational capabilities are embedded in air conditioning products to provide comfort to customers while remaining efficient. Today, even the smallest products, from residential air conditioners to District Cooling technologies, are equipped with PCBs to operate and drive the product to meet customer demands. While the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is adopting these technological changes faster, after- sales service remains a significant challenge. Developing regions and countries often face a scarcity of skilled resources to provide good quality service to customers. With rapid technological advancement, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep the HVACR workforce updated with the latest technology. Training and development It is important to understand these challenges and the importance of delivering quality, safety and service excellence to customers. It is important to take a step forward by prioritising the training and development of the next generation of technicians, installers and after- sales service personnel. Well-meaning initiatives are taking place in the region, such as investing in state- of-the-art training and development centres to train the direct workforce and the indirect workforce, such as installers, contractors, dealers and service providers. The aim is to provide comprehensive theoretical and practical training exercises in system installation, troubleshooting, maintenance and energy efficiency. Further, to enhance the quality of workmanship as field service technicians, it is important to recognise that technicians need motivation to excel, not just information and training content. To foster better engagement in learning, an idea worth considering is to foster a competitive spirit. For instance, Daikin has organised the Service Games to bring competitiveness among service technicians and motivate them to learn more and excel in their area of expertise. The initiative cultivates a culture of excellence www.ccme.news 9 among technicians and engineers through competitive events that challenge participants in theoretical knowledge as well as practical skills. Launched for the first time in the Middle East and Africa in 2023, the Games not only celebrate technical expertise but also elevate the company’s service standards globally. The broad aim of workforce training goes beyond simply enhancing technical skills and service quality. It plays a pivotal role in addressing environmental and sustainability challenges by fostering a workforce equipped to deliver innovative, sustainable solutions in the HVACR sector. This investment in continuous learning and development not only secures a competitive edge but also empowers local workforces across the Middle East and Africa. Such initiatives create a ripple effect, fostering economic growth, community CPI Industry accepts no liability for the views or opinions expressed in this column, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided here. The writer is General Manager (Services & Refrigeration), Daikin Middle East & Africa. He may be reached at maheshwari.s@daikinmea.com development and career advancement opportunities, while ensuring superior service for customers. Next >