Greg Brown, MaxiPARTS and Bob Woodward, Australian Trucking Association talk about thermal efficiency for refrigerated trucks. Read more
When Things Go Wrong, the Finger Pointing Starts
Mark Mitchell, Chairman of the Australian Food Cold Chain Council (AFCCC) looks at the blame game in the cold chain, because when things go wrong, the finger pointing starts. Read more
Australia’s Serious Food Loss and Waste
The Australian food transport industry is expected to do its share of the hard lifting as the government steps up its attack on Australia’s serious food loss and waste, which has reached 7.3 million tonnes of food every year. Thermal performance of transport is the beginning of cold chain compliance. Read more
Known as a Refrigeration Specialist
Carrier Transicold is a part of the global Carrier organisation, best known as a refrigeration specialist, which supplies HVAC, refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies all over the world. That means the integrated network of support begins at the factory and ends with the end customer. Read more
Known as a Refrigeration Specialist
Carrier Transicold is a part of the global Carrier organisation, best known as a refrigeration specialist, which supplies HVAC, refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies all over the world. That means the integrated network of support begins at the factory and ends with the end customer. Read more
Carrier’s eSolutions Platform
Drilling into the refrigerated transport sphere reveals a high level of telematics sophistication exemplified by Carrier’s eSolutions platform, which also enables operators to intelligently monitor connected refrigeration systems from anywhere in the world. Read more
Keeping Freight Cool in Brisbane
Tech Know visits the Carrier facility to see how the job of keeping freight cool in Brisbane is handled on a day to day basis. Read more
M30 refrigerant safety risk
The Industry Technical Council of the Australian Trucking Association warned the trucking industry of safety risks associated with some refrigerants. Chris Loose, ATA Senior Adviser Engineering, said the cheaper gas could lead to disaster when used in vehicle air-conditioning systems.
“Vehicle air-conditioning and refrigeration systems are designed to use specialised automotive refrigerant gases,” said Chris. “These manufacturer-endorsed products have a low fire risk, and newer products have been formulated to have a reduced environmental footprint.
“However, some after-market repairers will ‘re-gas’ refrigeration systems using cheaper, hydrocarbon-based refrigerant gases, often sold as M30. These hydrocarbon gases are highly flammable, and pose a significant safety risk in these systems. In one case, an Australian heavy vehicle driver suffered burns after the re-gassed air-conditioning system in his truck ignited.
“To our knowledge, no heavy vehicle in Australia has ever been designed to use these gases. Vehicle owners using these businesses may not even be informed that their system is being re-gassed using M30 rather than the recommended refrigerants. No matter the cost saving, these gases are not worth the risk.”
The ITC recommends operators exercise caution with any cut-price re-gassing service, and ensure all air-conditioning and refrigeration systems in their fleet use the manufacturer’s recommended refrigerant gas product.