Message from the International Academy of Refrigeration
"Refrigeration into the Third Millennium"
by Lev Bulat
The Twentieth International Congress of Refrigeration was held at the Sydney Conventional Center, Sydney, Australia on September 19-24, 1999. As the Congress was organized at the brink of two centuries it had second name: "Refrigeration into the Third Millennium".
The letter of the IIR to the Congress delegates includes the following:
"As the world has urbanized and developed we all have come to rely heavily on refrigeration to secure so much of our food supply, and to provide environmental comfort in our working and home environments. Refrigeration is an international and ubiquitous technology. It is usually so reliable we take it for granted. We now approach the Third Millennium knowing that there are major incompletely answered challenges to the whole of humanity - issues such as ozone depletion, global warming and insecure food supply, and opportunities such as developments in cryosurgery and super-conductivity. We are confident that refrigeration technology can provide at least some of the answers we all seek."
More than 500 oral scientific and technical papers were presented at 5 plenary and 60 sectional sessions. All directions of R&D in refrigeration science, technology and design that was presented at the Congress can be systemize into 5 themes:
- Cryophysics, Cryogenic Engineering and Cryobiology. The theme
includes superconductivity; new low temperature applications;
gas separation & liquefaction; production, storage & transport of
cryogens; cryoprotection & cryodamage; tissue banking; freeze-drying.- Applied thermodynamics and Heat Transfer: Developments in New
Refrigerants, Alternative Cycles and Energy Efficiency including
HCFC replacements; new cycles; natural working fluids; thermophysical
& thermodynamic properties; heat transfer enhancement; measurement
systems; heat recovery & use of renewable energy.- Refrigeration and Heat Pump Systems: Applications and Equipment
including equipment for new cycles & refrigerants; absorption &
adsorption systems; performance measurement & improvement; modeling & simulation; control sensors & strategies; heat exchange &
compression equipment; safety & environmental issues.- Processing, Preservation, Storage and Transportation of
Perishables: Quality, Processes and Equipment including mathematical
modeling; cold chain integration; refrigerated transport systems;
retail display cabinets; MA & other complementary preservation
techniques; Predictive Microbiology; quality assurance & safety;
control of environmental factors; logistics; regulations &
standardization; systems for developing countries; thermal
properties of foods; market trends for foods; optimization of
food refrigeration plants & processes.- Air Conditioning, Indoor Climate Control and Human Comfort
including indoor air quality; non-traditional air-conditioning
applications; vehicle air-conditioning; thermal storage &
secondary refrigerants; system commissioning & instrumentation;
optimisation of control & energy use; reliability & maintenance.Varied new concepts and ideas were sounded at the Congress. Twenty different technical tours were suggested to the Congress delegates. Very interesting exhibition demonstrated new achievements in refrigeration technique and applications.
The technical sessions and technical tours, workshops, exhibition, panel discussions and short courses were the remarkable space for scientific, technical and business contacts, for formulating collaborative agreements and for concluding bargains. A lot of money was redistributed at the Congress venues. The Congress was a place and a time for business.
Unfortunately, only one paper connected with thermoelectric cooling was presented at the Congress (between 500 oral papers!). Any TE exhibit was demonstrated. The term "thermoelectricity" I listened only few times in different lectures. At the same time a lot of customers demonstrated an interest to low power refrigerating. I would like to notice that most specialists in refrigeration science and technology (including customers) understand TE cooling rather approximately.
The Section for Alternative Methods of Refrigeration of the International Academy of Refrigeration (www.zts.com/IAR) has a target to integrate Members of the Academy - specialists in TE cooling into the community of refrigeration scientists and engineers. We hope that at the next XXI International Congress of Refrigeration the place of TE cooling in the market of refrigeration will be thorough discussed.
Only once every four years is a time for the International Congress of Refrigeration. We invite you to join the international refrigeration community at the XXI Congress in Washington DC at August 2003.
Thank you.
Professor Lev Bulat
Head of the Section for Alternative Methods of Refrigeration,
International Academy of Refrigeration
Lomonosova St. 9, St. Petersburg, 191002, Russia
Tel: 7 812 1647149. Fax: 7 812 3153778.
Email: bulat@LB4443.spb.eduOctober 20, 1999
