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Technical
An Institution of Mechanical Engineers Seminar (co-sponsored by the IOR)
Attend this seminar to hear about how to adapt your current cold chain systems to gain savings now as well as the latest cooling technologies to meet future carbon targets.
Speakers will discuss how you can optimise your systems through developments in thermal energy storage technology now as well as learn about incorporating renewable technology to prepare for UK’s zero-carbon future. Take lessons learned back to your organisation from across the cold chain from the start of the process through to efficient transportation to the fridge shelf at its final destination.
The event will be of interest to representatives from supermarkets, pharmaceutical companies, medical organisations, cooling solution providers and policy.Follow this link for details and booking information
Programme
08:30
REGISTRATION AND REFRESHMENTS
09:00
CHAIR’S OPENING REMARKS
Tim Fox, Chair, Process Industries Division, Institution of Mechanical Engineers
CURRENT STATUS OF THE COLD CHAIN
09:10
WHY A CLEAN COLD CHAIN IS SO IMPORTANT: THE GLOBAL CONTEXT
Toby Peters, Professor of Cold Economy, University of Birmingham
- The importance of an affordable, accessible and sustainable cold chain to feed 10 billion
- Ensuring the system is climate change adaptation ready and resilient within our climate constraints
- How do we get there?
09:40
ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT REFRIGERANT USE
Dermot Cotter MInstR Managing Director, Star Technical Services
- The different refrigerants to be considered
- Choosing which refrigerant works for the company’s needs and delivers new opportunities
- Insight into future low charge ammonia chillers
10:05
DECARBONISING THE COLD CHAIN: WHERE DOES IT START?
Michael Reid, Engineering Director, Solar Polar
- Understanding the accelerating trends
- Insight into the five-fold added-value multiplier
- Overview of solar on-farm pre-cooling technology
10:30
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
10:45
NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK
ADAPTING CURRENT TECHNOLOGY TO BE MORE EFFICIENT
11:15
REDUCING THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF THE ICE CREAM COLD CHAIN
Representative, Unilever
- Reducing the carbon footprint of the ice cream cold chain
- Measuring the carbon footprint
- Re-engineering refrigeration systems to achieve a radical reduction in footprint
11:40
OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTEGRATION IN THE COLD CHAIN
Judith Evans FInstR, Professor, School of Engineering, London South Bank University
- A need to move to greater integration of multi-vector energy systems
- Understanding what needs to be resolved before greater integration can be achieved
- Insight into the opportunities for greater integration within the food cold chain both in terms of energy and the way in which food is handled
12:05
INSIGHT INTO COLD CHAIN MANAGEMENT OF VACCINES
Ian Tansley, Inventor, The Sure Chill Company
- The challenges in the vaccine cold chain
- Explaining the elegance and simplicity of the Sure Chill Technology
- Where do we go from here?
12:30
SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH CFD
Nick Wirth, Technical Director, Wirth Research
12:55
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
13:10
NETWORKING LUNCH
14:10
THE COLD CHAIN IN POLITICAL AND REGULATORY CONTEXT
Shane Brennan, Chief Executive, Cold Chain Federation
- The geo-political and regulatory pressures on the cold chain in the UK
- What the industry can do for itself
- How we can shape the future of our regulation
14:35
PANEL DISCUSSION
PREPARING THE COLD CHAIN FOR A ZERO-CARBON SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Panellists: Suhrid Patel, Co-founder, Impagro Farming Solutions
Toby Peters, Professor of Cold Economy, University of BirminghamMichael Ayres, Managing Director, Flexible Power Systems
- What can be done now to make the cold chain more efficient and cost-effective within the political and regulatory structures?
- How can we encourage a more radical move away from fossil fuels now to prepare for the future?
- How can we use leverage finance and commercial business models to deploy new technologies?
15:10
NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK
IMPROVING CURRENT TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AND LOGISTICS TO DELIVER SUSTAINABILITY
15:40
PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS FOR INTEGRATED ROAD AND RAIL COLD CHAIN TRANSPORTATION: FROM MATERIALS TO COMMERCIALISATION
Yulong Ding, Director of the Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage, University of Birmingham
- Key technologies and innovations outlined for the phase change material based passively cooled containers for integrated rail and road transportation
- Insight into cold energy charge and cloud based ICT used
- Overview of demonstration results
16:05
ON THE ROAD: IMPROVING THE ENGINEERING SYSTEMS FOR COOL LOGISTICS
Phil Greening, Deputy Director, Centre for Sustainable Road Freight, Heriot-Watt University
16:30
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
THINKING THERMALLY: THE FUTURE OF COOLING TECHNOLOGIES
16:40
INSIGHT INTO POST HARVEST LOSS SOLUTIONS
Sean Roche, Director, Inviro Choice Ltd
17:00
MAGNETOCALORIC COOLING: A FUTURE ALTERNATIVE TO VAPOUR COMPRESSION COOLING
Neil Wilson, CEO, Camfridge
- Insight into using advanced metal alloys and magnetic fields to drive a novel cooling cycle
- Benefits of the technology: flexibility that can drive energy efficiency, new applications and reduced environmental impact
- Potential for future use in both commercial and domestic contexts
17:20
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
17:30
CHAIR’S CLOSING REMARKS
