IIT Kharagpur and ICAR-CIFT introduced 115 participants to natural refrigerant-based systems for the seafood industry during a one-day technical workshop in Kochi on July 3, 2026. Held under the INDEE3 project, the event included live demonstrations of subcritical and transcritical CO2 refrigeration cycles alongside technical presentations and discussions.
Bell Foods hosted a demonstration of a subcritical CO2 refrigeration cycle, while ICAR-CIFT presented an educational transcritical CO2 cycle. The demonstrations gave attendees an opportunity to examine the operation of both system types and connected the workshop’s technical sessions with practical refrigeration applications.
Participants represented academia, the refrigeration industry, seafood businesses and end-user organisations. Speakers from academic, industrial and operational backgrounds discussed the use of natural refrigerants in seafood refrigeration and the need for collaboration between technology developers, researchers and users.
Dr. Sarun Kumar Kochuni of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim presented the background and objectives of INDEE3. The project focuses on expanding the adoption of natural refrigerants in India through demonstration activities, knowledge transfer, education, training and lifecycle refrigerant management.
The workshop was organised by IIT Kharagpur and the ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology in association with Bell Foods Group and Chochin Food Tech Pvt. Ltd. It was inaugurated by Kerala Minister for Fisheries, Harbour Engineering and Social Justice V. E. Abdul Gafoor, with ICAR-CIFT Director George Ninan and Indian Seafood Industry Vice President Alex K. Ninan also participating. INDEE3 is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi.
