More than 60 participants from several Balkan Countries gathered at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Zagreb University in October to take part in the first edition of the free training workshops dedicated to alternative and natural refrigerants, officially accredited by the EU funded blended learning programme Real Alternatives 4 LIFE (RA4LIFE).
Centro Studi Galileo (CSG), with the collaboration of the Italian & Croatian Associations of Refrigeration Technicians (Associazione dei Tecnici italiani del Freddo – ATF, Hrvatska udruga za rashladnu, klima tehniku i dizalice topline – HURKT) delivered a seminar focused on the use of carbon dioxide as a refrigerant. After an introduction on the European regulatory framework and the main principles of refrigeration, the participants were given an overview of the characteristics and benefits of several natural and alternative refrigerants, before deepening on CO2. Prof. Marino Grozdek, Lecturer in charge at the Zagreb University and representative of the national association, presented the properties and advantages of carbon dioxide, confronted with the main HFCs and HFOs. Representatives from Carel Industries, sponsor of the event, and MB Frigo, a local distributor of RAC components and equipment, moreover presented their technologies available at the moment working with CO2. The day continued with a site visit in MB Frigo, where the participants could profit from a first-hand presentation of the latest market trends and see the plant in action.
Association members, company owners, distributors, installers, contractors and design engineers from many Balkan countries (including Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, etc.) have attended the workshop in Zagreb, all of them reporting great satisfaction with the high quality of the training provided, and headed back home with an attendance certificate that proves their active engagement and interest in personal and professional continuous improvement. For this reason, after this successful first edition, Centro Studi Galileo will keep on delivering free training workshops on alternative and natural refrigerants, for the benefit of the HVAC&R sector and national communities, to be held in various locations around Europe.
