Alfa Laval, a leading pioneer in thermal technologies for heat and cooling systems, is bringing decades of expertise to customers all around the world. In September, the company launched xChanging Ideas: the industry’s first webinar series devoted to exploring the latest trends and solutions reshaping industrial, commercial and residential heating and cooling. To date, upwards of 1000 industry professionals have viewed the first two webinars either live or on-demand.
“With a long history of working within challenging heating and cooling demands, Alfa Laval has amassed a wealth of unique knowledge that we have always been happy to share with our customers,” explains Fredrik Ekström, President for Business Unit Brazed & Fusion Bonded Heat Exchangers at Alfa Laval. “However, the current restrictions caused by COVID-19 have made it more challenging for us to work with customers as we have traditionally. We started the xChanging Ideas webinar series as an all new way of answering the most pressing questions our customers are facing.”
xChanging Ideas consist of six 30-minute programmes, each looking at a different topic, held over the course of the autumn. For those streaming live, 15 minutes will be available for Q&A following each presentation. Recordings of each webinar will also be available on demand for those who cannot participate in real time.
The focus for the series is on the major issues currently driving transformation within heating and cooling. In particular, the webinars look at different sustainability drivers that are leading to greater demands for energy efficiency and the transition to refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP). The first webinar took place on 1 September as part of the ATMOsphere 2020 virtual trade show.
“Although we started xChanging Ideas as a response to the limitations brought on by our current situation, it has enabled us to connect with more people in the industry than ever before,” says Fredrik Ekström. “Over 650 people took part live in our first webinar, and several hundred more have since viewed the recording of the event. It’s great to know that we can share information on topics that are clearly of such great importance to so many in the industry right now!”
The first xChanging Ideas webinar was led by Alfa Laval’s Matteo Munari, one of the industry’s foremost knowledge leaders on the subject of natural refrigerants. During the webinar, he discussed refrigerants becoming more common in today’s heating and cooling systems.
“As commercial refrigeration moves to greener cooling systems, synthetic refrigerants are increasingly being replaced with natural refrigerant alternatives, such as CO2, ammonia and propane,” says Matteo. “These new refrigerants offer many benefits, of course, but they can also create many technical challenges. During the webinar, we took a close look at these topics and also talked about some of the new technologies that are emerging to solve these challenges.”
In the second xChanging Ideas webinar, held on 1 October, Matteo delved deeper into some of these topics, with a specific focus on residential and commercial heat pump systems. For the 100 guests ‘in attendance’, he offered pros and cons for the different heat exchanger technologies available for these systems today, with guidance to help viewers maximize their thermal efficiency.
Future sessions of xChanging Ideas will continue the focus on sustainability trends, with webinars scheduled for late October looking at ammonia-based heat pumps and technologies for ensuring safer tap water. The final webinars will examine solutions for recovering heat waste and offer a broader look at the role heating and cooling businesses play in building a sustainable future.
To learn more about the upcoming xChanging Ideas schedule, register for an upcoming webinar or view a past webinar on demand, visit www.alfalaval.com/xchangingideas.