Institution news
Ian explained his role and involvement with regards to the seminar, critical engineering challenges and why it is important for engineers to attend.
Q: Please could you briefly explain your role, involvement and experience with regards to the cold chain?
Ian Turner (IT): I am an Aerodynamicist working at Williams Advanced Engineering. We are in a partnership with Aerofoil Energy to create energy saving devices for open fronted supermarket fridges. The principal device is currently the Aerofoil which we have helped to develop, this is a wing which sits at the end of the shelves and helps to keep cold air in the fridge. I had no experience in the refrigeration sector prior to this collaboration as my former life was in Formula 1. I still look at fridges from primarily an aerodynamic point of view however I am now much more aware of the challenges faced by their manufacturers and the retailers who use them.
Q: What are your main challenges when it comes to the current cold chain?
IT: Firstly, that the fridge is quite a complex device to model accurately in simulation which is the main tool that we use. Secondly that the real-world environment is far removed from the idealised worlds of simulation or even physical testing. We have to add performance that can be realised in the real world of the shop floor.
Q: How important is rethinking engineering of the cold chain to the task of achieving the net-zero carbon target?
IT: Open fronted fridges contribute a significant amount of waste to the already energy intensive supermarket sector. If supermarkets are to achieve net-zero, these fridges will need to improve significantly. We are trying to apply a higher level of aerodynamic design to the fridges that currently exist in order to achieve this.
Q: Regarding new cold chain technologies, what would you say are the ones to watch for the future?
IT: I would say that whole supermarket space could be redesigned to be more energy efficient and a big part of this will be refrigeration related.
Q: Why is it important for engineers to join this event?
IT: If they are interested in novel solutions to very real problems, then this event should be of interest!
The 'Engineering an efficient and sustainable cold chain' online seminar will be taking place on 2 March 2021.
Join this seminar to:
- Hear from leaders in cold chain management including Asda, University of Birmingham, Unilever, Cold Chain Federation, Star Technical Solutions and WAVE Refrigeration
- Understand the cold chain challenge posed by COVID-19 vaccines and how this is being addressed globally
- Tackle new F-gas regulations with an understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of alternative refrigerants
- Make the most of innovations including aerofoils and the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve the efficiency existing cold chain systems
- Discover how your organisation can benefit from the latest developments in cooling technology for the transportation link of the cold chain
To book your place, please visit www.imeche.org/coldchain.