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President of the Grenada Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Ventilating Association (GRAVA) left Grenada on Thursday February 23, 2012, to assist in conducting a training workshop in Hydrocarbon Technology under the theme – “Taking the Myth out of Hydrocarbons.” The training workshop was conducted on Saturday February 25th, 2012 at the Floyd Erskire Sandford Centre and was hosted by the Barbados Refrigeration and Air-condition Association.
Grenada being among the leaders in the implementation of HC technology in the Caribbean has been engaged in a number of activities to promote this technology in other Caribbean islands through South-South co-operation activities. Only recently in January 2012, three executive members of the Barbados Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Association visited Grenada to participate in a Hydrocarbon retrofit demonstration exercise
Mr. Mitchell who has been involved in training of technicians in Grenada, has over 30 years experience in the RAC Sector and has successfully completed numerous training courses in the area of HC. He is also an approved trainer for the National Ozone Unit of Grenada in Good Refrigeration Practices and Natural Refrigerant Technology. Mr. Mitchell was responsible for conducting the practical component of this training, which involved the conversion of several RAC appliances into hydrocarbons. President of the Barbados association, Mr. Grantley Parris, conducted the theoretical sessions.
Fifty-eight (58) technicians attended the training, which focused on the following topics:
- Hydrocarbon Refrigerant – Chemical and Physical Properties;
- Safe Handling;
- Charging Techniques;
- Retrofitting; and practical sessions which involved the retrofitting of refrigerators and Mobile Air Conditioning Systems (MAC) and conversions of small mini split AC system.
Mr. Mitchell expressed his satisfaction in the outcome of the training and was particularly impressed with the level of interest shown by the Barbadian technicians. The training ended with a practical demonstration in the use of hydrocarbons during which two (2) vehicles, one (1) bottle cooler, one (1) domestic refrigerator and a mini-split air-conditioner was converted to hydrocarbon.
On Saturday February 28th 2012, SNJ Electrical, one of Grenada’s leading suppliers of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment launched its newest line of products for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) market.
This product – Duracool® Hydrocarbon Refrigerants, has gained popularity world wide in the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry. In Grenada and the rest of the OECS there has been an increase interest in this product as all of these island are seeking environmentally safe technologies.
Many experts in the RAC sector have hailed hydrocarbon refrigerants as the refrigerant of the future because of it long-term desirable characteristics. Characteristics such as been, non-ozone depleting, non-global warming, energy efficient, cheap, utilises smaller quantities and very efficient as a cooling agent. One of the most significant advantages of this product is that it can realize as much as 40% energy efficiency over many of the other refrigerants currently used.
During the ceremony, Mr. Stephan Baldeau, Operations Manager at SNJ Electrical, outlined the benefits of the product to the over fifty persons who were present from a wide cross sector of the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector. He used the opportunity to highlight the need for the products to be used only by technicians who are trained in Good Refrigeration Practices and Hydrocarbon Technologies. He further lamented that there should be a zero tolerance and no compromise policy on the application of all of the necessary safety checks and measures when using these products.
SNJ electrical also launched the company’s website during the ceremony – www.snjelectrical.com. Information relating to Duracool® hydrocarbons and a full line of products supplied can be found on the site. Customers (local and overseas) can also place their orders on the site.
The launch ceremony ended with a product demonstration during which several types of mobile air-conditioning systems were retrofitted to use Duracool® hydrocarbon refrigerants. The results of those retrofits realized lower temperatures as much as 10 degree Celsius and significantly lower discharge pressures from the compressors. The types of vehicles retrofitted included cars, sports utility vehicles and a large bus. Leading by example, owner of SNJ Electrical having already converted his retail store to air conditioner to use Duracool® Hydrocarbon refrigerants went one step further to convert his SUV in the technology as well.
Customers in Grenada and overseas can now benefit from the special introductory prices at SNJ Electrical.
National Ozone Unit of Grenada 