BRUSSELS, Belgium, 7 February 2022: To address the global training barrier for the uptake of natural refrigerant systems, ATMOsphere (formerly shecco) released Natural Refrigerants: Applications and Practical Guidelines, the English translation of the 2019 German textbook, Natürliche Kältemittel – Anwendungen und Praxiserfahrungen.

Making the announcement through a Press release, ATMOsphere said it partnered with technical publisher, VDE Verlag to translate the German textbook. VDE Verlag had published the German version, written by top academics in the field, ATMOsphere said.

According to ATMOsphere, the book offers a comprehensive practical guide to working with natural refrigerants, including CO2, ammonia, hydrocarbons and water. The English edition has been improved and adapted for a global audience, particularly with reference to standards, it said. Print and e-book editions of the English translation are available at the VDE online shop for €59, it said. Combined pricing (e-book + print) is available for €82.60, it said.

According to ATMOsphere, the textbook presents the experiences and techniques of industrial refrigeration and transfers them to commercial refrigeration applications. It also covers general conditions and legal requirements for the use of natural refrigerants, the economic efficiency of the refrigeration systems and additional information on handling these systems, it said. Tables, pictures and system diagrams are used to show examples of practical implementations, it said.

The book was the brainchild of Professor Michael Kauffeld of the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences in Germany, who wrote the chapters on thermophysical properties, ice slurry and N2O as a refrigerant for applications below -50°C (-58°F) focusing on air-cycle technology, ATMOsphere said. He is one of the textbook’s three editors. The others are Michael Eckert, Co-Owner and Chief Engineer at the ammonia refrigeration company, Kälte Eckert, and Professor Volker Siegismund of Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University in Mosbach.

Each chapter is written by an expert in the specific area, ATMOsphere said. Professor Armin Hafner of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology wrote the chapter on CO2; Eckert contributed the ammonia chapter; Joachim Schadt, Managing Director and Owner of Secon, a company that builds hydrocarbon chillers, and his colleague Nina Schultz wrote about hydrocarbons; and Jürgen Süss, former CTO of Efficient Energy, the company that developed the water-only eChiller, together with his colleague Florian Hanslik and Kauffeld, covered water as refrigerant, ATMOsphere said.

“For many years, international organizations like UN Environment Program (UNEP), UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) have been looking for appropriate teaching material for natural refrigerants in order to enable Article 5 countries to leapfrog directly from CFCs or HCFCs to the final and only environmentally sound solution: natural refrigerants,” Kauffeld said. “We are delighted to be able to offer our contribution to the training of refrigeration engineers and technicians worldwide via this textbook written by renowned experts in their respective natural refrigerant. You’ll find several hundred years of accumulated knowledge about natural refrigerants in our book. I hope that the book will be able to make a difference.”

Ilana Koegelenberg, Co-Founder and Market Intelligence Manager, ATMOsphere, said: “Although the process was more challenging than anticipated, I want to sincerely thank the authors and wider project team for their commitment and hard work to the vision of this textbook. Time and time again, lack of widespread, accessible training and resources are cited as a barrier for the accelerated development of natural refrigerants globally. That is why I am so excited that this incredible textbook is now also available in English to support the transition to a cleaner, more sustainable future for all.”