TriPac^e Electric APU System; T-1000 Spectrum Multi-Temp Unit and SmartPower High Output Electric Standby Option

Saying that the products offered innovative solutions, reduced cost and met applicable regulatory and environmental standards, Thermo King introduced three new products – the TriPac^e Electric APU System, the T-1000 Spectrum multi-temp unit for trucks and the SmartPower High Output Electric Standby Option.

Thermo King Corporation, a business of Ingersoll Rand, manufacturers of transport temperature control systems for mobile applications, said that the products, unveiled at the Mid- America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky held from March 25-27, were designed based on customer feedback and extensive field and lab tests, and claimed that they would help run cleaner, quieter, more energy-efficient fleets and meet operational and environmental concerns.

Features:

TriPac^e Electric APU System

• It is an electric auxiliary idle-reduction and temperature- management system designed to maintain comfortable temperature conditions in the truck cab without running the engine.
• It is battery and not engine operated, thus significantly reducing fuel and maintenance costs.
• It is cool, clean, quiet and emission-free, meeting anti-idle and antiemissions regulations and providing optimum system performance and a low life cycle cost.

 T-1000 SPECT RUM Multi-Temp Unit for Trucks

• It is a self-powered multi-temperature unit with the latest scroll compressor technology.
• The SmartPower electric standby option along with its advanced fuelsaving control technology provides fuel savings in all ambient conditions.
• Its Tier 4 engine emits 38% less particulate matter and 54% less carbon monoxide than previous engines.
• It is available in two and threecompartment configurations, providing flexibility.

SmartPower High Output Electric Standby Option

• It provides the choice of a 24 HP highoutput electric standby option or the existing 14 HP version.
• It delivers quicker pre-cool and less run-time for customers hauling larger frozen loads, along with a greater overall cooling capacity.
• Its electric motor reduces emissions, waste generation, noise and engine wear and tear.

“Our customers need technology that not only meets and evolves with regulatory and environmental requirements,” said Chris Casazza, President, Thermo King. “They also need technology that reduces costs in order to remain competitive. Our innovations are designed to help them achieve both of these goals now and throughout the lifecycle of their fleets.”

The UNEP-ASHRAE-sponsored conference aims to glean results achieved, successes and lessons learnt.

With the tantalising header – ‘Road to climate-friendly chillers: moving beyond CFCs and HCFCs’, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and ASHRAE-sponsored conference, to be held from September 30 to October 1, this year in Cairo, Egypt, will certainly attract a lot of attention of experts and industry manufacturers alike.

The main objective of the conference, say the organisers, is to enhance the practical knowledge on state-of-the-art alternative refrigerants and to communicate achieved results, successes and lessons learnt.

Authors are invited to submit an abstract on any of the following topics:

• Heat-driven water chiller technology
• Vapour-compression chiller technology
• Absorption chillers technology practical experience: operation, maintenance, energy performance
• Solar-assisted cooling systems
• Industrial chiller technology
• District cooling facility dimensioning and building integration
• Alternative refrigerants
• Retrofitting of refrigeration systems
• Future refrigerants
• Funding and implementation of chiller replacement programmes
• The organisers have specified that the abstract should be in Word or PDF format and should not exceed more than a page.

Those interested in sending in their abstracts need to make sure that the abstract contains the following elements:

• The title of the paper
• Five keywords
• Authors’/author’s names/name and affiliation
• Name of the corresponding author together with email and full postal address, telephone and fax numbers
• The paper needs to be written in English, which is the official conference language

The deadline for submission of abstracts is April 15, 2010.

Authors will be notified of the acceptance of their abstracts by April 25, 2010. It needs to be remembered that fullly technical, non-commercial papers are to be submitted, based on the guidelines for preparing the manuscripts, only after the acceptance of abstracts. Papers are due on June 25, 2010.

According to ASHRAE, those interested in presenting a paper need to familiarise themselves with ASHRAE’s commercialism policy that can be viewed on ASHRAE’s website.

Abstracts should be submitted, by the deadline, to Prof Walid Chakroun, DRC, Region-At-Large, ASHRAE, and should be emailed to: chillerconference@gmail.com.

Inducting students into Ingersoll Rand’s environmental programme is an initiative to raise the bar on energy- efficiency technologies

Two MBA candidates from the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF)’s Climate Corps programme will participate in a project to further the environmental efforts of Ingersoll Rand plc (NYSE: IR). EDF is a national nonprofit organisation representing more than 700,000 members.

Announcing this, from Davidson, North Carolina, on March 26, Ingersoll Rand stated that starting in June, the Climate Corps Fellows will work as Ingersoll Rand interns and be responsible for a variety of energyrelated projects, including:

• Deploying a new energy management system to the company’s facilities.
• Working with teams of Ingersoll Rand employees to evaluate the results of the company’s energy audits or “treasure hunts”, develop business cases and strategies for improvement and present their recommendations.
• Developing energy-efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction education programmes which are aligned with the climate change goals and policies of the US Department of Energy and the US Environmental Protection Agency.
• Monitoring and analysing US governmentfunded energy efficiency incentives, and creating a process to assist leaders in accessing these incentives.

According to Ingersoll Rand, it has signed on with the two agencies – US Department of Energy and the US Environmental Protection Agency – to participate in their respective programmes: Save Energy Now and Climate Leaders.

“The work that the Fellows will undertake is critical to our efforts to improve our energy performance and sustainability,” said Scott Tew, Executive Director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand. “The Climate Corps programme offers a win-win (situation) for students and companies like ours – a unique, hands-on educational approach that will help us achieve our vision of creating safe, comfortable and efficient environments,” he added.

Climate Corps Fellows are MBA students who are recruited by EDF and put through an intensive training on leading energy efficiency technologies and practices. In order to participate in the programme, said Ingersoll Rand, the candidates must demonstrate an ongoing commitment to reducing energy use and a willingness to implement recommendations where feasible.

Move coincides with launch of temporary desalination solution

Rental Solutions & Services (RSS) has launched a temporary desalination solution or mobile desalinated water system. The launch coincides with the opening of its new office in Cyprus to serve the Mediterranean market.

Saying that the Cyprus office will be the hub to ensure uninterrupted supply of fresh water to several islands and resorts, Milan Balac, Managing Director of RSS, added, “Aside from the Middle East and the Asian region, we are confident that our rental power, temporary cooling and mobile desalination plant will benefit the Mediterranean region, in particular Cyprus, Montenegro, Gibraltar, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.”

Simon Urquhart, Group Technical Manager for RSS’ mobile desalination division, said that the RSS mobile desalination system used the reverse osmosis technology. “In layman’s terms, we can convert brackish water from a river, lake or bore hole to potable water, and we can also convert sea-water to potable fresh water (complying with all European potable water standards),” Urquhart said. “The potable water can be consumed for drinking, cleaning, irrigation or other applications.”

Lee Cox, General Manager for Southern Gulf, cited various areas of application for its new products and services to a wide spectrum of clientele. Among them are the construction industry, district cooling and semiconductor plants, the military and government agencies, hospitals, power plants, refineries, pulp and paper industries, steel, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, textile, laundry, agricultural and green house sectors and livestock farms.

RSS is looking at servicing the Gulf region as well as Central Asia, Yemen, India and Pakistan.

With 5.6 million units needed by 2014, study pegs residential sector gains at 70% share of real estate market.

Saudi Arabia will need around one million new homes over the next five years to keep up with an estimated 3.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), according to a study by Saudi-based Jiwar Real Estate Management and Marketing, a real estate company in the Gulf region and the marketing arm of the Saudi Bin Laden Group. This pace translates to around 5.5 million required units by 2014.

The residential sector has grown substantially to account for 70% of the Kingdom’s real estate market, as the housing demand has risen steadily over the recent years, due mainly to a young and rapidly growing population, constantly seeking affordable homes, says the study. The other 30% is distributed among offices, retail outlets, the hospitality and industrial sectors.

The study also revealed that the short- to medium-term domestic residential outlook is very positive as the demand is expected to surpass supply by 50,000 units annually over the next four to five years. The Saudi residential sector encompasses villas, apartments, duplexes, traditional houses, and residential compounds.

According to the report, Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Madina, Damma and Al Khobar are the top residential markets in Saudi Arabia, with the property business in these areas being dominated by rented units, which account for an average of 83% of housing. The number of households in Riyadh city alone is expected to rise to around 1.05 million by 2014, representing a CAGR of 3.7%.

“Saudi Arabia continues to be one of the few property markets in the region capable of sustaining growth within the global recession,” said Dr Saleh Bin Abdullah Al Habib, CEO, Jiwar Real Estate Management and Marketing. “The residential segment has been the main driver; average occupancy within the six major city markets is, in fact, at around 96%,” he added.

Jiwar is actively involved in the Abraj Al-Bait Towers being developed by the Saudi Bin Laden Group in Mecca. Upon completion, the 595meter-high structure will occupy a floor area of 1.5 million square meters and become the world’s tallest and largest hotel. It will equal the area of the current record holder, Terminal 3 at the Dubai International Airport in the UAE, and surpass the Rose Tower in Dubai as the world’s tallest hotel.

Ministry is considering smart buildings technology and sustainable materials for residential buildings

Bahrain’s Minister of Housing, H.E. Shaikh Ibrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa will patronise the first Green Building Forum, to be held at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on May 5, 2010.

The Minister will deliver the keynote opening speech to the Forum delegates, in which he is expected to highlight the concept of environmental sustainability as a crucial element of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, the objectives of which are to transform the Kingdom from a regional pioneer to a global contender. The Ministry of Housing is currently considering smart building technology and sustainable materials to build more homes in Bahrain.

According to the ministry communiqué, in addition to Shaikh Ibrahim, the Forum will feature a distinguished line-up of renowned speakers from the government, businessmen and environmentalists. The topics slated for discussion include the Copenhagen Treaty and its relevance to the Gulf; Government regulations and green codes of conduct; Green Building in the Gulf; Environmentallysympathetic design and construction; Challenges for the construction industry and sustainable building materials; Smart buildings; Renewable energy powering the home; Carbon trading or zero emissions; Innovation in building; Recycling waste; and Green Building training and education.

The Green Building Forum is organised by Bahrain based Hilal Conferences & Exhibitions, in association with international event consultancy, North Star Associates.

Commenting on the forthcoming event, Jubran Abdulrahman, Managing Director, HCE, said, “The Green Building Forum is enormously relevant to the construction industry and the world we live in, and the patronage of HE the Minister of Housing demonstrates the significance of the event to Bahrain’s housing and construction sector.”

Ahmed Suleiman, Managing Director, North Star Associates, added: “At a time when conventional building strategies are mainly about steel and cement, the Forum provides a platform to reconsider conventional thinking and demonstrate that green building methods do not necessarily compromise quality or translate into higher construction costs.”

Among others, the Forum is supported by the Bahrain Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Emirates Green Building Council, the Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce and British Council. It will run concurrently with the fifth gulfBID exhibition, the leading exhibition for the construction and interiors industry in the Northern Gulf, which will be held from May 4 to 6, also at the BIEC.

High-Efficiency combined cycle power plants are part of Siemens’ Environmental Portfolio.

The Shuaibah IWPP steam power plant with integrated seawater desalination facility in Saudi Arabia has started commercial operation, announced Siemens Energy. The company built the power plant as a turnkey project together with its consortium partner, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Company for Shuaibah Water and Electricity Company (SWEC).

The overall plant has an installed capacity of 900 megawatts (MW). According to Siemens Energy, the seawater desalination plant, supplied by Doosan, will produce approximately 880,000 m3 of drinking water daily for the cities of Mecca, Jeddah, Taif and Al Baha.

In addition to turnkey erection of the plant, the Siemens scope of supply also encompassed three backpressure steam turbinegenerators, each rated at 400 MW, the associated electrical equipment and an SPPA-T3000 instrumentation and control system. The power plant is also equipped with an advanced flue-gas cleaning plants, said Siemens Energy, which was supported by the regional entity, Siemens Ltd Saudi Arabia, in its implementation of the crude oil-fired power plant.

According to Siemens Energy, by 2024, it is anticipated that the population of Saudi Arabia will have almost doubled to 40 million. New power plants, with a combined capacity of at least 3,000 MW, will be required annually to meet the pronounced increase in power demand. The Kingdom is, therefore, making significant investments in the expansion of capacities for power and drinking water supply. After Jeddah III, Ghazlan and Al Khobar, Shuaibah is the fourth large-capacity steam power plant built by Siemens in Saudi Arabia.

Company will supply technology for stabilisation of high-voltage transmission network in Saudi Arabia

Siemens Energy recently announced that it has received an order worth EUR65 million from Saudi Arabia to supply three turnkey static reactive-power compensation systems. It will supply three static Var compensators (SVCs) for different high-voltage levels to Saudi Electric Company (SEC) for stabilisation of the country’s 60-Hertz power transmission network.

According to Siemens Energy, the parallel compensation systems will be deployed at three sites in the Hiteen, Qassim and Afif substations and are scheduled to be ready for operation between mid-2011 and early 2012.

“We are pleased that our field-proven technology will be deployed to stabilise the Saudi power transmission network,” said Udo Niehage, CEO of the Power Transmission Division of Siemens Energy.

The three systems ordered are intended for the 380-kV, 132-kV and 33-kV voltage levels and will have a dynamic compensation capacity of as much as 800 MVAr.

B Surendar

For several decades at a stretch, the US has been exploring and producing shale gas. It is only in the last 10 years, though, that it has ramped up production, thanks to the combination of horizontal drilling and hydro-fracking. A case-in point is Barnett, in Texas, which a decade ago, had a handful of wells. Today, that modest figure has swelled to over 12,000 wells. Another example is the Marcellus Basin, in the north-eastern part of the country, which is said to contain an estimated 500 trillion cubic feet of shale gas. At the risk of stating the obvious, these numbers are phenomenal.

Today, thanks to the ramp up, there is conviction in the voice when the US says it has moved that much closer to securing its energy needs for the foreseeable future. Figures vary, but it is generally agreed that while the country imported 11% of its gas needs in 2008, it imports only four per cent today.

Shale gas in the US is for real, said Aloulou Fawzi, at the recently concluded MEGAS Summit in Abu Dhabi. Fawzi works for the Washington DC-based Energy Information Administration (EIA), which is part of the US Department of Energy.

It is not just the US but also Canada, China and Australia that are shale-gas rich. The volumes of gas they contain in their boughs are widely regarded as significant in the oil and gas sectors. Further, the cost of production is comparable to that of producing conventional gas. Yes, there is concern about the potential contamination of aquifers through the exploration of the gas, but experts agree there are adequate leak-prevention measures in place to minimise the risk. With barriers, such as this, falling, it is little surprising to hear of talk that shale gas will impact demand for natural gas worldwide. That’s precisely what speaker after speaker at the MEGAS Summit conveyed to the delegates in no uncertain terms. Prices are coming down, they said. Russia and the countries of the Arabian Gulf will no longer be able to dictate higher prices for export, they added.

To put things in perspective, Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of LNG. It is LNG that contributes significantly to the country’s GDP. In that context, the extent of the impact of shale gas on the peninsula remains to be seen. It is important in the interests of the construction and HVACR sectors that Qatar formulates a formidable response to the challenge.

The contract brings the total value of projects awarded to Dh1 billion for the first quarter.

Drake & Scull Water and Power (DSWP), a Drake & Scull International (DSI) subsidiary has won the entire utilities development works at the residential compound in Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa City.

According to DSWP, it was earlier awarded the district cooling works at the same compound, and it will now begin relevant infrastructure works that include sewer lines, irrigation, telecommunications services, fire fighting, sub stations, and all related civil works, such as roads and paving.

“This contract win marks the eighth for DSI in 2010, bringing the total value of the projects awarded to date to Dh1 billion,” said Khaldoun Tabari, CEO and Vice Chairman of DSI. “Reaching such a milestone so early in the year has exceeded our expectations. These results are a testament to our progressive growth strategy, and such achievements assure us that we are on the right path with our plans for 2010.”

Tawfiq Abu Soud, Executive Director of DSWP, commented: “One of the motivating factors for us in deciding to form a business stream dedicated to managing and controlling infrastructure, water and power (IWP) works was the surety that we would continuously have a demand in the market to cater to – this has, indeed, been the case till now, due to the non-diminishing demand for water and power, which are the basic elements needed in any community.”