Doha, Qatar: The 8^th Annual Middle East District Cooling Conference has kicked off at the City Centre Rotana Doha Hotel on November 1, 2016, according to a press release issued by the event organiser, Fleming. The event, the press release said, witnessed key stakeholders, decision-makers and leaders from the District Cooling industry engage in a dialogue on the future of District Cooling technology in the region. The conference sponsors and exhibitors also demonstrated their solutions and technologies tailor-made for project developers and government agencies to equip them with energy-efficient solutions for the future, added the press release.

The conference, the press release mentioned, began with an inaugural keynote address by Dr Khalifa Nasser Al-Khalifa, Dean at College of Engineering, Qatar University. The opening sessions, the press release revealed, featured presentations on technological advancements in District Cooling, smarter water utilisation, secrets to successful delivery of District Cooling projects and insights on District Cooling system maintenance by Hubert Poels, Managing Director, WATCO; Hussam Sammour, GM, Trane (Qatar); George Berbari, CEO, DC Pro Engineering; Jim Phene, Director, Business Development EMEA, LAKOS Separators and Filtration Systems (USA); Tim M  Burbury, Partner, King & Spalding and Andrei Sleptchenko, Assistant Professor at Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Qatar University.

According to the press release, the key highlights of the day included a keynote presentation by Abubakr Jenaid Al Hadrumi on ‘District cooling in Qatar & GCC, future and challenges’ and a wrap-up panel — themed ‘Exploring the challenges faced in developing a strong foundation for DC implementation and role of renewable energy for DC’ — which was moderated by Muhammad Ali, Design Manager (District Cooling) at Marafeq Qatar, while the panelists included Mohamed Nagib Omara, Head of Strategic Planning & Technical Advisor to the President at Kahramaa, Hubert Poels, Jim Phene and Ville Iljanko, Managing Director at Hogfors.

The post-lunch session, the press release further said, included a presentation by Nauman Rashid, Marketing Director for MEA at GE Water & Process Technologies, titled ‘Water treatment technologies for sustainable and cost effective district cooling operations’, which focused on water and treated sewage effluent (TSE) treatment as well as control automation and knowledge management solutions. The second presentation, titled ‘Cost saving with customized STARTING solution’ by Thomas Zirk, Sales Director at AuCom MCS, examined new motor starting concepts, such as the multi-motor starting concept, and emphasised its advantages, added the press release.

As a special feature for the event, Fleming, the press release said, planned a site visit to the Marina District Cooling Plant for the participants.

On the second day, the conference, the press release informed, will have dedicated sessions focused on sustainable development and energy-efficient cooling systems, key developmental issues for new District Cooling systems, solar cooling systems, best practices in District Cooling and quality control. It will also feature an exclusive session, titled ‘Ashghal: Application opportunities of treated sewage effluent in district cooling & challenges towards environmental compliance in Qatar’, by Dr Ghazi El Sherif, Environmental Expert at Public Works Authority, Ashghal, and a wrap-up panel themed ‘Investigating the challenges to implementing district cooling’.

The conference is supported by Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), said the press release.