Sustainable development of transport refrigeration sector in South Africa.

The transport of perishable goods, mainly food stuffs, but also medicines, vaccines and flowers, requires refrigeration and insulated vehicles. Especially countries with high ambient temperatures have a growing demand for efficient and safe refrigerated transport. Currently, the available technologies for transport refrigeration systems in South Africa are inefficient units using refrigerants with high global warming potential (GWP) and having high leakage rates. Furthermore, the thermal performance of insulated vehicles being manufactured in emerging countries differs significantly from industrialized countries.
The Transport Refrigeration Project aims to improve the overall performance of transport refrigeration in South Africa: Efficient transport refrigeration systems for small and large trucks have been developed using the low-GWP hydrocarbon refrigerant R290. The establishment of a first testing facility on the African continent will enable industry players to measure and improve the thermal performance of refrigerated vehicle bodies.