News

Borrowing from a previous publication with equations for the pressure drop of two phase flow, a method of calculating critical flow was included in the article. All designers should become familiar with this because this is what causes reverse flow, such as happened at Millard Refrigerated and several other plants that experienced low temperature evaporators […]

I was recently asked by a news journalist what questions I would ask EPA if I had the opportunity. Not to steal their thunder, but this is what I would ask. Why are closed cycle refrigeration systems regulated under OSHA? Just because ammonia is a refrigerant does not make the refrigeration cycle a process by […]

The CSB issued a report on the Millard Refrigeration incident. In my opinion, it was incomplete, so I wrote comments to them, which I have listed below. I reviewed your recent article about the Millard ammonia incident. While I applaud the efforts of improving safety, I would like to provide additional information that may shed […]

Machinery Room ventilation is the first and most important design of an ammonia machinery room. Sadly, its geometry is often determined by an architect or general contractor that only thinks cost. Machinery Room location is paramount in terms of accomplishing good ventilation. In years past some of the dairies put Machinery Rooms in basements. It […]

As a charter member of IIAR, I can witness that it has taken a long time to get model codes (IMC) to recognize ANSI-IIAR 2 as a code for ammonia refrigeration.  I can remember when Hank Saye and I worked out the 1” valve bypass arrangement, and how skillfully Jeff Shapiro planned that that would […]

USDA – Honduras, August 2008 In August 2008, Mr. Bonar traveled with the USDA as a technical consultant to Puerto Cortes, Honduras. He inspected the port cold storage facility, and made recommendations to improve conditions and the frequent malady of “temperature abuse” in the cold storage industry. DAI – Serbia, April 2009 Mr. Bonar was […]

Over the years, we have helped develop a number of blast freezing systems. Most of these, known as “superblasts” (as in supercharge), originated from developments at Cassco, Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the early 1980’s. They were refined later at Wiscold (to then-CEO George Sayres’ credit), and have “evolved” substantially in many other facilities since. Traditional blast […]

Public refrigerated warehousing was the genesis of perishable food distribution. Prior to then, fresh or fresh frozen products were only available on a local basis. Because of the complexity of early refrigerated facilities, central major installations provided public needs with large efficient installations. Although today perishable space is shared (nearly) equally between private and public […]

We have had the recent opportunity to make visits to Russia and see firsthand what the refrigeration industry provides for perishable storage distribution. In addition to refrigerated facilities, refrigeration compressor manufacturing plants were visited. Having been a professional curiosity of Hank’s (Henry Bonar, II), the trip was indeed a rewarding experience, and one that has […]