It’s time for the boss to go back to school.
Lanier Technical College is hosting a refrigeration training conference this week, and students with many different job titles are learning the ins and outs of ammonia refrigeration.
Mark Blanchard, president and CEO of New Orleans Cold Storage, is one of the students getting hands-on training this week for nonoperating professionals. Several workers from his company in Louisiana have traveled to Oakwood for the training, so now he’s playing catch up.
“They know more than I do, so now I’ll know if they’re making something up,” he said with a laugh. “But really, it’s important to make sure you keep up to speed on everything you need in terms of training. With the government implementing more regulations on industries, it’s important for everyone to know how to properly handle ammonia and how to report the regulations.”
The college offers the only training program of its kind east of the Mississippi River. More than 5,000 students from 49 states have attended training during the past 10 years to learn that ammonia refrigerant is the most efficient way to provide
subfreezing food storage.
On the west side of campus, Lanier Tech operates three live
ammonia systems — one that cools the building, one for a blast freezer and one for ice manufacturing. It has a 5,000-square-foot engine room and the 20,000-square-foot innovation center, which has both classrooms and space that can be modularly converted to simulate the environment of a manufacturing plant.
“You don’t expect to see a full engine but rather desktop computers or video training,” said Lanier Tech Interim President Russell Vandiver. “The set up comes from the industry, and we think if you try to teach something, it has to be hands on.”
During the four-day workshop, attendees learn how to operate the three ammonia systems, and Lanier Tech teachers “bug” the systems for troubleshooting practice.
“We switch out a good fuse for a bad fuse, for example, and they have to figure out why the system won’t start,” said Royce Glenn, Lanier Tech director of continuing education. “It’s an intensive course, and the great thing is they haven’t hurt a thing. In an operating company, these glitches could cost $500,000, but here it’s just a frustration to figure out.”
Blanchard is vice chairman of the International Association for Refrigerated Warehouses, which has partnered with Lanier Tech for the past two years to offer the training. In February 2009, the education arm of the association — World Food Logistics Organization — began holding its annual training conference at the Georgia Institute of Technology. They began transporting members to Lanier Tech for refrigeration classes this February.
“The trick now in refrigeration is to reduce utility costs and improve safety,” Vandiver said. “We do both of those here, and the international association sends their students to us.”
Originally built in partnership with Georgia Tech in 1999, the refrigeration systems were created with local poultry industries in mind. Interest from other industries, such as the food storage operators and insurance underwriters, caused them to go in other directions with the training. “These are markets we’ve stumbled on, and we can provide specific classes for their businesses,” Vandiver said. “The relationships give us the ability to continue growing the program, even during the recession when interest from the poultry industry has slowed.”