ECCJ held training in Brazil to support Brazil in the promotion of improvements for introduction of CSPF by Brazilian government for evaluating energy efficiency performance of air conditioners
<Training oveseas>
The Energy Conservation Center, Japan (ECCJ) has been implementing the “Project on Energy Conservation Promotion for Energy-intensive Industries and Equipment” since 2019 as the EE&C capacity building program under entrustment with financial support of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE). The project has been established and implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME).
Regarding the program of energy conservation promotion for equipment, the training to contribute to the capacity development in order to support the smooth enforcement of the Ordinance No. 269 of 2021 (*1) which will introduce the Cooling Seasonal Performance Factor (CSPF) for the energy efficiency performance evaluations of air conditioners was held at the testing laboratory in the Electrical Energy Research Center (CEPEL) for Brazilian relevant institutions in December 2022.
(*1) The Brazilian National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology (INMETRO) of the Ministry of Economy has enforced the Ordinance since the end of 2022.
The training in Brazil was held in cooperation with the Japan Air Conditioning And Refrigeration Testing Laboratory (JATL) as Training of Trainers (TOT) to contribute to the capacity development required for the enforcement of the Ordinance which will introduce ISO 16358-1 CSPF. This time, the second TOT was implemented for the 21 leading persons (herein after referred to as the “1st trainers”) who completed the first TOT comprising lectures and practical training. The purpose of the second TOT was to verify the improvements identified through the first TOT and realized by the 21 leading persons.
●Improvements were verified as to the testing accuracy of the energy efficiency performance for the master air conditioner (M-AC) at the testing laboratories in CEPEL and Specialized Electric-Electronic Laboratories (LABELO PUCRS), which are the core testing institutes. New technical issues which affect the testing results were found through the face-to-face activities held in Brazil, more specific improvement measures were discussed, and the knowledge and information required for taking the measures were clarified. These resulted in specifying the contents of the training workshop to be held in Japan in February 2023 . (Eight participants out of the 21 1st trainers are invited.)
●The capacities of the Brazilian 1st trainers were further enhanced through the activities above. A draft plan for the third TOT, which provides a basis of the TOT to be implemented continuously by the leading persons in the future, was also discussed. Based on the results of the discussions, the plan to hold the training workshop in Japan in February 2023 was confirmed, and the preparation for the training workshop has been advanced.
●The related ordinances were also developed from the institutional aspect, and it was confirmed that these ordinances described above would be enforced from December 31, 2022.
[Implementation Details]
Three experts from ECCJ and JATL were dispatched to CEPEL in Rio de Janeiro, and they implemented the second TOT held during the period from December 12 to 16, 2022. In addition, preparations were made for the training workshop to be held in Japan in February 2023. This was the first face-to-face activity since the start of the project in 2019, and it was completed without problem by taking comprehensive COVID-19 infection prevention measures.
Implementation of the second TOT
The second TOT was implemented and advice was given in a face-to-face format for the targeting 13 participants including the eight of the 21 1st trainers who completed the first TOT and the related persons from CEPEL. The second TOT was held following the first TOT to verify the improvement in the testing accuracy based on the improvements completed in the testing laboratories of the core Brazilian testing institutes in the two locations, which was confirmed online in September 2022. Practical training to measure the energy efficiency performance of the M-AC again in each laboratory was conducted by the 1st trainers who had completed the first TOT. This time, the second TOT was implemented in CEPEL with the participation of the leading persons from CEPEL, INMETRO and LABELO PUCRS. In accordance with ISO 16358-1 CSPF, guidance and advice with checking were given through the practical training ranging from installation of the M-AC, performance measurements of the half capacity and full capacity to the disassembly and the post treatment of the M-AC. In addition, the measurement results and analysis details were discussed and verified, and issues were clarified. Although the good
figures were obtained in the results, the possibility that the energy balance including the measurement in of the calory meter type testing equipment was not appropriately evaluated was found through conducting the advice and checks. Because it was pointed out that this could adversely affect the testing results, the necessary improvement measures were discussed.
Going forward, practicable improvements will be made based on confirmation and discussions of the factors influencing the mathematical formulas by CEPEL and performance measurement tests will be implemented again in January 2023. Meanwhile, LABELO PUCRS will also proceed to make further improvements through the discussions and knowledge gained this training, and will make the M-AC’s performance measurements again in February using the air enthalpy type testing equipment.
Preparations for the “Training Workshop in Japan” held in February 2023
In addition to the participants in the training workshop in Japan, which includes persons who participated in the second TOT held in CEPEL, the persons responsible at relevant institutions such as MME also took part in the meeting also by jointly using an online measures. In the meeting, both the progress of the preparations for the training workshop in Japan and the preparation details going forward were confirmed.
●The draft plan for the third TOT, which was discussed beforehand with the second TOT participants at CEPEL, was shared and discussed further with the online participants. The third TOT should be the basis of the TOT to be implemented continuously by the leading persons especially by the 1st trainers in Brazil.
●Instructions and guidance were given regarding the plan for the training workshop in Japan and the preparation of the country report, etc., which the Brazilian participants should prepare for the training workshop .
●Additionally, the details of the preparations required for traveling to Japan were confirmed. They covered the immigration procedures including the Japanese quarantine conditions.
Discussions of the TOT draft plan for future activities
Discussions were held based on a proposal from the Japanese side of the TOT draft plan which should be continuously implemented by the Brazilian relevant institutions and related persons focused on the 21 leading persons who have completed the TOT until now. Specifically, the third TOT draft plan, which becomes the basis for the continuous TOT, was deliberated. The details were considered with the persons actually undertaking the work who took part in the discussions. On the other hand, the point was confirmed that priority should be placed on deciding the institute responsible for the TOT implementation and on conducting discussions and gaining agreement inside CEPEL and LABELO PUCRS, which are considered as the institutes for implementing the TOT.
During the activities described above, the Consul General and Consul from the Consulate General of Japan in Rio de Janeiro visited CEPEL to conduct interchanges with CEPEL staff and make a survey visit to the research facilities, supported by the responsible persons from the CEPEL including the Director General. Based on information about our ECCJ-JATL team’s activities for the TOT in CEPEL, the Consul General and Consul decided to visit CEPEL during the activity period also for the purpose of meeting with the team. We were able to conduct interchanges with the Consul General and his party while accompanying the Consul General and Consul on part of their survey visit to the research facilities.
A media release by CEPEL on December 29, 2022 described the visit of the Consul General and his party, introduced the Japan-Brazil Cooperation Program in Energy Efficiency, and described the activities that were implemented by ECCJ/JATL in the second TOT. More details (in Portuguese) can be accessed from the URL below.
Photographs of the activity
Kick-off meeting held at CEPEL
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Implementation of the 2nd TOT (Practice to measure energy efficiency performance of the M-AC) |
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Condition confirmation, etc. of the outdoor and, indoor units and sampling piping installation |
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Measurement mode (half capacity) setting and testing |
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| Analysis and discussions regarding the test results |