Page 8 - Climate Control News August 2021

News
Apprenticeships at five year high
NEW DATA RELEASED by the federal gov- ernment shows Australia is in the midst of an apprenticeships boom with apprentice and trainee starts for the December quarter 2020 at a five-year high.
It is dramatically higher than the same quarter in 2019, pre-COVID.
The data, which was released last month, captures the first quarter of the government’s Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy.
It shows apprenticeship commencements for the December quarter 2020 increased by 141.5 per cent compared with the December quarter 2019 (October to December).
The total number of apprentices and train- ees in-training was 297,920, an increase of 13.9 per cent from 31 December 2019.
Both trade and non-trade commencements increased from the December 2019 quarter by 123.5 per cent and 155.3 per cent respectively.
The largest absolute increase among trade occupations was in construction trade work- ers with numbers increasing by 4,510.
Among non-trade occupations, the largest increase was in clerical and administrative workers with an increase of 8,820.
The significant surge in apprenticeship com- mencements contrasts with the experience of previous economic downturns in Australia.
The National Centre for Vocational Educa- tion Research previously found the appren- ticeship and traineeship system experienced a considerable shock and sharp decline in commencements during the second half of 2008 and the first half of 2009 as a result of the Global Financial Crisis.
Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Stuart Rob- ert, said the figures cement the fact the feder- al government is securing Australia’s future workforce through supporting a new genera- tion of apprentices.
Apprenticeship commencements for the December quarter 2020 increased by 141.5 per cent.
Redesigned plate boosts energy efficiency
ALFA LAVAL HAS released the T10 which has been built with an entirely redesigned plate con- cept to boost energy efficiency and sustainability.
It also reduces total cost of ownership thanks to a smaller footprint and reduced mainte- nance needs.
T10 is the successor to the long-selling M10 in Alfa Laval’s industrial line of plate-and-frame heat exchangers.
Like its predecessor, the T10 has an extremely versatile design, suitable for a wide array of heat- ing, ventilation, air conditioning, cooling and re- frigeration (HVACR) applications in virtually all types of industries.
Built with a revolutionary new plate concept, T10 eliminates the compromise between effi- ciency and pressure drop. With the improved de- sign, customers can better accommodate une- ven flows, making it possible to optimise the performance of the heat exchanger according to its specific position in the processes.
T10’s new plate concept is the major update from the previous generation. With the new FlexFlowTM plate design feature, T10 units can be configured more precisely without compro- mising between thermal performance and pres- sure drop.
FlexFlow enables as many as ten channel combinations using only two plates. This is made possible by Alfa Laval’s next-generation plate alignment system, SteerLock which en- sures perfect plate positioning, regardless of whether the plates are configured symmetrically or asymmetrically.
In addition to preventing leaks or damage to the plates during assembly, SteerLock also makes
the service process easier, since removing and reassembling the plates during maintenance goes more quickly.
With the added efficiency of FlexFlow and other next-generation innovations, such as the CurveFlow distribution area and OmegaPort noncircular port holes, T10 can provide thermal performance equivalent to earlier models within a significantly reduced footprint.
The new CompactFrame feature minimises the overall size of the unit, allowing for smaller service areas as well as simplified, faster mainte- nance procedures.
TOP: Alfa Laval’s headquarters in Australia. ABOVE: T10 is the successor to the M10.
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