ITS Vice Chancellor IV Bambang Pramujati ST MSc Eng PhD (center) with representatives from ministries and parties involved in cooperation around reefer technology development

ITS Campus, ITS News – The need for refrigerated containers (reefer) or refrigerated containers in the industry is currently increasing. To meet these needs, PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Persero) or Pelni and PT Industri Kereta Api (Persero) or INKA collaborated with the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) to develop reefer technology in the logistics sector.

According to Bambang Pramujati ST MSc Eng PhD, Deputy Chancellor IV for Research, Innovation, Cooperation, and ITS Alumni, this relationship was spurred by Pelni’s rising need for reefer needs. Therefore, the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) and the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) took the initiative to encourage universities to develop technology and the Domestic Content Level (TKDN) of reefer.

Through this opportunity, Bambang continued, ITS is increasingly showing its enthusiasm to continue contributing nationally in providing benefits to society and industry. This contribution itself comes in several ways, such as the application of technology from existing research, research and development of new technologies, education and training, to the provision of technical assistance in this field.

These improvements are made to produce reefers that offer a number of benefits but are still affordable. One of them is the incorporation of materials into specific developed-side elements. “When choosing the material, we also take into account one of the findings of study by ITS lecturers who employ composite materials that are more weather-resistant in containers.”, he said

Additionally, the refrigeration system has both phase change material and a vapor compression mechanism (PCM). This seeks to increase the reefer’s ability to utilize 20 to 30 percent less energy than traditional reefers. Additionally, the usage of the internet of things (IoT), which aims to regulate the cooling system and track the temperature of reefer containers, supports this.

Later, increasing domestically produced goods will also be accomplished through the ITS cooperation plan with Pelni and INKA. The assistance of the ITS research team, which has prior experience in creating the technology utilized in the creation of these goods, further supports this.

(from left) Assistant Deputy for Technology and Information at the Ministry of SOE Muhammad Rizal Kamal, ITS Deputy Chancellor IV Bambang Pramujati ST MSc Eng PhD, PT INKA (Persero) Development Director Ir Agung Sedaju MT, PT PELNI (Persero) Director of Sea Freight and Toll Road Business ) Yossianis Marciano, Assistant Deputy of Maritime Resources Downstream of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs Amalyos Chan after signing the memorandum of understanding

This two-year partnership will feature a research team made up of ITS instructors from diverse academic fields. He added, “Starting with instructors from the Departments of Marine Systems Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering, and System and Industrial Engineering.

Bambang hopes that this collaboration can also increase the reefer product’s Domestic Content Level (TKDN). “This collaboration is one of the challenges as well as an opportunity to increase the TKDN of the products being developed,” he concluded optimistically.

The collaboration between ITS with Pelni and INKA itself was inaugurated through the signing of a memorandum of understanding or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was carried out offline, last Thursday (21/7). (ITS PR)

Reporter: Ricardo Hokky Wibisono