Equipment Upgrade for Australia’s Six Collins Class Submarines

Outcomes at a Glance
• Alternate major equipment selected to replace ageing obsolescent components
• Performance increase achieved, exceeding the required amount by over 50%
• Increased food safety levels on board the submarines by reducing the risk of spoiled frozen and chilled food
• Retrofit commercial off the shelve components into existing physical spaces • Support ASC with the successful creation of a world class solution

Australia’s six Collins Class submarines were constructed by ASC in Adelaide, South Australia between 1990 and 2003. These submarines present a unique capability to the Royal Australian Navy and are considered to be one of the best conventionally powered class of submarines in the world.

Ongoing operational readiness is achieved by through-life maintenance and equipment upgrades to cope with changing mission profiles and advances in counter submarine technology.

ASC asked Cold Logic to become an engineering and deployment partner during a recent equipment upgrade in their commissary refrigeration space.
The key challenges were to replace obsolescent refrigeration equipment, increase the system performance and change the refrigerant so as to be in line with the Australian Government’s commitment to the global phase down of harmful refrigeration gases. This was to be achieved whilst not exceeding existing power requirements and retrofit into the existing space.
After suitable replacement equipment was selected by Cold Logic and under the watchful eye of the ASC personnel, Cold Logic undertook the same tests using a custom built rig at their facilities, as required by ASC during the commissioning process of the submarines.

Not only has Cold Logic designed and engineered a refrigeration solution for the Collins Class, they have also utilitised its skills in paramount projects to install using Cold Logic’s highly adept trades people

“Cold Logic were able to use their refrigeration expertise to assess the existing capability and identify and implement upgrades to significantly enhance performance, reliability and supportability. Cold Logic’s test and validation program demonstrated an efficiency improvement significantly above the required threshold, and we look forward to deploying the solution across all six submarines. ” – Andrew Edwards, ASC

“Cold Logic were able to develop and trade off practical solutions based on a detailed specification to allow implementation in a short time frame.”- Jamal Zadeh , ASC Project Engineer and Manager for this project.