SOCRATES – SophiA Online College for Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Thermal Energy Systems
SOCRATES trains technicians and young professionals to install, commission and maintain refrigeration and cooling systems, with a focus on natural refrigerants and solar-powered solutions for health facilities in Africa. It is led by Prof. Michael Kauffeld (Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences), coordinator of the SophiA project.
Fundamentals of Refrigeration-Level 1 Course
- 9 live online sessions on Alfaview, every Tuesday from 20 October to 15 December 2026
- 16:00–17:00 CET (14:00 GMT on 20 October, 15:00 GMT from 27 October)
- Weekly homework with individual feedback from SophiA-trained technicians
- No refrigeration background required
- Limited to 300 participants
👉 Register for the sessions here
COURSE PROGRAMME:
Understanding the vapour-compression cycle, system performance and safe practices
Purpose: build a solid understanding of how refrigeration systems work and how to reason safely when diagnosing faults.
Who it is for: working RAC technicians, trainees, trainers and technical professionals in Africa.
What you will learn
- Heat, temperature and pressure, including sensible and latent heat
- Phase change, saturation, superheat and subcooling
- How refrigerant flows through the four main components of the cycle
- How compressors, heat exchangers and expansion devices work
- Reading pressure–temperature and pressure–enthalpy diagrams, and estimating COP
- Refrigerant hazards, and the difference between theoretical training and practical authorisation
- Using operating data to propose safe preliminary diagnosed
Session plan
Here’s our nine-session outline that builds from physics to the full cycle, then to practice:
| # | Date | Topic | What it covers |
| 1 | 20 Oct | Explaining the physics: heat, temperature and pressure | Sensible vs. latent heat, units (°C, K, bar, kPa), gauge vs. absolute pressure. |
| 2 | 27 Oct | Refrigerants and phase change | Boiling point vs. pressure, saturation, superheat and subcooling, pressure–temperature charts. |
| 3 | 3 Nov | The cycle at a glance | The four main components and the refrigerant’s journey through the high and low sides. |
| 4 | 10 Nov | Compressors | Types (reciprocating, rotary, scroll), compression ratio, and what discharge temperature tells you. |
| 5 | 17 Nov | Condensers and evaporators | Heat rejection and absorption, airflow, and why high ambient temperatures matter in hot climates. |
| 6 | 24 Nov | Expansion devices | Capillary tubes, TXVs and EEVs, and how they control superheat. |
| 7 | 1 Dec | The pressure–enthalpy (p–h) diagram | Drawing the cycle; reading the refrigeration effect, compressor work and COP. |
| 8 | 8 Dec | Viable refrigerants today | HFCs vs. natural refrigerants (R290, R600a, CO₂), safety classes, flammability, the Kigali Amendment phase-down, TFA and other PFAS. |
| 9 | 15 Dec | Commissioning and diagnosing a refrigeration system | Safe handling of refrigerants, reading gauges, superheat and subcooling, and recognising undercharge, overcharge, restrictions and dirty coils, followed by a final quiz. |
Assessment and certificate
- Weekly quizzes: 30% of the final mark
- Applied case study (written interpretation of a realistic fault): 30%
- Final exam (multiple choice and short calculations): 40%
- To pass: at least 70% overall, at least 60% in the final exam, and attendance at 8 of the 9 sessions (or an approved catch-up using the recording). Safety-critical questions must be answered correctly.
- Certificate: a SOCRATES Certificate of Successful Completion for those who pass, and a certificate of attendance for those who complete the course without meeting the pass criteria.
Please note: this is a theoretical online course. The certificate is not a licence or an authorisation to install, charge, recover or service equipment that uses flammable or high-pressure refrigerants. That requires supervised hands-on training and any assessment required locally.
Coming next: an Advanced Refrigeration course on natural refrigerants from January 2027. Future courses may also cover solar energy systems and associated technologies, such as solar cooking.
SOCRATES is supported by the Fourfold Foundation, the SPF Institute for Solar Technology at OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, through SophiA Bridge and private donations.
Companies, associations and individuals can sponsor a single session or an entire course.
The first session is kindly donated by Alex and Marion Rodenberg from Hannover – two of Michael Kauffeld’s closest and longest-standing friends. 🙏🏻