Missing in Action
So we now have a new pack of Ministers and Deputy Ministers and various other government appointments.
At least that may signify an awareness that the performance and delivery have not been acceptable by those
who have been removed en masse, but it alternatively may be another bout of jobs for the party favourites. It
is a mystery how the selection process works. Is experience in the work area of the ministry one of the met-
rics for selection?
N
ormally in the process of appoint- with politically correct appointments. Replicate
ing new resources, one would this across so many activities and it explains the
take account of qualifications, slide to mediocrity and lack of effective action in
experience and a degree of so many areas.
environmental and psychometric fit to the Recently someone asked me, why do we want to train
position. Would it be too much to request up lots of engineering resources into the economy?
the President to publish the CVs of the new After all, if supply and demand are to drive the
appointments as well as the performance dynamic, then if we as engineering resources want
criteria that will be applied? to earn more - our “better life for us” so to speak
All under control? - then let’s keep the numbers down. Why create our
The last two Ministers of Water Affairs own oversupply? My own answer to that is when
extolled their assurance that all was under the industry’s growth and the infrastructure’s sup-
control in the water world in South Africa. port needs are threatened then I guess we all fall
Chris Reay Either the public are victims of intentional down together. There is a balance and if we do not
Chairman of the Working anti-government sentiment by the media develop our own resources we will finish up having
Committee: Communications and other exposure platforms about the to import them at astronomical cost.
(SA Institution of Mechanical
condition of our water resources, or the Watch and learn
Engineering)
Ministers were seriously out of touch with Study the demands of foreign skills in Rand terms
reality. The reader is left to decide on this. especially those who have optimised the benefits
I trust the current Minister of Energy is still confident of being internationally mobile. You may want
that 10 000GWh per annum of installed renewable to find out what the expats working on many of
energy capacity is achievable by 2013. Eskom’s projects are costing South Africa. Watch
The skills and expertise that existed were replaced with and learn, they say. And out there as I mentioned
in my last note, we have many early retired Engi-
politically correct appointments
neers, Technologists and Technicians who would
be quite capable of using their past experience on
Decline in skills power projects and who are being overlooked. The
In South Africa right now a most serious problem is
mind boggles.
a steady decline in the skills across the board and it
is not fixed by suddenly declaring OBE to have been Consumption grew at double the rate of production
a dismal failure. That is certainly a major factor but between 1994 and 2008. It now takes 36% fewer
added to this root cause of the deterioration of maths workers to produce the same level of output we had
and science standards at primary and secondary level, in 1960. More automation follows world trends,
is the continued loss of useful skills across the full ably assisted here by South Africa’s inflexible labour
spectrum. In this mix are the skills to set policy and laws, BEE, poor training and little mentorship. Un-
implement strategy (ministers included). skilled unemployment must inevitably go on rising
and I believe it will be greater in 2014 than half the
A further recent discovery is the parlous state of
present numbers as forecast by government.
our intellectual property laws. We used to be at the
forefront of the modern requirements for addressing It’s an intellectual world, the world of the Engineer.
and modifying these laws with rapidly changing There is certainly room for many more of us and
technology. An observation recently compared the we may be the essential catalyst to help reduce
deterioration here with that of our secondary roads our horrific unemployment statistic.
— neglect of maintenance until potholes develop
and the journey then becomes unpleasant and in
fact dangerous. The reason? Not difficult to find. All
the skills and expertise that existed and should be
utilised to keep ahead of the game were replaced
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Portfolios: The guest speaker for the evening was Bernie Goosen,
Communications .............................................. CD Reay (Chris) an inspirational young man, who despite his dis-
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Education: Universities of Technology............... E Zawilska (Ewa) how willing he is to try anything. He was the first
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Guest speaker President of ICMEESA,
Bernie Goosen. Obed Letsholo and his
wife, Lerato
Dr Mukul Shukla with his wife Ruchi with Peter Stachelhaus and
his wife Udri
A City Afloat
T
his makes This involves computing buoyancy, displacement
the task and other hydrostatic properties including hydrody-
of naval namics such as the flow of water around the ship’s
architects hull, bow, stern and over bodies such as propeller
a huge one. Not blades and the rudder.
only do they have
to consider the Empty or full
latest equipment “Ultimately, however, the environment on a vessel
Riaan Grebe, chief draughtsman (left) and Pieter and technology in has to be suitable for cargo as well as humans, in
Volschenk of Naval Africa Design utility equipment essence creating a small city in a hull,” explains
specific to ships, but they also have to keep track Pieter. “Besides all the necessary utility requirements
of the latest ship building technologies as far as for humans, the type of cargo being transported can
materials, paints, drive trains, electronics and legal become a very complex factor in the design. If, for
safety requirements are concerned. “SA Mechanical example, the ship is transporting fresh produce,
Engineer” visits one of South Africa’s well-known just one banana going bad during the voyage can
naval architects, Pieter Volschenk, at Naval Africa’s spoil the entire load.
headquarters in Durban harbour. “On the other hand, in designing a tug boat, the
variation changes completely and the main design
Get right in terms of flow dynamics around the hull consideration here is to cater for a vessel that has
the capacity to carry a load of a hundred tonnes of
More than just shapes fuel,” he adds. “You also have to ensure it’s stable
“Ship design is not only about shape and form; enough to operate equally well when fully loaded
there are functional parameters you simply have as when empty and pulling something big. Tipping
to get right in terms of flow dynamics around the over is not an option.”
hull in relation to weight distribution in order to be
seaworthy,” Pieter says. “Specific hydrostatic prop- Emphasis shifts
erties have to be met concerning conditions which In terms of design, there are basic principles to
the vessel is subjected to while at rest in water and follow whether for a small boat or a large vessel.
while afloat under various conditions. Thus a tug boat is just another vessel when it comes
B
ag-filters on smaller boilers of this size • Coal bed management reduces smoke and
have thus far not been economically viable particulate emissions
as the bags were subject to temperature
• Digital air distribution reducing boiler attendant
constraints. By using glass bags with a
combustion errors
PTFE membrane and ensuring the plant operates
within the design parameters John Thompson was • PLC - based optimum control strategy
able to develop a system which not only meets the • Inverters replace inherently inaccurate
requirements but also offers the durability demanded mechanical linkages
by industrial plant.
• Inverters reduce power consumption and noise
Not only meet the requirements but also offers the levels under low load conditions
durability demanded by industrial plant • Option for multi-loading boilers via
local communication
The steam installation comprises a John Thompson • Superior response and turndown
“Europac” boiler producing 10 000 kg/h of steam ratio
at 10bar with a particulate emission guaranteed • Stoker protected by electronic
at 50mg/m3 or less. The boiler is also fitted with a torque detection
mechanical cyclone grit-arrestor for by-passing the
bagfilter during start-up & maintenance periods. • UPS ensures orderly shutdown
The gas burden at the cyclone arrestor outlet is during power outages
approximately 300 mg/m3. The bulk of the ash is Bearing fruit
removed from inside the boiler via a submerged Consider this; if the Micropac system
belt ash conveyor and smaller airborne grits can improve boiler efficiency by
are removed automatically in the reversal about 10% it means a 2,5 ton
chamber where the gas velocity drops of coal saving per day or 75 tons
before the second gas pass. per month which at R 500/ ton
equates to R35 000 per month
or roughly R400 000 per an-
num. This however is only the
10 000 kg/h coal-fired boiler complete with bag filter, coal handling equipment
and ash conveyors
direct fuel cost saving. By burning less fuel, the on improved coal combustion and control which
emission levels are also reduced, as is electricity is now bearing fruit. With the addition of the new
demand and fuel for transporting coal and ash to smaller size bag filter system to reduce particulate
and from site. emission the argument for coal as a fuel source for
With the resources available and the cost of fuel industrial boilers has just become stronger.
today we can accept the fact that coal is here to stay, More on the bag filter
with this in mind John Thompson has for the last By isolating the bag filter plant from the gas stream
number of years focused its development programme during the start-up and shut down operations,
thus passing the gas stream through the bypass
duct to the stack or/and passing the gas through
the bypass duct when the gas temperature drops
below the low temperature set point, acid forming
and consequent damage to the bags and severe
corrosion problems of the mild steel components
will be prevented. The equipment design is based
on a continuous operating temperature of 194°C
with minor fluctuations. To further protect the bags
against acid, the bags must be pre-coated with lime
before every start-up procedure
Although the equipment installed in this instance
will only be able to collect particulate and will
not remove SO2 or NO2 gases, the system can be
adapted to incorporate a Flue Gas Desulpherisation
system if required at a later stage.
Bag filter
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As Good As New
Why buy new when a good second-hand one will do? This awaits his experienced eye. “Provided a used boiler
is the philosophy on which Louw van Vuuren has based his is inspected by the right authorities properly, there
business for the past thirty years; the business of servicing, is no reason it cannot be refurbished to deliver
refurbishing, rebuilding, relocating and converting used steam another decade or two of reliable service,” he says.
generating boilers for customers across Southern Africa. “Even old boilers that have been scrapped still have
a place in industry, even if they’re used purely to
S
warm up water.”
A Mechanical Engineer” speaks to Louw of
the Boiler Utilisation Group in a coffee shop
in Vereeniging as his office is on the road, Thick pack of dog-eared pages that have
usually to where the next second-hand boiler seen better days
The list
Louw arrives at the coffee shop with a thick pack
of dog-eared pages that have seen better days
under his arm, explaining that it is an old list the
government compiled in the sixties to list all the
boilers installed in South Africa. “The list has 6
054 boilers, where they were installed at the time,
the make, capacity, a government number and the
manufacturer’s identification code,” he explains.
“This list helps me to trace the history of a boiler
when I come across a used one that’s up for sale.
A boiler tends to move around quite a bit during its
life, but usually it still has the government number
on it and then I can cross-reference it against the
list to see its original specifications and where it
was installed originally.”
Inspection
But this is not the only criteria Louw bases his
Louw van Vuuren of Boiler Ultilisation Group inspection on when evaluating a used boiler.
“Firstly I always try to get
the prospective buyer to
join me on site to see the
boiler first-hand. Then
either the client or I will
have the wall thickness
of the boiler drum tested
by an independent official
inspector to make sure it
can be refurbished,” he
explains. “Then I do my own
inspection on the furnace
side and most importantly
on the water side of the
boiler installation.
“People often make the
mistake of not looking at
the water side thoroughly
and if this is neglected
and clogged up, the boiler
simply won’t perform as it
should,” adds Louw. “The
water treatment side of
boiler operation is as crucial
Louw’s pack of sheets that help trace the history of boilers
Disasters
In Louw’s thirty years he has seen his fair Third party inspection is important for used boiler upgrading
share of boiler disasters. “An instance I
remember well was in Pietermaritzburg
where a ten tonne boiler got blocked up
and exploded,” he recalls. “It spat the
stoker out like a projectile and at the
same time tore itself from its foundation
to ‘walk’ the other way several metres,
killing two people.
“Another one from my younger days was
where the shell of an upright boiler shot
through the roof of the building like a
rocket and landed on a house down
the road. They’d forgotten to free the
mechanism on a new safety valve that
had been installed, resulting in the steam
building up pressure without anywhere
to go and the shell just gave way.
Assurance
“Boilers are pressure vessels made to
exacting specifications, but it’s something
you never take chances with, especially
when it comes to used boilers,” warns
Louw. “For this very reason I always tell
prospective buyers to go the extra mile
of having the wall thickness of the boiler
shell measured and tested by an official
third party inspection entity before buy- Boilers rarely get witten off completely
ing. If the buyer won’t do it at his or her cost, we
add the price of the boiler inspection to our fee for
our own assurance.”
Very rarely does a boiler get written off completely they use a lot of warm water for heating during
which means that of the 6 054 boilers on Louw’s winter. Although the farmers always heckle about
list, most are probably still functioning somewhere the price, it’s much cheaper to buy an old boiler
in South Africa, albeit not as a pressure vessel. than having one built for this purpose.”
“When a boiler is written off by the authorities as Louw van Vuuren, Boiler Utilisation Group, Tel: (016)
a steam generator I sell them as water warmers,” 423-3665, or 072-298-8382, Fax: (016) 423- 4275
he says. “They are very popular for nurseries where
John Rundle
H
Chris Erasmus eading the new company is managing “Besides being an official reseller of Cyclotherm
director John Rundle, previously from boilers, we can now provide a full turnkey steam
Cyclotherm in Johannesburg. “Cyclotherm solution, from the coal handling systems through to
and I came to an agreement for me to the boiler, reticulation systems and even providing
purchase from it as a going concern the servicing kitchen equipment, for example.”
and installation divisions, hence the formation of Professional team
our new company Steam Generation Africa, Cy- All the products are supported by a professional
clotherm is now only focused on manufacturing,” team offering the client base a range of cost effective
he explains. after-sales services which includes statutory govern-
A steam installation has to be undertaken by specialists ment inspection services and service maintenance
who have experience contracts. “A key addition to our team, specifically
for the coal fired boilers, is general manager, Chris
“This means Steam Generation Africa retains a Erasmus, who has extensive experience in all as-
well-established client base in terms of servicing pects of coal fired boilers and steam reticulation
equipment originally bought through Cyclotherm. systems,” says John as he introduces Chris.
However, it has now given us the opportunity to “This opened the market for us to widen our of-
extend our service to other areas such as coal fired fering to cover coal, gas, heavy and light oil fired
boiler applications, an aspect we seldom covered boiler systems. We’re also a certified Natural Gas
previously.” installation practitioner which allows us to tender
“Collectively we pride ourselves on having over 40 for Natural Gas Line Installations and enable us to
years’ experience in the company and we’re well issue a Certificate of Compliance directly to clients.”
geared to sell and service a full range of boilers,
autoclaves and hot water vessels,” adds John.
New regulations
Because boilers are considered pressure vessels
for regulatory purposes, the rules have changed brigade’ installers to set up steam reticulation
and there is absolutely no cutting corners when it systems or service boilers.
comes to steam installations and reticulation. “Today “The biggest mistake people generally make in
you need approved design drawings and calcula- terms of steam systems is to use installers who just
tions, inspection authorities are directly involved don’t get it right because they simply don’t have the
and when you start dealing at this level, a steam experience,” says Chris. “Let me give an example;
installation has to be undertaken by specialists who a big company recently called me in to help with
have experience,” says Chris. a boiler they’ve been battling with for over a year.
“Today large installations, like prisons for example, We immediately found the problem and fixed it,
saving them 65% on coal consumption a month
The biggest mistake people make in terms of steam due to small errors in the installation.
systems is to use installers who don’t have the Example
experience “First of all the coal did not burn out completely,
resulting in half-burnt coal going to the ash dump
require service providers who can handle service
and their having to dump an excessive amount
and maintenance as an ongoing project where you
of ash,” adds Chris. “In addition the client had
not only look after the steam installation, but also
frequent chain breaks due to the incorrect heat
all electrical and mechanical systems at the facility.
distribution of coal not burning completely. To top
I’ve operated this way for a number of years and it’s
it all, the fans were running in the wrong direction.
a service we can now offer all our clients.”
We fixed this, fine-tuned the boiler and not only
Do it right brought about the saving in coal usage, but there
As steam is one of the most expensive commodities hasn’t been a very expensive chain break since.
around, steam systems should be done correctly Also, instead of emptying the bins daily, they now
from the beginning, not only to comply with the new only do it every four days.”
regulations, but also to avoid unnecessary expense John Rundle or Chris Erasmus, Steam Generation Africa,
when a system has to be fixed or upgraded at a Tel: (011) 695-2500, Email: john@steamgeneration.co.za
later stage. Yet, many companies still use ‘bakkie /chris@steamgeneration.co.za
Global Harmonisation
Certification of NDT Personnel in accordance with the require- The requirements for certification have however
ments of applicable standards has been with us since the very essentially remained the same, in that the train-
early days of performing NDT. ing, examination and certification requirements to
which the NDT practitioners will be subjected to
T
assure that they are equipped to perform the NDT
he first document to control the certification
work are addressed and documented.
process was the ASNT Recommended Practice
SNT-TC 1A issued for the first time in 1966 The Recommended Practice SNT-TC-1A formed
by the American Society for NDT (ASNT). the basis for all the subsequent documents which
This document was and still is a recommended address the qualification and certification of NDT
practice, ie, a document which recommends the personnel. These documents and standards include
actions which two parties must take to assure that NAS 410, EN 4179, EN 473 and ISO 9712 among
the NDT on projects is performed to the satisfac- others. Because of this background, all these docu-
tion of the two parties ie, the client and the NDT ments aim to achieve the same goal, which is to
service provider. The document which then outlines assure that NDT practitioners can competently
the specific requirements for the certification is perform the task at hand.
referred to as a Written Practice and usually forms Unfortunate situation
part of the quality system for a project. Within a professional manufacturer’s in-house
environment this system worked, and still does
It is the employer’s responsibility, prior to issue of the
work, adequately. Unfortunately with the advent of
authorisation to work, to check that an individual’s outsourced NDT services, the system was abused
certification is adequate in that the so-called NDT service companies paid
lip service in compiling a single written practice
Revised and reissued to govern all the NDT work which the company
Since 1966 SNT-TC-1A has been revised and offered as a service.
reissued 11 times, Whereas the 1966 document
addressed 5 methods, viz. Magnetic Particle Test- This led to the unfortunate situation that paper
ing (MT), Penetrant Testing (PT), Ultrasonic Testing certification to the written practice became more
(UT), Radiographic Testing (RT) and Eddy Current important than the responsibility which the service
Testing (ET), the 2006 version addresses 13 NDT company has viz. to assure that the NDT practitioners
methods ie, MT, PT, UT, RT, ET as in the past plus in their employ are competent to perform the specific
Neutron Radiographic Testing (NRT), Leak Testing work on a client’s plant and components.
(LT), Acoustic Emission Monitoring (AEM), Visual Biggest abuse
Testing (VT), Infrared Thermographic Testing (IRT), The biggest abuse however, lay in the fact that the
Vibration Analyses (VA), Laser Testing and Magnetic NDT Level III practitioner only performed rubber
Flux Leakage (MFL). stamping activities like keeping the written practice
and the procedures in place and “up to date”. Gen-
erally, if a NDT Level III practitioner was involved
at all, he did not take responsibility for the NDT
work, and did not vouch for the competence of the
NDT personnel performing the work. An additional
problem was that the users of the NDT service did
not have the competence in-house to control this
process, contributing to the impasse.
Against this background, the requirement for em-
ployer authorisation, which was included in ISO
9712 and EN 473 should be understood. Point
5.5.3 in ISO 9712 states:
“In respect of certified personnel under their control,
the employer shall
a) be fully responsible for all that concerns the
authorization to operate, including any job-spe-
cific training,
The Saint annual award of the H, Rohloff Trophy for progress in NDT was b) be responsible for the results of NDT opera-
this year presented to Manfred Johannes, current president of Saint (right),
tions.”
by Rainer Rohloff at the Annual general meeting held in Pretoria
These requirements place the responsibility for responsible for all the NDT standards in ISO – the
the NDT work squarely into the hands of the NDT following decision was tabled and accepted:
Company, something which was intended by SNT- “Notwithstanding the detail differences between
TC-1A but not unambiguously stated. the present versions of ISO 9712 and EN 473,
Auditable training records the competence of NDT personnel certified ac-
With the advent of Company Authorisation, the cording to these standards is considered effectively
requirement for auditable training records and equivalent.
documented experience becomes less important, as It is the employer’s responsibility, prior to issue
the suitability of a particular NDT practitioner for a of the authorisation to work, to check that an
job and the competence of the NDT practitioner is individual’s certification (EN 473 or ISO 9712) and
now fully within the ambit and professional judge- any additional employer administered job-specific
ment of the employer of the NDT practitioner. This training and examination are adequate for the NDT
role will require that NDT Level III practitioners tasks to be executed.
will have to be much closer to the NDT work; one
cannot take “full” responsibility for the NDT results ICNDT and EFNDT are requested to dispatch this
remotely or at arm’s length. recommendation to their members and to publish
it in their journal.” At this stage ASNT have not
fully endorsed this, however it is hoped that they
Places the responsibility in no uncertain terms back with will come aboard at the next meeting scheduled
the NDT company for Houston.
Take responsibility
Worldwide harmonisation This statement places the responsibility for assuring
With this new understanding, the various certification the competency of NDT practitioners in no uncertain
schemes have realised that worldwide harmonisation terms back with the NDT company. The Authorisa-
is possible. Indeed during an ISO TC 135 committee tion of NDT Practitioners by the employing company
meeting in June 2010 in Moscow – ISO TC 135 is is now much more than just a paper exercise. The
company must have competent and professional
individuals in their employ who understand the
science of NDT, can assure the adequacy of the
methods and techniques to be employed and can
take responsibility for the NDT results produced.
At this stage this would fall under the role a NDT
Level 111 practitioner has to perform.
At this ISO TC 135 meeting it was also resolved
that ISO 9712 be revised, together with the inputs
from CEN TC 138, and that the revised document
be issued as a CEN/ISO Standard. This is a step in
the right direction, ie the reduction in the number
of standards and documents which all have the
same aim: The assurance that the NDT system
(equipment, procedures and personnel) is suitable
and effective for the task at hand.
Unique situation
South Africa, via SAINT, endorses this move. Has
been, and will continue to be involved very closely,
including having our local schemes included in the
system. Industry in South Africa is in a unique situa-
tion as they use all the above schemes. Additionally
we, through some of our major end users, are well
advanced with requiring the NDT supplier, using
their NDT Level 111 practitioner to authorise the
NDT personnel and to take technical responsibility
for the NDT outputs. Another proposed benefit will
be the local control (under ISO and ICNDT) of all the
different, hopefully conforming, schemes, thereby
avoiding repeat expensive overseas auditing.
Any queries in this regard, or additional information re-
quired, can be directed to Manfred Johannes – President
SAINT, email: president@saint.org.za
Whipping up a
Produced by:
PROMECH PUBLISHING,
P O Box 373, Pinegowrie, 2123
Republic of South Africa
Solar Factory
Tel: (011) 781-1401
Fax: (011) 781-1403
Email: editorial@promech.co.za
Website: www.promech.co.za
Managing Editor Susan Custers To be able to compete, photovoltaics manufacturers have to develop large
Editor Kowie Hamman production capacities fast and produce efficiently. Upstream suppliers help
Advertising Pauline Bouwer
Circulation Catherine Macdiva them to expand by offering complete, turnkey lines that they install and run in
DTP Zinobia Docrat/Sean Bacher in a short period of time while guaranteeing their output; and the industry is
Disclaimer
only too pleased to accept these turnkey installations.
PROMECH Publishing does not
take responsibility for the
opinions expressed by individuals.
Printed by:
Typo Colour Printing
Tel: (011) 402-3468/9
Copyright
All rights reserved. No edi-
torial matter published in
“Power Generation Today”
may be reproduced in any
C
form or language without
written permission of the an you purchase a plant where you throughput, availability and efficiency.
publishers. While every effort only have to roll the gate open and Solar producers benefit from turnkey solu-
is made to ensure accurate start producing right away? This tions of this kind because it allows them
reproduction, the editor, au- is the promise made by so-called
thors, publishers and their to ramp up large manufacturing capacity
turnkey plants, ready-built manufacturing fast – bringing costs down rapidly. How-
employees or agents shall
sites for silicon wafers, cells and modules ever, building a solar factory is a complex
not be responsible or in any
way liable for any errors, that many overseas PV (photovoltaics) business.
omissions or inaccuracies suppliers offer these days.
A plant consists of lots of equipment that
in the publication, whether
arising from negligence or Solar producers benefit from turn- differs according to product and production
otherwise or for any conse- key solutions of this kind because process,” explains Eddy Blokken, the former
quences arising therefrom. Head of Technology and Standards at the
it allows them to ramp up large Semi-Conductor Association Semi Europe
The inclusion or exclusion of
any product does not mean manufacturing capacity fast and an expert in solar manufacturing tech-
that the publisher or editorial nology. For crystalline silicon technologies
board advocates or rejects its Originally these machinery and plant build- the four steps of the value chain – silicon,
use either generally or in any ers only offered equipment for one specific wafer, cell and module production – are
particular field or fields. manufacturing process, manufacturing generally carried out in separate factory
lines were therefore always the product buildings. Each one of these products is
of numerous specialised outfitters. Today, based on many individual process steps:
they supply the complete lines as single- silicon is prepared and crystallised into
source suppliers – commissioned and with blocks; the wafers cut from this are pro-
guaranteed output parameters such as yield, cessed into solar cells by another special
External expertise
While turnkey module lines are numerous, there
are fewer and fewer turnkey solutions on offer the
closer you get to the beginning of the value chain.
The reason being the complex production of the up-
stream products and silicon, in particular. The British
New dimensions: thin-film module production equipment. Here the Sunfab
by Applied Materials, has a big footprint – posing a big challenge to factory ingot and wafer producer PV Crystalox has erected
planners. (Source: Applied Materials) a silicon plant completely with its own resources
since there was no external expertise available for
Thin-film manufacturing is a continuous process. Contacts and buying in. Plant Manager Hanno Wilhelm knows
semi-conducting materials – layers that are many times thinner why: “There is a great deal of “cloak and dagger” in
than silicon – are applied directly to a substrate (as a rule glass). this segment.” Who would voluntarily provide their
There are different ways to do this: usually physical and chemical competitors with a plan of the complex production
vapour deposition is used. In this process, the semi-conductors are of these valuable semi-conductors?
sputtered or vapour-deposited in sheer layers at high temperatures 2007 finally saw PV Crystalox start building their
in special reactors. In the sputtering process, atoms are extracted facility, which has subsequently gone into operation.
from a solid body by bombarding it with high-energy ions. These But now there are even “off-the-shelf” factories for
condense and are deposited on the substrate. After processing, the elaborate silicon production. Centrotherm launched its
cells are provided with a protective glass sheet. fully integrated factory in spring 2009: the complete
ended on Saturday
2 October, with the
Innovation HUB in
Pretoria as the start
and finish line.
The Tokai Chal-
lenger is a project
of the Tokai Uni-
versity in Japan.
Its victory in what
is billed the most
gruelling solar race
on the international
calendar follows a
similar victory at
the recent Austra-
lian Global Green
Challenge.
The solar powered Tokai Challenger completed a total of 4 061 km through South Africa “With a race dis-
tance of over 4
Solar challenge 000 km and elevation differences of 1 700 m, the South
Sunny South Africa was no match for the high speed Tokai African Solar Challenge can easily be described as the tough-
Challenger, Japan’s entrant in this year’s South African Solar est solar race in the world,” says Professor Hideki Kimura,
Challenge. project leader and member of Tokai University’s School of
The sleek solar powered Tokai Challenger completed a total Engineering.
of 4 061 km through South Africa to cross the finish line in The race was organised to emphasise the benefits of envi-
first place. The race started on Thursday 23 September and ronmentally friendly technologies and to give students, in a
Nuclear City?
Summer’s here. The south-easter is whipping the spray off False Bay and it’s nearly Christmas. A good time
for kite-flying. So how about a nuclear city four or five hundred kilometres north of here on the West Coast?
The idea is sparked by the recent Chinese announcement of a nuclear technology city apparently on their
north coast.
I
t began in this country in the West Coast well north of Saldanha, Duynefontein
1960s with a survey of the (again) thirty kilometres north of Cape Town, and
entire coastline by consult- two on the south coast, Bantamsklip near (but not
ing engineers. I suspect the too near) Bredasdorp and Thuyspunt near St Francis
organisation was Watermeyer, Bay. Thuyspunt appears to be favoured - much to
Legge, Piesold and Uhlmann. the understandable dismay of local people.
One of their preferred sites, The Brits have just been through a similar exercise.
Duynefontein, came on the They have a concept they call IROPI meaning that
market in 1966 and was there are Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public
snapped up for R167 000. Interest why a particular site must be reserved
Or it came on the market in for nuclear development. They have identified ten
1967 and was snapped up for such sites, eight being associated with existing
R166 000. I’ve never been or already decommissioned nuclear units. All are
quite sure which. Either way, IROPI. The criteria used in the selection process
it was earmarked for Koeberg. are identified in the March/April edition of the UK
It was a good site but not Nuclear Institute journal ‘Nuclear Future’.
perfect. The shallow off-shore
John Walmsley It grieves me whenever any pleasant stretch of
conditions were always going
to complicate extracting vast coastline is given over to industrial or even resi-
volumes of clean seawater and there was concern dential development. Do we give sufficient weight
about the regional population. It was not so much to aesthetic values? How would a major nuclear
the proximity of Cape Town which was within complex on the out of sight, relatively out of mind
nuclear norms at that time but of Atlantis. West Coast match up to the UK criteria?
In those days of apartheid, Atlantis was intended to There are twelve basic criteria grouped into four
grow into a major Coloured city. In 1972, therefore, themes: nuclear safety, environmental protection,
before the Koeberg decision was irrevocable, Eskom societal issues and operational requirements. Two
took another look at the coastline from Saldanha of the twelve are called ‘Exclusionary’ namely
round to Cape Hangklip, and duly satisfied itself demographic risks, i.e. proximity to population
that no site better than Duynefontein had been centres, and proximity to military activities. In
overlooked. South Africa we might add a third: seismic risk.
From early Koeberg studies, I recall that there are
Thuyspunt appears to be favoured - much to the fault lines trending north west, for example through
understandable dismay of local people Saldanha.
This was all seven years before Three Mile Island. The ten ‘Discretionary’ criteria are all recognisable
In our nuclear arrogance at that time, the core-melt as aspects studied in the EIA process for the next
scenario was regarded as ‘beyond design basis’, in Eskom units, which process rejected the West Coast
other words incredible. The Germans, for example, sites as too remote. Are we sure? One day we might
were known to be considering siting a nuclear station have to take another look. Maybe the nuclear city
in the middle of the BASF chemical complex. amenities could be shared with the solar plants
proposed for the area. Transmission to Gauteng
Later in the seventies Eskom relooked at a number and coastal load centres would be enormously
of sites in Natal. None was deemed suitable. In expensive but perhaps justifiable.
most cases the informal population right up the
coast was considered too great and too difficult to There is no space here to consider the UK or South
mobilise for emergency evacuation planning. African criteria as they apply to the West Coast
but it’s fun to speculate. To come to anything, any
Overriding public interest radical idea must be taken up and forced through
Then, in the 1980s, realising that developers were ranks of sceptics by a visionary Messiah. So, Mes-
fast buying up the coastline and wishing to get a siah, if you are reading this, please give the matter
foot in the door, Eskom launched a major and much some thought.
more professional review. Scores of potential sites
John Walmsley
were evaluated and whittled down to two on the
New Faces
The absence of Basset Bodies at this year’s
tournament at Glenvista Country Club meant
the battle for honours was a heated affair.
A
request made from last year was that the
event be moved to October as opposed to
the usual August when the Johannesburg
winds and winter contribute to some miser-
able playing conditions. Despite the late rains this
year, the course was still in excellent condition and
the day provided some outstanding golf especially
on the Power Play holes in breezy conditions.
Adding pressure
The personnel from Golf Guys were once again on the
first tee adding pressure with their cameras for the
Swing Analysis CD which is given to all competitors
Hole sponsor, Doug Herschell, on the 9th
I
ndustrial Cooling Towers, based in Alrode south
of Johannesburg, is a company that has been
around for over twenty two years. To catch up
with developments in this sector, “SA Mechanical
Engineer” meets with director Tom Kenny.
Airing Buildings
Economically
Any energy saving is a bonus especially in building air han-
dling systems because this is an area where there’s a lot of
energy waste, mainly because systems have traditionally run
continuously day and night pumping conditioned air at a con-
stant volume. Michael Muller
B
ut if this volume could be co-ordinated to
vary with thermal load demand, things could
be very different. Today this is achieved
with a variable air volume (VAV) diffuser
system that senses the requirements in different
areas in a building and releases optimum air volume
into each area as required. Lee-Ann Drennan
Solved the perennial problem of one person liking it hot of controlling air flow and
which means that everyone else has to just live with a temperature. With our sys-
particular master setting tem, you’re able to group any
number of diffusers together
Europair Africa, based in Spartan outside Johannes- and the groups can then be
burg, has come up with a brand new VAV diffuser controlled individually.
design, entirely built in South Africa. To learn more, “For example, in a retail area
“SA Mechanical Engineer” meets general manager, you can set all the diffusers
Lee-Ann Drennan. “This is our first new product over the bakery area to a
line in a while,” she says. “Aimed at extending our certain temperature for that
service to the industry by addressing energy sav- group while the groups in
ing, we have added new features which optimise another areas can be set to Grilles on the production line
air distribution to ensure less energy consumption different temperatures,” adds
throughout a building when heating or cooling.” Michael. “In an office environment, you’ve solved
Individual control the perennial problem of one person liking it hot
Basically, the new VAV which means that everyone else has to just live
diffusers function entirely with a particular master setting. Our system offers
autonomously. The units individual control for each and every Diffuser.”
can however be grouped Remote control
into specific areas in a But that’s not all! Europair has also added remote
building according to the control and networking functionality. A service pro-
function of the area and vider can now go into the system over the internet
each diffuser and/or group and not only change settings, but also diagnose
of diffusers can then be problems. “By logging onto the system through the
controlled individually de- internet with a certain code you’ll be able to see
pending on the specific if a diffuser has a problem and even delve down
requirement of each area. further to find which part of the diffuser is causing
“Usually, the VAV diffuser the problem,” says Michael.
system is controlled by one
master controller that in “Let’s say a heater element has failed, the system
turn controls several slave will tell you exactly where the diffuser is located
units,” explains regional and provide you with the part number, thus totally
manager Michael Muller eliminating the practice of sending a technician out
who heads up the devel- to find out what the problem is and what parts will
opment team. “The slave be needed to fix it. Also eliminating the second trip
units then mimic the master then necessary to undertake the repair once the
Alice Lane Towers, one of EuropAir’s projects controller settings in terms offending part has been sourced.
102780
T
his is what happened to Prolube Mar- the option of installing the system and pipe work
keting when a customer asked whether or we can do it for him or her,” explains Chris. “If
the lube systems they required for their we’re merely supplying all the components for a
SAG mills could not be pre-assembled lube system, it can turn into a nightmare for the
to a degree locally before shipping all the way customer especially if the plant is in a remote area
to the Republic of Guinea on the West coast of such as Guinea where there are no technicians with
Africa. This triggered the engineers at Prolube experience in setting up a centralised lubrication
to start thinking out the box in order to get a system consisting of mechanical, electrical and
complete working lube system into a box. “SA electronic components working together as one
Mechanical Engineer” speaks to Chris Erasmus system.
about the pre-commissioned lube system in
The new way
a container that they developed.
Chris Erasmus “Just this scenario led to the request from an
Australian company in Guinea to make assembly
Building the whole working lube plant into a container,
on the other side a little simpler,” continues Chris.
pre-commissioning it “Although nothing like it exists, they immediately
liked our suggestion of pre-rigging the system in a
The old way
cargo container. This concept eventually turned into
“Normally we build a lube system, partially or
actually building the whole working lube plant into
complete, in our workshop and then the client has
a container, pre-commissioning it right here in our
workshop and then shipping it to site as
a complete unit. They now simply con-
nect the oil flow to the lube points on
the mill, connect our signal outputs to
their PLC system, plug in the electricity
supply and start up the system.”
Skills shortage
Often, especially in remote areas, com-
missioning on site can take forever, re-
quiring specialist technicians in different
fields to sort out problems. “Our ‘lubes
in a box’ concept means we don’t have
to send our specialists all the way out
there to fine tune the programming, a
critical factor in commissioning a lube
system,” says Chris.
“In this case all they have to do on site is
lay a concrete foundation for the container
The huge fans for cooling the oil circulate air through the container and possibly rig a roof covering over it.
The metering, controls and serviceable parts are open and reachable in
Only then could they actually
a well lit environment make final markings and do
the cut-outs for pipe connec-
tions, air inlets, radiator grills, power points and
When the container arrives, they connect the pipe
light fittings. To save space, a roller door was cut
work to the mill and lay on the power supply, as
into the side of the container and, before everything
the lube system has been set up to the specific
was finally affixed permanently, the container walls
requirements of the mill, programmed and tested
had to be insulated with a fibre material behind
beforehand in our workshop back home.”
neat wood panels.
Impressions
Our visit to the workshop coincided with the final
testing of the units. First impressions were of a very
neat lube room as you’d find in any fixed installa-
tion, but on closer inspection we could sympathise
with the huge achievement of getting the layout just
right. Yet standing inside the container, it didn’t
feel cramped despite all the metering, controls and
serviceable parts being open and reachable in a
well lit environment.
“Although this system has been built specifically for
a mill application, it could be used for any situation
where the site is remote and commissioning by
experienced engineers is a problem or where por-
tability of the lube system is required,” says Chris.
“For example, we’ve been involved in a number of
projects lately where mills are moved to another
location and in the process new lube rooms have
to built form scratch as it normally is a permanent
structure that can’t be moved with the mill.”
Chris says in conclusion, “The African continent
is increasingly looking south for solutions and as-
sistance. This particular product shows that we
have the knack down here to address the unique
challenges Africa presents.”
Chris Erasmus, Prolube Marketing, Tel: (011) 886-1460,
Email: prolube@netactive.co.za
E
veryone knows that bearings Selective installation
have to be lubricated with the “You needn’t go the whole hog on a lubrication
right type of lubricant, the right system to achieve optimum functionality,” he
amount and at the right time. says. “We’ve found that it’s more often a case of
To achieve this, there are specific main- considering a specific methodology in terms of
tenance solutions to ensure optimum maintenance because it may not be necessary to
bearing life in machinery. To find out fit every single lubrication point on a plant to an
more about this scientific approach to automated or centralised system.
lubrication in practice “SA Mechanical
“For example, only 80% of the lube points on a
Engineer” speaks to Sarel Froneman,
plant may be in critical areas where most of the
manager of Lubrication Solutions at SKF
problems arise and these areas should be addressed
South Africa.
first,” Sarel adds. “Through a thorough analysis of
the plant, all the main problem areas are identi-
Sarel Froneman fied and attended to, usually eliminating the
core lubrication problems without having to
weigh maintenance up against the cost of a
complete system.”
Reducing failure
By the same token, the cheapest system is not always
the most cost effective solution, especially in the
long term and real benefits can only be achieved
by talking to professionals who can scale a system
to each individual need. “Our lubrication systems
have been developed to prevent repair work
and production breaks caused by machinery
failures,” says Sarel.
“Systems can be configured in custom engineered
designs to lubricate from single machines right
through to a complete process plant. Centralised
lubrication systems feed lubricant from a
central source to all the points on a machine
at which friction occurs. In this way, wear is
minimised and in oil circulation systems, it also
plays the important role of removing impurities and
dissipating the heat generated by the friction.”
A needs analysis
“In our experience, automatic lubrication reduces
bearing failures by more than 36% compared
with manual lubrication with the attendant
significant savings in repair and spare part costs,”
says Sarel. “In many instances we can bring about
savings of up to 70% just in lubricant costs due to
The multilube lubrication accurate timing and dosing of lubricants.”
system
SKF’s lubrication division in South Africa is relatively
Automatic lubrication reduces bearing failures by more Sarel Froneman, SKF South Africa, Tel: (011) 821-3534,
Email: sarel.froneman@skf.com
than 36% compared with manual lubrication
Wishing all our readers a good break and a great New Year from the crew at Promech who pulled out all the stops for our annual
fancy-dress. The theme was “C” and Kowie arrived as Caspar the semi-friendly looking ghost. Cleopatra and Cinderella added
glamour while Surita the cricket captain is next to the construction crew. On the left, Sean - the politically incorrect cripple. A
cowboy, a chef, a colourful clown with bad eyesight and a mix of culture revved up by the cheerleader, completed the line-up.
King of the road Nations’ preferred Mine Protection Vehicle and Armoured
Do you know what it feels like to control 1100Nm and Personnel Carrier.
have the ability to withstand the blast of 21kg of TNT? Ever It is a formidable workhorse and a benchmark in the demining
wondered what it would feel like to be the King of the Road? industry. Mechem recently re-launched the very popular Casspir
Never to be intimidated by double-cab bakkies, bulky Hum- MK-II, thirty-one years after it first came off the production
mers, daunting 4x4s and terrorising taxi-drivers? line (the first Casspir was built in 1979 by TFM).
The Casspir IV may not have speed, or even beauty on its “Mechem took the strategic decision to build this configura-
side, but for sheer show-of-force, in-your-face presence this tion again due to the great demand still in the market. In
in the only vehicle to own. the last few years, most of these vehicles were re-manu-
One of South Africa’s legendary military icons has been up- factured from hulls bought from SAPS auctions and tender
dated to be stronger, faster, lower and wider and ever-more processes causing depletion in actionable stock. There was
able to protect its occupants. The Casspir has starred in the also concern over the supply of spare parts,” says Mechem
Oscar-nominated film District Nine, proudly served South CEO, Ashley Williams.
Africa since the early eighties, and subsequently become an Mechem (Pty) Ltd, Henry Abrahams, Tel: (012) 640 3002, Fax: (012)
international icon of environmental security as the United 664 3528
O
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AN
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S I N DIS T
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SHOW THEM YOU CARE BY MAKING A MONTHLY DONATION! SO
CI ETY F
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As little as R50 a month, or whatever you can comfortably afford, can make a BIG difference in an animal’s life.
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As good as new
Tectra Automation and Hytec joined forces in
a project to upgrade an old and out-of-use
vehicle parts press in the production line for
MA Automotive, a motor parts manufacturer in
Rosslyn, Pretoria. The old 201 press needed
improved functionality; with more user-friendly
electrical controls with increased capacity.
Hytec upgraded the hydraulics, the pumps,
valves and electronic control valves, while Contracted by MA Automotive, Hytec upgraded the hydraulics, the pumps and the
Tectra Automation was responsible for the valves for the vehicle press upgrade
From:......................................................................................
Telephone: ( ) ....................................................................
Fax: ( ) ................................................................................
Email:.....................................................................................
Index to Advertisers
Associated Energy Services 26
Afzelia 10
Artic Driers 20
Association of Arbitrators 46
AST Pyroshield Inside Front Cover
Atlas Copco 18
Bearings International Outside Back Cover
Chemserve Systems 32
Donaldson Filtration Systems 24
Engen 34
Engineer Placements 36, 12
Hansen Transmissions 14
Hytec Fluid Technology 29
IDC Inside Back Cover
John Thompson Outside Front Cover
ILS 16
Maizey 4
Munters 30
SAID 42
Yellotec 22, 23