Sparks Electrical News January 2017

SPARKS

ELECTRICAL NEWS

JANUARY 2017

DEHN

Africa, a lightning and surge protection solutions provider,

recently acknowledged its local distribution partners, hosting its third

annual African partner awards ceremony in Johannesburg.

The event started with a look into the company’s upward trajectory

over the past few years, covered its current changes and also gave a

glimpse of its future plans for the African market. These plans include

the further development of its DEHNacademy seminars, training and

workshops.

DEHN Africa managing director, Alexis Barwise, highlighted the

importance of a strong team and partners and talked about exciting

international changes as DEHN evolves towards becoming a process-

orientated organisation that promotes growth and self-learning.

“Another critical development is the ability to customise unique

solutions in different geographical areas, meaning that the region

specific needs of African clients can be catered for,” says Barwise.

He outlined the the goal for 2020, which is to position DEHN as one

of the top three lightning protection and energy quality solutions com-

panies in the most important industrial and growth regions.

Partners honoured at the event included:

• ARB Electrical Wholesalers, Most Innovative Marketing;

• ICE (Industrial Control & Engineering Namibia), Most Up and

Coming Partner;

• Advanced Lightning Protection (ALP), Fastest Growing Partner;

and

• Universal Lightning Protection Services (ULPS), Best Performance

Overall.

Long standing DEHN partner, Surgetek received a special acknowl-

edgement – a framed contract dated 1984, signed by the founder and

former CEO of Surgetek, Hans Slagter, that recognises the 30-year

partnership between the two companies and their lengthy commit-

ment to the market.

Enquiries: +27 11 704 1487

PARTNERS HONOURED

IN THIRD ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY

Keeping lifts going

with elevated surge protection

Surge arresters reduce

petroleum companies’

surge and lightning

problems by 98%

Kirk Risch – DEHN Africa and Seath Scowby – Universal Lightning Protec-

tion Services, winner of Best Performance Overall Award.

Kirk Risch - DEHN Africa; Seath Scowby – Universal Lightning Protection Services; Alex Frech – Industrial Control & Engineering Namibia; Bertie van Zyl –

Advanced Lightning Protection; Sikhumbuzo Ngwenya – Surgetek; Premesh Narismulu – Surgetek; Alicia Nydoo – Surgetek; Paul van As – Surgetek; Oren

Kruger – ARB; and Alexis Barwise – DEHN Africa.

LIFTS

are used every day to transport

people and goods in private and

commercial buildings. Hydraulic lifts are

frequently used for low lifting heights,

whilst counterbalanced cable lifts are

used for medium to high lifting heights.

Passenger lifts have a speed of about

one metre per second (m/s) and higher,

in medium-sized buildings and multi-

storey buildings this increases up to

eight m/s, whilst in the next generation

of multi-storey buildings speeds can go

up to 17 m/s. Goods lifts usually have

transportation capacities of in the region

of five tonnes.

Modern day lifts fulfil several sophisti-

cated functions, such as:

• Smooth starting and stopping con-

trolled by a frequency converter;

• Traffic optimisation measures, such as

not stopping in the case of full load, pri-

ority travel, and the behaviour of lifts in

case of fire;

• Energy saving functions in which cabin

lighting and the ventilator are switched

off in case of empty travels or when at

a standstill; and

• Power supply function in which the

kinetic energy generated by goods

transport to the ground floor and

empty travels to the top floors is fed

into the power supply system.

These functions can only be fulfilled by

means of highly sensitive electronic sys-

tems. Although lift manufacturers take

various measures to reduce bulk current

injection into the lift cabling and technol-

ogy to an acceptable level – be it with

shielded metallic distribution boards or

the type of cable routing or cables used –

these measures cannot prevent conducted

transients from damaging the lift.

Given that the peripheral units of lifts,

such as floor panels or floor displays, are

connected to prewired plug-in connecting

cables, surge protective devices are only

required for the mains connection, the tel-

ephone line and the fire alarm system.

DEHNguard is a complete prewired unit

that consists of a base part and plug-in

protection modules. It has a high discharge

capacity due to its heavy-duty zinc oxide

varistors / spark gaps, and offers reassur-

ing reliability due to its (thermo dynamic

control) SPD monitoring device. This

modular surge arrester is ideal for use in

TT TN-C and TN-S systems. The main ad-

vantage of the TT earthing system is that

it is clear of high and low frequency noises

that come through the neutral wire from

connected equipment. TT has always been

preferable for special applications such as

telecommunication sites that benefit from

interference-free earthing. Also, TT does

not have the risk of a broken neutral.

DEHN’s BLITZDUCTOR XT family

offers optimal protection of two or four

signal wires and the cable shield (BSP

and BXT). These space-saving combined

lightning current and surge arrester

modules offer the LifeCheck feature, which

detects thermal or electrical overload, at

which time the arrester has to be replaced.

This status is indicated by the DEHNrecord

reader. Available in either two or four

pair for universal use with most types of

data protocols, the BXT base offers offers

no signal interruption when plugging in

and removing the protection module.

The BLITZDUCTOR XT is for use in the

lightning protection zone concept at the

boundaries from 0 A –2 and higher.

Enquiries: +27 11 704 1487

SURGETEK’S

Copa surge arrester marked the beginning of a new chapter in

the company’s product offering to South Africa’s petrol stations and forecourt

control. The Copa surge arrester drastically reduced petroleum companies’

down time resulting from power surges and lightning strikes by 98% says

Paul van As, Surgetek Low Voltage divisional manager.

“Surge protection must be installed in the petrol dispensers as well as the

back office of a petrol station. It is absolutely essential that both power and data

sources are protected,” says Van As. “Petrol station owners want to maximise

their running hours and the correctly installed and maintained surge protec-

tors reduces their downtime significantly. Power and data protection should be

installed as close as possible to the forecourt controller,” he explains, adding

that Surgetek also developed the HDO 280T – a compact protector for 220 V.

“These units are fitted in most petrol dispenser throughout the country as they

are supplied directly to dispenser manufacturers who install them in their pro-

duction processes.”

Plug-and-play

Van As explains that the Copa Data Multi Wire has been designed for surge

currents up to 10 kA. “Surgetek supplies surge protection products directly

to petrol dispenser manufacturers and forecourt technology manufacturer

UCS Technology Services. When UCS updated their forecourt control tech-

nology last year it made sense to redesign and modify our surge protection

products.”

The Copa Data Multi Wire unit has three configurations; four-, eight- and

12-wire options and housed in a slimmer casing than its predecessor. Its

dimensions of 22.5 mm wide and 92 mm high allow make it easy to install and

to remove, when necessary. All inner components are locally manufactured

and assembled.

“The Copa Data Multi Wire is user-friendly and is a plug-and-play surge

arrester and data transfer device that earths itself automatically to the DIN rail

through an integrated earth clip,” he concludes.

Enquiries: +27 11 792 1303

The Copa Data Multi Wire unit has three

configurations with a standard housing

measuring 22.5 mm wide and 92 mm-high.

Paul van As, Surgetek Low

Voltage divisional manager.

EARTHING, LIGHTNING AND SURGE PROTECTION