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Mechanical Technology — March 2015
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March 2015 contents
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ON THE COVER
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Innovative pump products for improved mining efficiencies Weir Minerals Africa is turning its atten- tion to helping its customers improve their processes and optimise their plants. “The question now is how can we make improvements within a defined opera- tional environment, where each plant has an installed base of pumps and equip- ment with fixed dimensional tolerances,” says Rob Fawcett, sales, marketing and engineering director: Weir Minerals Africa and the Middle East.For more information contact:
Rene Calitz
Weir Minerals Africa (Pty) Ltd
Tel: +27 011 929 2622
r.calitz@weirminerals.com www.weirminerals.comFeatures
Special report 8 Power in southern Africa: a positive outlookOn the occasion of ABB’s annual media briefing,
Peter Middleton
interviews SA MD, Leon
Viljoen, to find out about his outlook for ABB and the power industry.
Pump systems pipes valves and seals 10 Efficient agitators optimised for thrustMechTech
talks to Ryan Mitchell of Xylem Water Solutions about Flygt mixers and agitators,
which are optimised for bulk flow and sized and tested based on thrust rather than W/m
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12 The Pump Guy: Booster pumps? 15 Modified API 618 sealless compressors arrive in SA 16 Pump test tank facility gives customers peace of mind Sustainable energy and energy management 18 Several firsts for Mondi’s 48 MW cogen plantZest Energy’s has applied its experience in electrical infrastructure, substations and power
generation to the install a 48 MW steam turbo generator set for Mondi in Richards Bay, with
all the electrical integration scope carried out in house.
20 EIAs and the R5-billion Bokpoort CSP plant 23 Renewable energy benefits exceed costs 24 WEC Issues Monitor 2014 27 10 GW milestone for thin film PV Automation, mechatronics and electromechanical systems 28 Bespoke high-tech pneumatic impactorJaco de Beer, project engineer, Tectra Automation, discusses the design and construction of
a pneumatic impactor, which he says is “a unique engineering assignment” for the company.
29 Taking command of core system functions 31 Next-generation temperature control Modern transport and vehicle solution 32 Pedestrian detection systems (PDS) for surface miningWith the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) unveiling its draft of the mandatory Code of
Practice for Trackless Mobile Machinery (TMM), detection systems pioneer, Booyco Electronics
is unveiling its very low frequency pedestrian detection system for surface mining machinery.
Anton Lourens reveals more.
35 First export orders for locally assembled trucks Innovative engineering 36 Industry 4 – towards integrated automationThe term
‘Industry 4’
originates from Germany and has been adopted by Festo to signify a
holistic production automation revolution embracing the full suite of modern technologies.
Peter Middleton
talks to Russell Schwulst, business development manager for Festo South
Africa, about this fourth industrial revolution.
Regulars
1 Comment 4 On the cover: Innovative pump products for improved mining efficiencies 6 Industry forum 38 Products and services 40 Nota bene